Public Health Schools and Programs Collaborate to Study Young Adults in Humanitarian Settings

Main Links
- About AUB
  About AUB
  
  Founded in 1866, the American University of Beirut is a teaching-centered research university based on the American liberal arts model of higher education. AUB has over 8,000 students and 800 faculty members. The University encourages freedom of thought and expression and seeks to graduate men and women committed to creative and critical thinking, lifelong learning, personal integrity, civic responsibility, and leadership.
- Academics
  Academics
  
  AUB is accredited in the US by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education and includes six faculties: Arts and Sciences, Medicine, Engineering and Architecture, Agricultural and Food Sciences, Health Sciences, and Business. AUB offers more than 130 programs leading to bachelor's, master's, MD, and PhD degrees. The main language of instruction is English.
- Admissions
  Admissions
  
  Learn more about how you can join the American University of Beirut. AUB seeks applicants with a proven record of academic excellence, intellectual vitality, and civic responsibility. In accordance with its founding mission and its equal opportunity policy, the University admits students regardless of race, color, religion, gender, age, disability, or nationality.
- Research
  Research
  
  The vibrant and dynamic research environment at AUB enhances the educational experience for all and serves the wider communities—local and global—by advancing knowledge in a wide range of disciplines.
- Outreach
  Outreach
  
  Recognizing and honoring our responsibility for others has been an integral part of AUB’s mission since the earliest days. Today, AUB is at the forefront of addressing the most pressing concerns of this country, this region, and its people.
- Boldly Campaign
  BOLDLY Campaign
  
  To ensure the University can continue to inspire current and future generations of smart and able students who can rise to this challenge, we are embarking on a transformative capital campaign, BOLDLY AUB: The Campaign to Lead, Innovate, and Serve.
AUB Community
- A - Z
- Find People
- Libraries
- Alumni
Public
- Telehealth
- AUBMC
- Give
Useful Tools
- E-learning
- AUBSIS
- Webmail
- Title IX Online Training

Public Health Schools and Programs Collaborate to Study Young Adults in Humanitarian Settings

Sunday, October 16, 2022

A new grant awarded to an international team of researchers, representing accredited public health programs in the United States and Lebanon, will study whether engaging young adults as community mental health workers in humanitarian settings helps not only to support those communities in crisis, but protects the well-being of the young workers as well.

The collaborative research team is co-led by Rima Afifi, professor of community and behavioral health at the University of Iowa and director of the UI Prevention Research Center for Rural Health, together with Rima Nakkash, associate professor of global and community health at George Mason University. Other research team members include Lilian Ghandour, associate professor of epidemiology and applied biostatistics at American University of Beirut; Catherine Panter-Brick, professor of anthropology, health, and global affairs at Yale University; and Grant Brown, assistant professor of biostatistics at the University of Iowa. The research team is also partnering with the non-governmental organization Multi-Aid Projects (MAPs) that will guide field activities.

The project, funded by a three-year, $450,000 grant from the National Institute of Mental Health, is focused on Syrian young adults living in Lebanon, a nation that currently hosts about 1.5 million Syrians displaced by war in their home country.

Syrian young adults, aged 18-24 years, will be trained to provide mental health care to at-risk adults in their community. The young adults will implement a program called Problem Management Plus (PM+), a World Health Organization-backed initiative that equips non-professional lay community members with skills and tools to decrease mental distress in communities affected by adversity. In humanitarian settings worldwide, PM+ has been demonstrated to reduce common mental health problems, such as anxiety and depression, as well as other problems, such as stress, unemployment, and interpersonal conflict.

A project infographic and additional information about this research is available to view online.

Contact Us

For various questions, please try contacting us via social media first!
read more

Privacy Statement

We take data privacy seriously and adhere to all applicable data privacy laws and regulations.
read more

Copyright and Disclaimer

Written permission is needed to copy or disseminate all or part of the materials on the AUB website.
read more

Title IX, Non-Discrimination, and Anti-Discriminatory Harassment

AUB is committed to providing a safe and respectful environment to all members of its community.
read more