Early Psychological Intervention for Collective Trauma: Capacity Building in Healthcare Students and Faculty

The World Health Organization emphasizes the integral role of mental health in overall well-being, highlighting the urgent need for psychological health protection in the face of increasing natural disasters and social conflicts. These events, often exacerbated by climate change and geopolitical tensions, have profound effects on community mental health, with trauma potentially impacting future generations. Recent neuroscience research underscores the necessity for early psychological interventions, such as Psychological First Aid (PFA), to mitigate these effects. This proposal advocates for the integration of PFA training into health professional education, targeting undergraduate and postgraduate students in medicine, psychology, and nursing. The initiative aims to equip future crisis responders with essential skills to address mental health challenges arising from collective traumatic events. The training will encompass individual and community-level approaches, ensuring cultural sensitivity and systemic perspectives. The project outlines specific work packages, including online training courses, dataset repositories for best practices, and case study collections, all designed to enhance the preparedness of health professionals and improve psychological health outcomes in affected populations.