The myth of the 1-day training: the effectiveness of psychosocial support capacity-building during the Ebola outbreak in West Africa

This article summarises findings from a study which investigated the effectiveness of training on Psychological First Aid (PFA) delivered during the West Africa Ebola outbreak.

The study investigated whether PFA training could be delivered effectively in a single day. The article concludes that very short training on PFA is unlikely to be sufficient for most non-specialists to provide effective, nonharmful psychosocial support.

The article recommends that Government/NGO standardisation of PFA training and integration in national emergency response structures and systems could strengthen in-country capacity. Adapting PFA training to specific contexts is likely to lead to enhanced understanding and more effective use of the approach.