Episkopou Maria, Venables Emilie, Whitehouse Katherine, Eleftherakos Christos, Zamatto Federica, de Bartolome Gisbert Francisco, Severy Nathalie, Barry Declan, Van den Bergh Rafael
Médecins Sans Frontières-Operational Centre Brussels, 118 Aristidou, 17672 Athens, Greece.
2Médecins Sans Frontières-Operational Centre Brussels, Luxembourg Operational Research Unit (LuxOR), Luxembourg, Luxembourg.
Confl Health. 2019 Jul 22;13:34. doi: 10.1186/s13031-019-0218-9. eCollection 2019.
Social support is a core determinant of health and plays a key role in the healing process of people with mental health problems and those who have been exposed to torture or other traumatic events. At the same time, social support is particularly challenging to build in such populations, as self-isolation and social withdrawal are common consequences of traumatic incidents. Defining social support is also challenging as there is no globally adequate definition. Our aim was to explore how social support was understood by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) beneficiaries, and how they perceived their needs on Lesvos Island, Greece to be met.
This was a qualitative study, based on exploratory free-listing interviews that explored how MSF beneficiaries on Lesvos understood and defined social support, followed by a series of in-depth interviews through which participants explained how they perceived their needs to be met. The study was conducted over a period of two weeks in August 2018, with 32 migrants and asylum seekers (22 male, 10 female) enrolled in the mental health services of MSF on Lesvos Island. The majority of interviewees were single men of African origin who had resided in Moria camp between 2 months and 2.5 years. Countries of origin include Syria, Afghanistan, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Iraq, Iran, Nigeria, Senegal and other West African countries.
Participants defined social support as the practical, informational and emotional support that people receive from organisations, friends and family members. Results revealed a lack of community links, isolation, tensions and conflict, insufficient amenities and limited orientation to services that lead to and amplify isolation, discrimination and tension. Most of the participants received little or no support both formally from organisations and informally from other migrants and asylum seekers in the camp.
Functional support networks are urgently required to overcome the consequences of restrictive policies which force people into containment and remove their support systems. Actors who are involved in providing social support, including MSF, are strongly encouraged to engage in activities that work towards building and strengthening peer support networks and creating a sense of community.
社会支持是健康的核心决定因素，在心理健康问题患者以及遭受酷刑或其他创伤性事件的人群的康复过程中发挥着关键作用。与此同时，在这类人群中建立社会支持尤其具有挑战性，因为自我隔离和社交退缩是创伤事件的常见后果。由于没有全球通用的充分定义，界定社会支持也颇具挑战性。我们的目的是探讨无国界医生组织（MSF）的受益人如何理解社会支持，以及他们认为自己在希腊莱斯博斯岛的需求是如何得到满足的。
这是一项定性研究，基于探索性自由列举访谈，探究莱斯博斯岛的无国界医生组织受益人如何理解和界定社会支持，随后进行一系列深入访谈，参与者在访谈中解释他们认为自己的需求是如何得到满足的。该研究于2018年8月进行了两周，有32名移民和寻求庇护者（22名男性，10名女性）参与了莱斯博斯岛无国界医生组织的心理健康服务。大多数受访者是非洲裔单身男性，他们在莫里亚难民营居住了2个月至2.5年。原籍国包括叙利亚、阿富汗、喀麦隆、刚果民主共和国、伊拉克、伊朗、尼日利亚、塞内加尔和其他西非国家。
参与者将社会支持定义为人们从组织、朋友和家庭成员那里获得的实际、信息和情感支持。结果显示，缺乏社区联系、隔离、紧张和冲突、便利设施不足以及对服务的了解有限，这些导致并加剧了隔离、歧视和紧张。大多数参与者很少或根本没有从组织获得正式支持，也很少从难民营中的其他移民和寻求庇护者那里获得非正式支持。
迫切需要功能性支持网络来克服限制性政策的后果，这些政策迫使人们被限制起来并拆除他们的支持系统。强烈鼓励包括无国界医生组织在内的提供社会支持的行为体开展活动，致力于建立和加强同伴支持网络，并营造社区感。
