Mindfulness-SOS for Refugees:
Preventing a Crisis within a Crisis

COVID-19 & Stress among Refugees: An Imminent Crisis In addition to the public health infectious disease crisis around the world, the current COVID-19 pandemic has caused a wide-range of economic, social, and psychological stressors. Yet, for tens of millions of forcibly displaced refugees and asylum seekers, the stressors of COVID-19 are magnified significantly. Already struggling with insecure residential status, housing, income, food and health care access – refugees’ pre-existing daily life stressors and stress-related mental health problems (PTSD, depression, suicidality) are exacerbated by the pandemic. Worse yet, these stress- and mental health- consequences of COVID-19 could make some refugees more vulnerable to high-risk health behaviors likely to exacerbate community transmission of COVID-19 infection. The World Health Organization, UNHCR, and humanitarian aid agencies working with refugees and asylum seekers are sounding alarms of this emergent crisis within the ongoing humanitarian crisis of forced displacement.

Buffering Stress among Refugees: Crisis Prevention
There is thus a great deal of work to be done – from global to national policy through to individual psycho-social support of refugees and asylum seekers around the world. As part of these systemic efforts, we need effective, brief, low-cost, readily implemented and scalable preventive intervention programs to help buffer COVID-19-related stress among refugees and asylum seekers. In light of social distancing policies critical to infectious disease prevention as well as to ensure fast population-wide implementation, it is important that such a preventive intervention be delivered and monitored through a web-based e-health platform.

Mindfulness-SOS for Refugees
Accordingly, we developed Mindfulness-SOS for Refugees. Mindfulness-SOS-R is a brief, web-based adaptation of Mindfulness-Based Trauma Recovery for Refugees (MBTR-R). Mindfulness-SOS is designed to mitigate acute stress and related mental health symptoms among refugees and asylum seekers. A recent randomized control clinical trial documented large and significant stress-buffering effects of MBTR among African asylum seekers. MBTR-R significantly reduced stress-related mental health problems endemic to forced displacement, including PTSD, depression, and anxiety. These findings align with 2 decades of research documenting stress-buffering effects of mindfulness programs.

Mindfulness-SOS for Refugees: Online ImplementationUse and implementation of Mindfulness-SOS may take many forms. Individual as well as small groups of  refugees and asylum seekers may engage with Mindfulness-SOS for Refugees online, on their own. Likewise community leaders, NGOs, as well as governmental organizations may facilitate the delivery of Mindfulness-SOS as a means to help care for refugees and asylum seekers in their local communities. We are working to develop multiple language translations and socio-cultural adaptations of Mindfulness-SOS for Refugees – to maximize the potential reach and access to the intervention program. We also will be launching studies to monitor the use, safety and efficacy of Mindfulness-SOS among refugee and asylum seekers communities in the coming weeks and months.