10 insights from new humanitarian research studies in 2025

Our Research for Health in Humanitarian Crises (R2HC) programme supports research-practice collaborations aimed at strengthening public health response in humanitarian settings.  

Cordelia Lonsdale, Senior Research Impact Advisor, rounds-up 10 R2HC-supported research studies that closed in 2025 and what we can learn from them:

1. The best simplified protocol for treating malnutrition

A rigorous comparison in Niger of the two leading ‘simplified’ malnutrition treatments used by humanitarian actors compared with treatment as usual, found that Combined Protocol for Acute Malnutrition Study (ComPAS) was the best balance of cost, effectiveness, and resource use, especially under limited budgets.

An editorial in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition called the study “a remarkable achievement.[…creating] the opportunity for those caring for acutely malnourished children to use these insights to improve programming.”

2. A promising intervention for reducing harmful alcohol use

An intervention to reduce alcohol-related harms in a humanitarian setting, Screening, Brief Intervention and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) was tested in Zambia with 400 participants. SBIRT successfully reduced alcohol use over 12 months, while also proving feasible and acceptable to implement. This is the first fully powered trial of this kind of intervention in a humanitarian setting.

3. Investments and training needed to strengthen abortion care in Ethiopia

This study in conflict-affected Amhara, Ethiopia, found high levels of need for comprehensive abortion care (CAC), but serious service-delivery gaps. Better training and support for midwives, who currently provide most care, could strengthen quality of care; but broader health systems investments are also needed.

Read Elrha’s policy brief “Her Health, Our Future: The Case for Evidence-Based Abortion Care in Humanitarian Policy and Funding”.

4. Memory training helps trauma-affected adolescents

A randomised trial in Afghanistan and Iraq showed that METRA, a memory-skills-focused intervention, proved less costly than standard care while delivering comparable benefits for adolescent mental health, improving symptons of post-traumatic stress, depression, and anxiety.  

5. Integrating Venezuelan migrants into the Colombia’s healthcare system is more than a legal fix

This innovative mixed-methods study evaluated health policies and service uptake. It found that the Colombia government successfully increased enrolment of Venezuelan migrant women in the national health system by about 134%. However, health service usage declined, suggesting barriers to access that run deeper than legal status – such as information gaps, costs, discrimination, service availability, or competing priorities.

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6. Promising early results for integrated interventions for IPV in antenatal care

This research evaluated SWAP (Strengthening Women's Agency in Pregnancy), an empowerment counselling intervention, with 145 Congolese refugee women attending antenatal care in a Tanzanian hospital.  The intervention proved acceptable, with most requesting further counselling sessions, while delivering reductions in physical IPV and improved mental health.

7. How conflict-affected health systems fail gender-based violence (GBV) survivors

This study in Amhara, Ethiopia, found significant gaps across the health system in provision and access to survivor-centred care for women affected by GBV. The findings underscore the urgency of strengthening policies and healthcare infrastructure, and building skills and knowledge among providers and communities.

8. Does mental health support help chronic disease patients manage medication?

Research in a displaced persons camp in Thailand found that a mental health intervention, the Common Elements Treatment Approach, helped improve self-reported medication adherence. More research may be needed to improve clinical outcomes for crisis-affected persons with chronic diseases. (Explore Elrha's project on cardio-metabolic disease care innovations).

9. Stronger health systems needed to support health care workers at risk of violence

Researchers in South Kivu and Baghdad tested workforce-level and individual interventions to reduce violence against healthcare workers. A co-designed Code of Conduct showed sustained reductions in verbal and physical violence, while de-escalation training had short-term effects only. The complex drivers of violence point to the need for sustained, context-specific, and system-wide approaches.

10. Depression and conflict in Myanmar: what are the links?

A randomised study explored the effect of psychosocial interventions on mental health and social cohesion in conflict-affected Myanmar communities. While social cohesion improved after ‘skill building’ psychosocial activities, depression was found to be low at both baseline and endline, highlighting the complexity of measuring mental health outcomes in humanitarian settings.

Across these studies, one message comes through clearly: effective humanitarian health responses rarely depend on a single intervention alone. Progress often requires the right blend of evidence-based protocols, trained and supported staff, survivor-centred systems, and policies that translate access “on paper” into access in practice.

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