Hanna Kienzler

King's College London | KCL · Global Health & Social Medicine

Humanitarian emergencies such as armed conflicts are increasingly perceived as opportunities to improve mental health systems in fragile states. Research has been conducted into what building blocks are required to reform mental health systems in states emerging from wars and into the barriers to reform. What is less well known is what work and act...

Background and Objectives: Nepal has witnessed several periods of organized violence since its beginnings as a sovereign nation. Most recently, during the decade-long Maoist Conflict (1996–2006), armed forces used excessive violence, including torture, resulting in deaths and disappearances. Moreover, there is widespread gender-, ethnic- and caste-...

Postwar development contexts are increasingly sites of mental health and psychosocial interventions in which local health providers are trained by foreign experts in evidence‐based diagnostic and treatment strategies. Underlying this course of action is a well‐accepted biomedical logic that assumes symptoms can be identified and translated into men...

What are the linguistic dimensions of pain, and what kind of articulations arise from these painful experiences? How does the language of pain circulate, connect, and reach across histories, gendered realities, and social politics? In what ways might the language of pain act on and transform the world by shaping and changing socio-political agendas...

Introduction This article explores how systemic injustices and social inequalities affect refugee and asylum seeker integration, thriving, and mental health in London. This is pertinent as the United Kingdom currently operates a ‘broken’ asylum system with unfair policies and a ‘tough’ immigration rhetoric which makes it extraordinarily difficult f...

Global mental health [GMH] scholarship and practice has typically focused on the unmet needs and barriers to mental health in communities, developing biomedical and psychosocial interventions for integration into formal health care platforms in response. In this article, we analyse four diverse settings to disrupt the emphasises on health system we...

Background Impact of pre-migration trauma and post-migration settlement on refugee mental health and wellbeing is well-documented. However, little research has focused on the specific places where refugees settle and spend their daily lives within the post-migration context. This study adopts an eco-social perspective to explore the relationship be...

Understanding how different Black and other racially minoritised communities thrive is an emerging priority area in mental health promotion. Literature demonstrates health benefits of social capital (social resources embedded within social networks). However, its effects are not always positive, particularly for certain subpopulations who are alrea...

Purpose Social inclusion of people living with serious mental illness is widely promoted. However, only limited consideration has been given to the meanings of social inclusion within different settings and the ways in which it is envisioned, negotiated, and practised. In this paper, we explore meanings and practises of social inclusion from the pe...

A new report from the Research for Health in Conflict Group led by academics from the Centre for Business Research at the University of Cambridge and colleagues from King’s College London and the American University of Beirut presents stark insights into the treatment of refugees and asylum seekers in the UK, especially their mental health.

Background Healthcare is a basic human right extending across all humanitarian contexts, including conflict. Globally, two billion people are living under conditions of insecurity and violent armed conflict with a consequent impact on public health. Health research in conflict-affected regions has been recognised as important to gain more understan...

Post-migration factors significantly influence refugee mental health. This scoping review looks at the role of place in refugee mental health. We included 34 studies in Global North high-income countries that elaborated on the place characteristics of facilities, neighbourhoods, urban and rural areas, and countries. While the role of place remains...

Background Older refugees face particular challenges because their health and social needs are largely overlooked in humanitarian programmes, policies and research. The few studies available have shown that older refugees suffer from a high prevalence of non-communicable diseases, including mental health problems, increased social isolation and pov...

This qualitative study explores lived experiences of Palestinians in the West Bank during the COVID-19 pandemic intersecting with life under Israeli military occupation, structural violence, and racism. Insight is provided into the pandemic's effect on daily life and health and into coping and support mechanisms employed under apartheid conditions....

This article explores the experience of people with psychosocial disabilities with independent living and community inclusion in war-affected settings. While the UN CRPD obliges states to protect the rights of persons with psychosocial disabilities to community living (Article 19) in contexts of war (Article 11), information is lacking about people...

This article contributes new insights into how refugees, asylum seekers and undocumented migrants experience access to healthcare in the UK from both the perspective of caseworker volunteers and the assessment of policy regulations that influence such experiences. Drawing on material taken from qualitative interviews conducted with Doctors of the W...

To address the gap in locally driven mental health capacity strengthening initiatives in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), researchers from Birzeit University (BZU) and King's College London (KCL) developed a unique short course focusing on the intersection between methods, mental health, and conflict. The course was delivered in the West B...

Background The current moment is characterised by deep-rooted uncertainties, such as climate change and COVID-19. Uncertainty has been reported to be associated with negative mental health outcomes, such as stress and anxiety. However, no comprehensive review on the association between uncertainty and mental health exists. Aim The aim of the curre...

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1017/gmh.2021.40.].

Background Concerns exist that online learning directed at non-Western settings to strengthen research capacity imposes Western-centric epistemology, provides unidirectional transfer of knowledge, and neglects local paradigms and expertise. We argue that a plurality of voices, histories and epistemologies are essential to strengthen research capaci...

In this Spotlight, we explain what we mean by solidarity, argue that we are far from achieving it in our current global pandemic response, and outline ways forward that would allow for a more effective pandemic response based on practices of genuine solidarity.

There has been widespread discussion of the possible impact of Covid-19 on mental health, but little comparison with previous crises. The report reviews the effects on mental health and well‑being of crises caused by disasters, war and conflict, economic collapse, and pandemics. For each crisis topics, two case studies are selected to explore in...

Summary box Israeli military occupation of the Palestinian territory has resulted in stunted development, weak and underfunded health and social services. The structural predicament in the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) has exacerbated political, economic and social instability during the COVID-19 outbreak. The current situation cannot be d...

This special issue builds on empirical research to provide new insights into the interrelations between collective memory and legacies of political violence in the Balkans. The contributions pay particular attention to two major issues: First, they explore the ways in which individuals and groups respond to and cope with violent pasts by investigat...

In recent years, research methods and data from cultural anthropology and transcultural psychiatry have highlighted the importance of paying attention to the ways in which culture shapes expressions of distress and help- and health-seeking. This chapter builds on these insights and offers an overview of selected major aspects of the role culture pl...

Accounts are increasing of non-voluntary deportations of Kosovar adolescents from European countries to Kosovo, and human rights organizations have condemned deportation practices endorsed by European governments for being violent and detri- mental to adolescents’ physical and psychosocial health and well-being. However, research remains scarce on...

Background Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) - including cardiovascular disease (CVD), cancer and diabetes - have become a significant global burden on health. Particularly concerning are CVD rates, causing approximately 18 million deaths worldwide every year. The statistics show that the disease is no longer a predominantly high-income country phen...

Background Since 2013, the community-based rehabilitation programme in the north of the West Bank has established nineteen support groups for mothers following a Multi-Family Approach (MFA), with technical support from the Institute of Community and Public Health (Birzeit University) and the War Trauma Foundation (Netherlands). The main aims of the...

The MHPSS Directory provides up-to-date information about governmental and non-governmental organisations providing mental health and psychosocial support services in the West Bank of the occupied Palestinian territory. It includes contact information, service location, types of services and activities, beneficiaries and MHPSS staffing. This MHPSS...

The Arabic version of the MHPSS Directory provides up-to-date information about governmental and non-governmental organisations providing mental health and psychosocial support services in the West Bank of the occupied Palestinian territory. It includes contact information, service location, types of services and activities, beneficiaries and MHPSS...

Violent conflict can have devastating and lasting consequences for mental as well as physical health. Posttrauma interventions have been a key focus of the global mental health movement, but have also given rise to an extensive body of literature criticizing the inappropriate transfer of Western psychological assumptions to contexts where they may...

In the last two decades, a new political geography has emerged changing the world map and the relations between nations and ethnic groups. The intersection of global processes with local or regional differences brings into focus the ways in which collective identity is shaped, constructed, imagined, and reconstructed for various political ends. As...

This article offers a description and critical evaluation of a novel method for inquiry-based learning (IBL) directed at undergraduate students: a Global Health Hackathon. The hackathon was piloted as part of an ‘Introduction to Global Health’ undergraduate course in order to enable students to gain and create knowledge about specific global health...

In the last two decades, a new political geography has emerged changing the world map and the relations between ethnic groups. The intersection of global processes with local or regional differences brings into focus the ways in which collective identity is shaped, constructed, imagined, and reconstructed for various political ends. As a result, in...

Man-made and natural disasters continue to increase worldwide. A day does not go by without headline stories documenting human tragedy resulting from acts of violence or natural disasters. Emotionally charged photos on the internet, TV or newspapers showing bloody bodies or grieving families grab the viewing public’s attention acutely, but quickly...

In this Think Piece we argue that mental health system reforms are not mainly driven by scientific evidence and international standards, but rather by concrete political constellations, national and international development agendas, local and global socioeconomic contexts, and the interactions between differently positioned actors. We further argu...

Despite a growing body of literature, substantial variance remains between researchers, mental health experts, clinicians, and practitioners over the nature, structure, and contents of psychosocial interventions aimed at reducing the mental health burden in war-torn and postconflict societies. We conducted a focused and systematic review of the l...

Violence has been shown to be a global challenge resulting in long-lasting social, medical, and mental health sequelae. In this article, we focus on massive social violence, such as war and civil war. Social suffering and mental health problems related to violence as a global public health problem can be tackled only with a holistic approach that a...

In Nepal, spirit possession is a common phenomenon occurring both in individuals and in groups. To identify the cultural contexts and psychosocial correlates of spirit possession, we conducted a mixed-method study in a village in central Nepal experiencing a cluster of spirit possession events. The study was carried out in three stages: (1) a pilot...

Mental illness accounts directly for 14% of the global burden of disease and significantly more indirectly, and recent reports recognise the need to expand and improve mental health delivery on a global basis, especially in low and middle income countries. This text defines an approach to mental healthcare focused on the provision of evidence-based...

This essay analyses how the relationships between Cold War and post-Cold War politics, military psychiatry, humanitarian aid and mental health interventions in war and post-war contexts have transformed over time. It focuses on the restrictions imposed on humanitarian interventions and aid during the Cold War; the politics leading to the transfer o...

This article traces the social life of psychiatric practice in the context of war and postwar societies. It is argued that although psychiatric knowledge and practice is situated and grounded in particular cultural, social, and political contexts, it is important to examine how transnational networks situate local systems of meaning in much larger...

This article examines some of the long-term health outcomes of extreme adversities and the ways in which social inequalities and idioms of distress are historically and socially produced in the Peruvian context. We describe how the highland Quechua of northern Ayacucho construct and experience expressions of distress and suffering such as pinsamien...

In recent years, disaster psychiatry and psychology have emerged as distinct areas of study with textbooks, journals and societies devoted to research and discussion of clinical and social issues. This development of the field has accompanied recognition that trauma and disasters may be associated with particular types of mental health problems req...

On 17 February 2008, the Kosovo Assembly declared its independence from Serbia. Nevertheless, Kosovo's political status is highly contested, and Kosovar Albanian as well as Western politicians and academics employ political as well as intellectual sources in an attempt to free the country from its historical chains and to provide it with an authent...

Researchers have tried to determine and verify the effects of violent conflicts on the mental health of those affected by focusing on war trauma, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and other trauma-related disorders. This, in turn, led to the development of different kinds of theories and aid programs that aim at preventing and treating the cons...

This article reviews ethnographic studies on Hutterite society in order to convey an overview of the ethnographic writs released during the past thirty years. Thereby the focus will be on factors that have been found to be related to the group's long-term survival. In order to not only describe and analyse an arbitrary accumulation of such factors,...

The war in Kosova had a profound impact on the lives of the civilian population and was a major cause of material destruction, disintegration of social fabrics and ill health. Throughout 1998 and 1999, the number of killings is estimated to be 10,000 with the majority of the victims being Kosovar Albanian killed by Serbian forces. An additional 863...