Short report

The Colombian conflict: a description of a mental health program in the Department of Tolima

Elisabeth Sanchez-Padilla¹ , German Casas² , Rebecca F Grais^1,3 , Sarah Hustache¹ and Marie-Rose Moro^2,4,5

¹  Epicentre, 8 rue Saint Sabin, 75011, Paris, France

²  Médecins Sans Frontières France, 8 rue Saint Sabin, Paris, France

³  Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Harvard University Cambridge, 14 Story Street, Cambridge, MA 02138, USA

⁴  Hôpital Avicenne, Assistance Publique Hôpitaux de Paris, Université de Paris 13, 125 rue de Stalingrad, 93009 Bobigny, France

⁵  Hôpital Cochin, Maison des adolescents, Université de Paris 5, 97 Bd de Port Royal, 75679, Paris cedex 14, France

author email corresponding author email

Conflict and Health 2009, 3:13doi:10.1186/1752-1505-3-13

Published:	23 December 2009

Abstract

Colombia has been seriously affected by an internal armed conflict for more than 40 years affecting mainly the civilian population, who is forced to displace, suffers kidnapping, extortion, threats and assassinations. Between 2005 and 2008, Médecins Sans Frontières-France provided psychological care and treatment in the region of Tolima, a strategic place in the armed conflict. The mental health program was based on a short-term multi-faceted treatment developed according to the psychological and psychosomatic needs of the population. Here we describe the population attending during 2005-2008, in both urban and rural settings, as well as the psychological treatment provided during this period and its outcomes.

We observed differences between the urban and rural settings in the traumatic events reported, the clinical expression of the disorders, the disorders diagnosed, and their severity. Although the duration of the treatment was limited due to security reasons and access difficulties, patient condition at last visit improved in most of the patients. These descriptive results suggest that further studies should be conducted to examine the role of short-term psychotherapy, adapted specifically to the context, can be a useful tool to provide psychological care to population affected by an armed conflict.