AlCohol use in HumanitariAN settings: a programme of work to address alcohol and associated adversities among conflict-affected populations in UGanda and UkrainE (CHANGE)

Conflict-affected populations across the world are vulnerable to alcohol misuse and psychosocial distress. This is a direct consequence of exposure to war, violence, and ongoing stressors in their new areas of settlement such as impoverishment, unemployment, and discrimination. Alcohol may be used as strategy to cope with adversities which refugees and internally displaced people might face, and may cause or result from psychosocial distress. Despite the major health, social and economic consequences of alcohol misuse, there is a notable absence of interventions addressing alcohol use disorders (AUD) among conflict-affected populations. This proposal seeks to complement a WHO evidence-based psychological intervention for people living in adversities (“Problem Management Plus” (PM+)) with strategies to reduce alcohol misuse, thereby developing an intervention which prioritises alcohol misuse but also addresses other underlying mental health problems of conflict-affected populations. We will develop our intervention called PM+/AUD through a comprehensive formative research process, and evaluate the final intervention through two independent randomised controlled trials among South Sudanese refugees living in Uganda, and internally displaced persons in Ukraine. Our project will include social science research on implementation and scaling-up, and will produce guidelines for the treatment of AUD among conflict-affected populations.