title: Conducting a desk review to inform the mental health and psychosocial support response to the 2016 Ecuador earthquake.
abstract: Following the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that struck Ecuador on 16 April 2016, multiple salient public health concerns were raised, including the need to provide mental health and psychosocial support for individual survivors and their communities. The World Health Organization and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees recommend conducting a desk review to summarize existing information, specific to the affected communities, that will support timely, culturally-attuned assessment and delivery of mental health and psychosocial support shortly after the onset of a disaster or humanitarian emergency. The desk review is one component of a comprehensive toolkit designed to inform and support humanitarian actors and their responders in the field. This commentary provides a case example of the development of a desk review that was used to inform personnel responding to the 2016 earthquake in Ecuador. The desk review process is described in addition to several innovations that were introduced to the process during this iteration. Strengths and limitations are discussed, as well as lessons learned and recommendations for future applications.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neuroscience, King's College London, London, UK; Centre for Global Mental Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK; Research Institute for Primary Care and Health Sciences, Keele University, Staffordshire, UK.
authors.forename: M Isabela
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Troya
authors.affiliation: Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health , Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: M Claire
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Greene
authors.affiliation: Clinical Psychology, Universidad Complutense de Madrid , Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: Clara Gesteira
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.affiliation: Center for Disaster & Extreme Event Preparedness (DEEP Center), University of Miami Miller School of Medicine , Miami FL, USA.
authors.forename: James M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Shultz
keywords: Ecuador; MHPSS; desk review; disaster behavioral health; earthquake; humanitarian crisis; mental health; mental health and psychosocial support; psychosocial