Addressing the unique supervisory needs of humanitarian volunteers: Insights from piloting the ‘Integrated Model for Supervision’ in Bangladesh
Background: The quality and sustainability of mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) services - as an essential component of any humanitarian response - requires that those delivering MHPSS services avail of regular and supportive supervision. The ‘Integrated Model for Supervision’ (IMS) pro...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2025-06-01
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| Series: | SSM - Mental Health |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666560325000155 |
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| author | Charles Zemp Marie Sonnenstuhl Nadeen Abujaber Pia Tingsted Blum Ahlem Cheffi Md Saidul Islam Salam Jabbour Sabiha Jahan Cátia Sofia Peres de Matos Bhanu Pratap Maurya Kelly A. McBride Louise Marie Thorlund Nielsen Nick Ockenden Nathalie Helena Rigall Meg Ryan Shona Whitton Frédérique Vallières |
| author_facet | Charles Zemp Marie Sonnenstuhl Nadeen Abujaber Pia Tingsted Blum Ahlem Cheffi Md Saidul Islam Salam Jabbour Sabiha Jahan Cátia Sofia Peres de Matos Bhanu Pratap Maurya Kelly A. McBride Louise Marie Thorlund Nielsen Nick Ockenden Nathalie Helena Rigall Meg Ryan Shona Whitton Frédérique Vallières |
| author_sort | Charles Zemp |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: The quality and sustainability of mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) services - as an essential component of any humanitarian response - requires that those delivering MHPSS services avail of regular and supportive supervision. The ‘Integrated Model for Supervision’ (IMS) provides humanitarian organisations with guidance on how to provide such supervision to their workforce. However, the unique supervisory needs of humanitarian volunteers, who comprise most of the global humanitarian workforce, are less well understood. This study explores these needs, identifies how they might be met through supervision, and highlights potential ways the IMS could be improved to better support MHPSS volunteers within humanitarian emergencies. Methods: Nine supervisors (staff members) and supervisees (volunteers) from a humanitarian organisation based in Bangladesh who had participated in an IMS training in May 2023 were interviewed about their experience with the IMS and how supportive supervision could be adapted for humanitarian volunteers. These interviews were then thematically analysed. Results: We identified three principal themes. First, participants highlighted the unique challenges of being a humanitarian volunteer, including a competitive mentality among volunteers, which they believed supportive supervision could help address. Second, participants emphasised the necessary adaptations to supportive supervision to effectively support the volunteer workforce. Finally, participants spoke about the organisational conditions that would pose challenges for implementing supportive supervision for volunteers, including low awareness of the importance of promoting volunteer mental health among organisational leadership. Discussion/conclusion: The current study highlights differences in supervisory needs between humanitarian volunteers and paid staff and how supportive supervision could be adapted to better serve the volunteer cohort. While this study serves as an important stepping stone for understanding these differences, further exploration is crucial to continue to tailor supportive supervision for humanitarian volunteers, particularly given their prevalence in global humanitarian aid efforts. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-fa1cdbfa7a164c58b4ee5cacd64e63f2 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2666-5603 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-06-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | SSM - Mental Health |
| spelling | doaj-art-fa1cdbfa7a164c58b4ee5cacd64e63f22025-08-20T02:33:35ZengElsevierSSM - Mental Health2666-56032025-06-01710040310.1016/j.ssmmh.2025.100403Addressing the unique supervisory needs of humanitarian volunteers: Insights from piloting the ‘Integrated Model for Supervision’ in BangladeshCharles Zemp0Marie Sonnenstuhl1Nadeen Abujaber2Pia Tingsted Blum3Ahlem Cheffi4Md Saidul Islam5Salam Jabbour6Sabiha Jahan7Cátia Sofia Peres de Matos8Bhanu Pratap Maurya9Kelly A. McBride10Louise Marie Thorlund Nielsen11Nick Ockenden12Nathalie Helena Rigall13Meg Ryan14Shona Whitton15Frédérique Vallières16Trinity Centre for Global Health, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, Ireland; Corresponding author. Trinity Centre for Global Health, Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin, 7-9 Leinster Street South, Dublin 2, Ireland.Trinity Centre for Global Health, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, IrelandTrinity Centre for Global Health, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, IrelandRed Cross Red Crescent Movement MHPSS Hub, Copenhagen, DenmarkRed Cross Red Crescent Movement MHPSS Hub, Copenhagen, DenmarkBangladesh Red Crescent Society, BangladeshTrinity Centre for Global Health, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, IrelandDepartment of Clinical Psychology, University of Dhaka, Dhaka, BangladeshRed Cross Red Crescent Movement MHPSS Hub, Copenhagen, DenmarkInternational Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, Health and Care Department, Geneva, SwitzerlandIndependent Mental Health and Psychosocial Support Specialist, United StatesRed Cross Red Crescent Movement MHPSS Hub, Copenhagen, DenmarkSave the Children, DenmarkRed Cross Red Crescent Movement MHPSS Hub, Copenhagen, DenmarkTrinity Centre for Global Health, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, IrelandRed Cross Red Crescent Movement MHPSS Hub, Copenhagen, DenmarkTrinity Centre for Global Health, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin 2, IrelandBackground: The quality and sustainability of mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) services - as an essential component of any humanitarian response - requires that those delivering MHPSS services avail of regular and supportive supervision. The ‘Integrated Model for Supervision’ (IMS) provides humanitarian organisations with guidance on how to provide such supervision to their workforce. However, the unique supervisory needs of humanitarian volunteers, who comprise most of the global humanitarian workforce, are less well understood. This study explores these needs, identifies how they might be met through supervision, and highlights potential ways the IMS could be improved to better support MHPSS volunteers within humanitarian emergencies. Methods: Nine supervisors (staff members) and supervisees (volunteers) from a humanitarian organisation based in Bangladesh who had participated in an IMS training in May 2023 were interviewed about their experience with the IMS and how supportive supervision could be adapted for humanitarian volunteers. These interviews were then thematically analysed. Results: We identified three principal themes. First, participants highlighted the unique challenges of being a humanitarian volunteer, including a competitive mentality among volunteers, which they believed supportive supervision could help address. Second, participants emphasised the necessary adaptations to supportive supervision to effectively support the volunteer workforce. Finally, participants spoke about the organisational conditions that would pose challenges for implementing supportive supervision for volunteers, including low awareness of the importance of promoting volunteer mental health among organisational leadership. Discussion/conclusion: The current study highlights differences in supervisory needs between humanitarian volunteers and paid staff and how supportive supervision could be adapted to better serve the volunteer cohort. While this study serves as an important stepping stone for understanding these differences, further exploration is crucial to continue to tailor supportive supervision for humanitarian volunteers, particularly given their prevalence in global humanitarian aid efforts.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666560325000155Integrated model for supervisionPsychosocial supportSupportive supervisionHumanitarian contextsHumanitarian emergenciesHumanitarian volunteers |
| spellingShingle | Charles Zemp Marie Sonnenstuhl Nadeen Abujaber Pia Tingsted Blum Ahlem Cheffi Md Saidul Islam Salam Jabbour Sabiha Jahan Cátia Sofia Peres de Matos Bhanu Pratap Maurya Kelly A. McBride Louise Marie Thorlund Nielsen Nick Ockenden Nathalie Helena Rigall Meg Ryan Shona Whitton Frédérique Vallières Addressing the unique supervisory needs of humanitarian volunteers: Insights from piloting the ‘Integrated Model for Supervision’ in Bangladesh SSM - Mental Health Integrated model for supervision Psychosocial support Supportive supervision Humanitarian contexts Humanitarian emergencies Humanitarian volunteers |
| title | Addressing the unique supervisory needs of humanitarian volunteers: Insights from piloting the ‘Integrated Model for Supervision’ in Bangladesh |
| title_full | Addressing the unique supervisory needs of humanitarian volunteers: Insights from piloting the ‘Integrated Model for Supervision’ in Bangladesh |
| title_fullStr | Addressing the unique supervisory needs of humanitarian volunteers: Insights from piloting the ‘Integrated Model for Supervision’ in Bangladesh |
| title_full_unstemmed | Addressing the unique supervisory needs of humanitarian volunteers: Insights from piloting the ‘Integrated Model for Supervision’ in Bangladesh |
| title_short | Addressing the unique supervisory needs of humanitarian volunteers: Insights from piloting the ‘Integrated Model for Supervision’ in Bangladesh |
| title_sort | addressing the unique supervisory needs of humanitarian volunteers insights from piloting the integrated model for supervision in bangladesh |
| topic | Integrated model for supervision Psychosocial support Supportive supervision Humanitarian contexts Humanitarian emergencies Humanitarian volunteers |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666560325000155 |
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