Background: Mental health among survivors of the 1994 Tutsi genocide in Rwanda remains poor, even after multiple efforts to assist those recovering from this trauma. The Community Resilience Model (CRM) is a biologically based set of skills that can be delivered in community settings by trained lay persons and has shown to significantly improve mental health in a number of settings and populations, though it has not been used with genocide survivors in Rwanda. This study assessed if the CRM training was able to improve mental health among genocide survivors.
Methods: A quasi-experimental design was used to evaluate the CRM intervention among Tutsi genocide survivors from the Huye, Nyamagabe and Nyaruguru districts in Southern Rwanda. Consenting participants completed a questionnaire before and six months after the training to assess their level of trauma, secondary traumatic stress, depression and skills to teach CRM skills to others.
Results: The findings revealed significant improvements across all trauma symptoms between the intervention and control group (t = 37, p< 0.001). The CRM trainings also resulted in significant within-person declines of depressive symptoms (p < 0.001), perceived secondary traumatic stress (p = 0.003) and trauma-related symptoms (p = 0.002). Training participants also reported significant increases in perceived CRM benefits and satisfaction (p < 0.001).
Conclusion: The CRM intervention was found to be effective for improving mental health in 1994 Tutsi genocide survivors. Since CRM can be delivered by trained persons to groups of persons in community settings, it has a high potential for successful broader implementation and sustainability, which is critically important in an environment with few mental health resources.



中文翻译：

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社区复原力模型技能培训在 1994 年卢旺达图西族种族灭绝幸存者的创伤愈合中的作用

背景： 1994 年卢旺达图西族种族灭绝幸存者的心理健康状况仍然很差，即使在多次努力帮助那些从这种创伤中恢复过来的人之后。社区复原力模型 (CRM) 是一套基于生物学的技能，可以由受过训练的非专业人士在社区环境中提供，并已证明可以显着改善许多环境和人群的心理健康，尽管它尚未用于种族灭绝幸存者在卢旺达。这项研究评估了 CRM 培训是否能够改善种族灭绝幸存者的心理健康。
方法：使用准实验设计来评估来自卢旺达南部 Huye、Nyamagabe 和 Nyaruguru 地区的图西族种族灭绝幸存者的 CRM 干预。同意的参与者在培训前和培训后六个月完成了一份问卷，以评估他们的创伤程度、继发性创伤压力、抑郁和向他人传授 CRM 技能的技能。
结果：研究结果显示干预组和对照组之间所有创伤症状都有显着改善（t = 37，p< 0.001)。CRM 培训还导致抑郁症状（p < 0.001）、感知继发性创伤压力（p = 0.003）和创伤相关症状（p = 0.002）显着下降。培训参与者还报告说感知到的 CRM 收益和满意度显着增加 (p < 0.001)。
结论：发现 CRM 干预可有效改善 1994 年图西族种族灭绝幸存者的心理健康。由于 CRM 可以由受过培训的人员提供给社区环境中的人群，因此它具有成功更广泛实施和可持续性的巨大潜力，这在精神卫生资源很少的环境中至关重要。