Building Sustainable and Scalable Mental Health for Youth using CETA in Northeast Syria
THE CHALLENGE
With the long-lasting Syrian Civil War, the mental health needs of children ages 5-18 across Syria are immense. Displacement, loss of family members, and constant sounds of bombardment, destruction, and shelling, among other impacts of the war, have all caused deep trauma to Syrian children. Yet there is a critical shortage of available mental health professionals to address these needs, leaving children without access to adequate care. There is thus a major need for more Syrians to be trained, preferably at the community level, in the delivery of mental healthcare to vulnerable, trauma-affected children.
THE SOLUTION
To leverage community-based resources to bridge the gap in mental health services, the Syrian American Medical Society trained and supervised Syrian women to deliver essential and much-needed mental healthcare to vulnerable children. A total of 15 women completed an initial 10-day training in the Common Elements Treatment Approach (CETA), a trans-diagnostic mental health intervention developed for delivery by non-professionals in low- and middle-income countries. Of these women, 13 continued through the next 10 months of training to become certified as CETA counselors for children and 3 of the counselors received additional training and certification as CETA supervisors. A total of 99 children and adolescents aged 6-17 were then enrolled in CETA services. External evaluation by the CETA team showed a clinically significant decrease in symptoms related to depression, trauma, and behavioural issues among 100% of the 95 youth who completed the full treatment. In addition, 79 caregivers received support from CETA counselors, learning how to manage their own stress and emotions, and to support and communicate with their children more effectively. Children, caregivers, counselors, and organizational staff all reported a high need and desire for the continuation of the CETA program, indicating its promise as a sustainable mental health service delivery model in this context.
