What can help refugees process traumatic grief?
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Evidence Summary
October 2022
There is limited strong evidence on interventions that specifically target traumatic grief.
- Prolonged and traumatic grief are usually closely associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and therefore many interventions target PTSD with grief symptoms as an auxiliary diagnosis.
- There appear to be some differences in interventions that target grief as a result of loss of culture or homeland and grief as a result of loss of a loved one, particularly if that loss occurred in a traumatic manner.
Evidence on interventions with refugee populations that target grief is limited.
- The available evidence is limited to interventions for clinically diagnosed grief disorder. There is a breadth of evidence involving interventions targeting PTSD; however, it is unclear how many of these may target grief as a confounding factor or have been adapted to address grief as the central condition. Additionally, there is no available evidence on whether interventions targeting traumatic grief in the general population would be successful in the refugee context, but it is likely that they would need to undergo cultural adaptations.
- There is some evidence that interventions with youth or interventions focusing on creative expression in adults are more open to individuals who do not have a diagnosis but rather are experiencing any level of grief.
There is fairly robust information on interventions for refugee youth that target various mental health conditions, including traumatic grief.
- School-based programs were specifically analyzed. It was found that the school setting can be an effective location for intervention but that school personnel may need specialized support from clinicians to increase effectiveness of programming.
Studies included in the database focused on high-income or upper middle-income countries, including but not limited to the United States. Studies included must have been published since 2012. To identify evidence related to case management with refugees, we searched the following websites and databases using the following population, methodology, and target outcome terms:
Websites and Databases |
Population Terms |
Methodology Terms |
Target Outcome Terms |
ProQuest PsycInfo
|
refugee OR immigrant OR “unaccompanied minor” OR asylee OR “temporary protected status” OR “victims of traffick*” OR “traffick* victims” OR T-Visa OR U-Visa OR Cuban OR Haitian OR Amerasian
|
evaluation OR impact OR program OR intervention OR policy OR project OR train* OR therapy OR treatment OR counseling OR workshop OR review OR meta-analysis OR synthesis |
grief OR bereav*
|
Relevant Study | Type of Study | Strength of Evidence | Direction of Evidence |
Brief imagery rescripting vs. usual care and treatment advice in refugees with posttraumatic stress disorder: Study protocol for a multi-center randomized-control trial | Impact evaluation | Moderate | Positive impact |
A systematic review of school-based social-emotional interventions for refugee and war-traumatized youth | Systematic review | Strong | Inconclusive or mixed impact |
Embroidery (tatriz) and Syrian refugees: Exploring loss and hope through storytelling | Suggestive evidence | Suggestive | Positive impact |
Day patient treatment for traumatic grief: Preliminary evaluation of a one-year treatment programme for patients with multiple and traumatic losses | Suggestive evidence | Suggestive | Positive impact |
The effectiveness of psychosocial interventions in war-traumatized refugee and internally displaced minors: Systematic review and meta-analysis | Meta-analysis | Strong | Inconclusive or mixed impact |