A family‐based mental health program of recovery from state terror in Kosova

Abstract

Family processes of communication, mutual support, and sustenance of cultural values can play vital roles in recovery from psychological and material damage in societies afflicted by terror. This is particularly the case when a campaign of terror has specifically targeted family life and its traditions, when the culture is one whose identity has been centered in its families, and when public mental health resources have been scarce. At the end of the 1999 war in Kosova, the Kosovar Family Professional Educational Collaborative (KFPEC) was initiated to counter mental health sequelae of war in Kosova. This initiative focused upon the recovery and strengthening of Kosovar families, rather than the psychiatric treatment of individuals for post-traumatic symptoms. Findings and outcomes from this project may usefully inform the design of other international public mental health initiatives.

Authorship in Global Mental Health Research: Recommendations for Collaborative Approaches to Writing and Publishing

“…In Kosovo, a partnership was formed between Kosovar mental health clinicians and HIC clinicians and researchers who are experts in the field of family therapy. The Kosovar Family Professional Educational Collaborative (KFPEC) followed a model wherein authorship alternated between American and Kosovar contributors (7, 8). This division assured dyads of Kosovar-American contributors at each level, rather than having all LMIC contributors sandwiched somewhere between 4 th and second-to-last authorship.…”

Posttraumatic Psychological Distress and Resettlement: The Need for a Different Practice in Assisting Refugee Families

“…Central to this approach is building on the strengths of the family, and understanding family traditions and processes can help cope with traumatic loss. In relation to Albanian families, Griffiths et al (2005) pointed out that a person is a family member first, not an individual. This is perhaps the most important cultural element to consider in working with refugee families.…”

“…In what appears to be seminal research conducted in Bosnia and Kosovo (Griffiths et al, 2005;Landau, 2007;Walsh, 2007;Weine et al, 2004;Weine et al, 2005;Weine et al, 2008), there is promise of new treatment methods based on the family as a social unit and on the community as the support network. As Griffiths et al (2005) outlined, ''mental health interventions need to be community based in the aftermath of war trauma, genocide, and organized political violence'' (p. 556).…”

“…As Griffiths et al (2005) outlined, ''mental health interventions need to be community based in the aftermath of war trauma, genocide, and organized political violence'' (p. 556). The Kosovar Family Professional Educational Collaborative project (KFPEC) was successful, they concluded, because families served as the fundamental social unit, as they do in many cultures, and because it accounted for the roles that family processes play in recovery.…”

“…Although, as Griffiths et al (2005) pointed out, these approaches ''have been little implemented in the U.S., possibly due to lack of fit with a culture with high divorce rates, high mobility of family members, and a societal emphasis upon individual differentiation rather than family cohesiveness'' (p. 557), we argue that, at least for the first generation of immigrants and refugees who have witnessed war and ethnic conflict and are afflicted with trauma, these approaches may be the most culturally sensitive to date.…”