Call for papers

The editorial board of Intervention welcomes papers, field reports and book reviews on relevant subject matter from professional or voluntary sources. Wherever appropriate we will try to offer comment, advice and editorial support prior to possible publication. We also welcome comment or responses to previously published articles, or other appropriate correspondence to the editor.

The editors of Intervention have made some plans for specific topics which we should address in the future, for which we ask your support and contributions.

Combining qualitative and quantitative research methods
This special issue will be published in November 2009 and is aimed at presenting practitioners an overview of state-of-the-art examples of applied research, preferably those in which qualitative and quantitative methods are combined, relevant to the field of mental health and psychosocial support in complex emergencies.

Staff support
Professionals working with survivors of collective violence or natural disasters are often faced with considerable stress themselves. What are the kinds of problems that helpers have themselves? Does work with traumatized people lead to trauma in the helper? Does the work only have negative aspects or also positive sides and can it lead to growth? If staff feels overwhelmed by the work related stress how can we best assist them?

How can we prove that our projects are effective?
Our second plan is to publish a series of articles on the qualitative, as well as quantitative, measurement of the effectiveness of psychosocial projects and psychosocial interventions. What kind of instruments and procedures can we use to prove that our projects are effective? If you know people who are developing ways of systematically evaluating the impact of psychosocial interventions, please bring them into contact with us.

Interventions for severe mental disorders
War and violence can lead to an increase in psychosocial problems and 'common mental disorders' such as depression, anxiety and PTSD. It is however often overlooked that people with severe psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, epilepsy etc are also affected by war. What are good practices to deal with this category of patients?

Feedback from the local staff
In many psychosocial projects in areas of armed conflict, local staff is cooperating with ex-pat staff from western countries. We would like to offer the opportunity for local staff members to express their critical thoughts on the role, the activities or the ideas of ex-pats. A contribution can be published anonymously or under pseudonym, as long as the name of the author is known to the editorial staff. If you are acquainted with local staff members who can teach us a lesson, please let us know.
Intervention is indexed in PILOTS Database (An Electronic Index to the Traumatic Stress Literature) and available to its users worldwide.

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