May 15, 2020 Kirsten Gelsdorf, Lucy Bassett, Amanda Nguyen, and Dani Poole Opinion: Now is the time to prioritize mental health Rohingya volunteers discuss COVID-19-related concerns at a women's center in Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Photo by: Marie Sophie Pettersson / UN Women / CC BY-NC-ND May is mental health awareness month, and for many of us these days, it’s rare that an hour goes by without someone sending us an article or a list of tips on how to address our anxiety, build our children’s resilience, or focus on wellness during this difficult time. This may be one of the bright spots in the coronavirus crisis: For many in Europe and the United States, attending to our mental health is becoming a core part of our crisis response. But for millions of people around the world also caught in crises — whether those crises are hurricanes, conflicts, experiences of mass displacement, or other humanitarian catastrophes — it is estimated that only 2% have access to mental health and psychosocial support, or MHPSS. The question is, will COVID-19 offer us a chance to change this? Although the mental health impacts of emergencies have long been recognized, formalized efforts to systematically address and mitigate these impacts only began in the early 2000s, when the United Nations and its humanitarian partners began developing and advancing guidelines concerning the protection and promotion of human well-being as well as the prevention and treatment of mental disorders. Yet today, funds allocated to MHPSS in emergencies are still just a drop in the bucket of the total humanitarian response. Although 20% of emergency health care needs in crisis contexts involve mental or psychosocial health, less than 1% of all humanitarian funding is estimated to go toward meeting these needs. This is particularly concerning for the 52% of refugees who are children and face an increased risk of mental health and psychosocial problems. In young children, chronic trauma and adversity literally change the brain’s architecture, with lifelong negative physical and mental consequences. Source: Mind the Mind Now Conference Special Significant barriers to implementing MHPSS in crisis contexts exist. Many programs still lack the necessary research to demonstrate their effectiveness, and not enough humanitarian actors have sufficient mental health training to support delivery of these programs. Often those leading the response are themselves struggling with threats to their own psychosocial well-being and lack the necessary support. This leaves us with a global humanitarian response picture where the majority of people in need of MHPSS are left without these critical services. But we now have a chance to change some of these trajectories and there are bright spots emerging. This week, the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres spoke out and asked international actors to help those struggling with mental and psychosocial needs. He related that depression and anxiety “are some of the greatest causes of misery in our world” and how we need to stand by and help “frontline healthcare workers, older people, adolescents and young people, those with pre-existing mental health conditions and those caught up in conflict and crisis.” Similarly, a little over a week ago the U.N. launched its revised COVID-19 Global Humanitarian Response Plan, which asks for about $6.7 billion to fund to fight against the pandemic and support the needs of communities already caught in crisis. As a hopeful sign in the fight for mental health support, the appeal explicitly aims to address the increased mental health and psychosocial needs at a time when these critical services are either interrupted or suffering from limited resources. It also calls attention to MHPSS needs in various contexts. For example, in Venezuela, the quarantine may not only increase the risk of gender-based violence for people living in close quarters but also limit information about and access to critical mental health and psychosocial services. Syrians who have fled civil war are now facing the pandemic as another uncontrollable threat. And in many crises there is concern that children may get separated from their parents because of border closures, quarantine or illness, leaving them with unimaginable trauma and anxiety. READ FULL ARTICLE IN DEVEX Kirsten Gelsdorf Kirsten Gelsdorf is a professor of practice in public policy and Co-Director of the UVA Humanitarian Collaborative in the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia. Gelsdorf has 19 years of experience working in the humanitarian sector, most recently serving as the Chief of the Policy Analysis and Innovation section at the United Nations Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Read full bio Lucy Bassett Lucy Bassett is a professor of practice in public policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia. Bassett is an expert in children, caregivers, and communities in humanitarian and development contexts. Over her 15 year career, Bassett has worked with governments in low- and middle-income countries to expand access to quality education, nutrition and social protection services, particularly for poor and marginalized children and families. Read full bio Related Content Kirsten Gelsdorf Compassion in Action: Contemplative Science and Practice in the Classroom and the World News In March 2024, Batten School Dean Ian Solomon and professors Kirsten Gelsdorf and Abigail Scholer joined dozens of scholars and others from around the world in Dharamsala, India, to meet with the Dalai Lama and explore ways to bring contemplative science and practice into teaching, research, policymaking and leadership in all sectors. Dean Solomon, Professors Gelsdorf and Scholer to Meet with the Dalai Lama News Dean Ian Solomon and professors Kirsten Gelsdorf and Abigail Scholer will travel to Dharamsala next week with leaders from UVA’s Contemplative Sciences Center to spend a week with practitioners and researchers in the contemplative sciences from around the world. They will also have an audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. 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Kirsten Gelsdorf Kirsten Gelsdorf is a professor of practice in public policy and Co-Director of the UVA Humanitarian Collaborative in the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia. Gelsdorf has 19 years of experience working in the humanitarian sector, most recently serving as the Chief of the Policy Analysis and Innovation section at the United Nations Office of Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Read full bio
Lucy Bassett Lucy Bassett is a professor of practice in public policy at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy at the University of Virginia. Bassett is an expert in children, caregivers, and communities in humanitarian and development contexts. Over her 15 year career, Bassett has worked with governments in low- and middle-income countries to expand access to quality education, nutrition and social protection services, particularly for poor and marginalized children and families. Read full bio
Compassion in Action: Contemplative Science and Practice in the Classroom and the World News In March 2024, Batten School Dean Ian Solomon and professors Kirsten Gelsdorf and Abigail Scholer joined dozens of scholars and others from around the world in Dharamsala, India, to meet with the Dalai Lama and explore ways to bring contemplative science and practice into teaching, research, policymaking and leadership in all sectors.
Dean Solomon, Professors Gelsdorf and Scholer to Meet with the Dalai Lama News Dean Ian Solomon and professors Kirsten Gelsdorf and Abigail Scholer will travel to Dharamsala next week with leaders from UVA’s Contemplative Sciences Center to spend a week with practitioners and researchers in the contemplative sciences from around the world. They will also have an audience with His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
When Research Hits Home: Paper Helps Professor, Student Bond As Survivors News Batten School professor Lucy Bassett and UVA alum Maya Ewart discovered a personal bond that led to a collaborative research project showcasing how depictions of eating disorders in popular culture and media are frequently out of touch with reality.
A Global Approach to Improving Outcomes for Teen Mothers and Their Babies News Batten professor Lucy Bassett brought researchers from around the world together to tackle an issue that spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through the UVA Humanitarian Collaborative, Bassett organized a workshop focused on how more support can be brought to adolescent mothers and young children.