A Rapid Realist Review of Group Psychological First Aid for Humanitarian Workers and Volunteers

Julia Corey, Frédérique Vallières, Timothy Frawley, Aoife De Brún, Sarah Davidson and Brynne Gilmore
Additional contact information
Julia Corey: UCD Centre for Interdisciplinary Research, Education and Innovation in Health Systems, School of Nursing, Midwifery & Health Systems, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland
Frédérique Vallières: Trinity Centre for Global Health, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland
Timothy Frawley: UCD Centre for Interdisciplinary Research, Education and Innovation in Health Systems, School of Nursing, Midwifery & Health Systems, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland
Aoife De Brún: UCD Centre for Interdisciplinary Research, Education and Innovation in Health Systems, School of Nursing, Midwifery & Health Systems, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland
Sarah Davidson: British Red Cross, London EC2Y 9AL, UK
Brynne Gilmore: UCD Centre for Interdisciplinary Research, Education and Innovation in Health Systems, School of Nursing, Midwifery & Health Systems, University College Dublin, Dublin 4, Ireland

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 4, 1-16

Abstract: Humanitarian workers are at an elevated risk of occupational trauma exposure and its associated psychological consequences, and experience increased levels of anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) compared to the general population. Psychological first aid (PFA) aims to prevent acute distress reactions from developing into long-term distress by instilling feelings of safety, calmness, self- and community efficacy, connectedness and hope. Group PFA (GPFA) delivers PFA in a group or team setting. This research sought to understand ‘What works, for whom, in what context, and why for group psychological first aid for humanitarian workers, including volunteers?’ A rapid realist review (RRR) was conducted. Initial theories were generated to answer the question and were subsequently refined based on 15 documents identified through a systematic search of databases and grey literature, in addition to the inputs from a core reference panel and two external experts in GPFA. The findings generated seven programme theories that addressed the research question and offered consideration for the implementation of GPFA for the humanitarian workforce across contexts and age groups. GPFA enables individuals to understand their natural reactions, develop adaptive coping strategies, and build social connections that promote a sense of belonging and security. The integrated design of GPFA ensures that individuals are linked to additional supports and have their basic needs addressed. While the evidence is sparce on GPFA, its ability to provide support to humanitarian workers is promising.

Keywords: group psychological first aid; psychological first aid; humanitarian workers; psychosocial support (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/4/1452/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/4/1452/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:4:p:1452-:d:493076

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().