New frontiers in mental health and psychosocial wellbeing in low resource and conflict affected settings

Abstract

This special, extra issue of Intervention marks the occasion of the retirement of Joop TV.M. de Jong as a professor of cultural and global mental health at the VU University of Amsterdam. The editors of this issue are (former) PhD students and colleagues of Joop de jong, who have been inspired by his trailblazing work. Motivated by his role in shaping the field of mental health and psychosocial support in conflict affected settings, this issue focuses on new areas of interest in research and practice that may shape the fields future. The eight articles in this special issue, while diverse, highlight major drivers of future progress for global mental health: integrating local knowledge and experiences within the larger global discourse; using multidisciplinary perspectives derived from the clinical sciences, social science and culturally informed epidemiology; attention to risk factors and disorders beyond trauma exposure and posttraumatic stress disorder; using health systems approaches; and attention to dissemination and implementation science in global mental health. The collection of papers in this issue presents new frontiers for mental health and psychosocial wellbeing in low income and conflict affected settings, and, together, point towards a potential future agenda for research and implementation of exciting new ideas to support mental health of populations affected by armed conflict and chronic adversity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved). (journal abstract)