Psychosocial community approaches and practices in Latin America

Abstract

The use of the term ‘community approaches’ in psychosocial work often involves multiple meanings, all of which contrast with individual approaches to mental health. The importance of the context emphasizes the need to design and implement emergency programmes in ways that ‘make sense’ to local populations. This requires not only consideration of generational, gender, spiritual, and cultural practices within the community, but also reinforcing existing resilient resources in the face of adversity. In this commentary we describe several examples and sources that present ways of working in Latin American communities after disaster.We discuss the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Guidelines on Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Emergency Settings, with a speci¢c focus on ‘Community Mobilization and Support’and the four common functions it contains.