Mental Health & Psychosocial Support in HE - Micro-credential

Overview

Who is this Micro-credential for? 

•    Researchers, humanitarian aid workers, volunteers, professionals, or anyone with a keen interest the international development sector interested in learning critical skills for the development, management, and monitoring of mental health and psychosocial support programming within humanitarian emergencies.

Why should I take this Micro-credential?  

•    Learn from senior experts from the International Federation of the Red Cross, Red Crescent National Societies’ Psychosocial Reference Centre.
•    Gain knowledge of how humanitarian emergencies affect and impact the mental health and psychosocial well-being of individuals, families and communities.
•    Familiarise yourself with the most current research, guidelines, strategies, and interventions available to help mitigate adverse psychological responses common in the context of humanitarian emergencies. 
•    Learn about key mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) interventions and current tools available to support individuals across their lifespans, families, and communities. 
•    Learn how to tailor existing interventions to address the MHPSS needs of individuals, families and communities, whilst building on local capacities, coping methods and resources.
•    Learn about common monitoring and evaluation frameworks and approaches to assess the effectiveness and acceptability of MHPSS interventions.

When can I start this Micro-credential?  

•    There is one intake annually in January.

What do I need to be accepted onto this Micro-credential? – Entry requirements & Prerequisite documents  

•    Learners should be familiar with, and ideally have experience working in, the humanitarian sector. Learners should be familiar with key terminologies as well as key actors and stakeholders. Experience with programme implementation (though not necessarily MHPSS programming) is also desired. 

What will I learn? (include ECTS Weighting)

On successful completion of this micro-credential, learners will understand:
•    How emergencies impact on the mental health and psychosocial well-being of individuals, families and communities).
•    How to apply the Inter-Agency Standing Committee for MHPSS Guidelines to explain the key principles and approaches of MHPSS programmes in emergency settings.
•    How to navigate the various components of an MHPSS humanitarian programme cycle. 
•    The role of key policies, tools, and manuals for MHPSS programmes in emergency settings. 
•    Different types of MHPSS interventions.
•    How to tailor different MHPSS interventions to specific population groups and contexts.
•    To critically compare and contrast the uses of key tools and manuals and their application to MHPSS interventions.

What will I do? 

•    You will participate in lectures and discussions utilising a mixture of online and in-person (where possible) approaches using Zoom and Blackboard. 
•    You will gain knowledge from a combination of peer-reviewed publications, case studies, current international policy and guidance documents (i.e., Sphere Standards, UN Reports, Standard Guidelines, up-to-date recommendations put forth by Inter-Agency Standing Committee on MHPSS in Humanitarian Emergencies), podcasts, and videos.
•    You will apply this knowledge to address a specific problem (i.e., describe the implementation of an MHPSS intervention within a specific humanitarian context).

How will this Micro-credential be delivered? 

•    This micro-credential takes a hybrid learning approach. 
•    Five full days of direct contact, starting the morning of Monday, January 8th, 2024, are required. These can be completed entirely online or in person. 
•    Additional time is allocated for self-directed learning and preparing the assignments.  

How is this Micro-credential assessed? 

There are two summative components:

•    Assignment (50%)
Students are required to write a comprehensive 2000-word essay analysing why, how, and when different MHPSS interventions should be applied within a humanitarian emergency - a case study will be provided. 

•    Group work (50%)
In groups of 3-4 students, and using the same case study, develop a capacity-building plan for training frontline volunteers/community workers in MHPSS. The group work will be assessed based on the submitted plan (70%) and a peer assessment of individual contributions (30%).