VSE’s & IMPACT’s presentation at ESTSS conference in Denmark, June 2017

1. 6/30/2017
1
Overview of international
psychosocial support initiatives
against the
backdrop of a parabolic model on
quality/attitude of psychosocial
support programmes.
An Verelst
Michel Dückers
Introduction Victim Support Europe
O Leading network of victim support
organisations in Europe
O 47 Members in 27 landen, among which
21 European Member States.
O Our Members work with ± 3000 staff,
20000 volunteers and offer victim
support to 2 million victoms of crimes
and disasters every year

2. 6/30/2017
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Introduction Impact
O Dutch national knowledge & advice
centre for community resilience and
psychosocial care concerning critical
incidents. advice Dutch and foreign
ministries, local governments and
organisations
O translating scientific research to specific
target groups, by developing handbooks
and guidelines.
Victim SupportEuropeand work on Mass victimisation
O Support Members
O Coordination
O Bring together expertise
O Policy Advice – European
Directive on Combatting
Terrorism

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The needsof victims of crime – a Europeanframework
Respect and
Recognition
Information
Access to
Justice
Victim
Support
Protection
Compensation
and
Mediation
Needs of victims of terrorism
Individual
needs
Needs of victims of
terrorism
Needs of all victims

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Victims’ Needs vs. Victims’ Questions
O ‘A victim does not ask for help’
O A clear message from victims of the terrorist attacks in Belgium ‘Reach
out your hand to us, hold it, accompany us. We do not have the
strength to come to you’
O ‘We were alone. If only they would have come earlier’ (Sousse, Tunisia)
O Some French victims: ‘the government was taking care of everything. It
didn’t give the space to victims to take their own initiatives’
A theoretical framework
O Psychosocial Program
O Quality (Donabedian model, Berwick, 2002)
O Attitude (Dückers, 2014)
i) basic aid
(i.e. shelter, safety, food, drinking water, first aid, and medication);
(ii) information (i.e. about what has happened, about
the fate of loved ones, about normal reactions);
(iii) Social and emotional support (i.e. comfort, a listening ear,
recognition of grief, compassion);
(iv) practical help (i.e. legal and financial issues, household);
(v) mental health (i.e. adequate detection and management of
complaints and problems)
• Need-centeredness: provide services that are respectful of and responsive to
preferences, needs, and values of affected people, ensuring that their values guide all decisions
• Safety: avoid injuries to people from services that are intended to help them
• Effectiveness: provide services based on scientific knowledge to all who could benefit
from them, and refrain from providing services to those unlikely to benefit, thus avoiding both
underuse and overuse, respectively
• Efficiency: avoid waste, including waste of equipment, ideas, and energy
• Timeliness: reduce waits and sometimes harmful delays for those who receive and
those who provide services
• Equity: provide services without variation in quality because of personal characteristics,
such as sex, ethnicity, religion, geographic location, and socioeconomic status
Attitude
Extremely passive (waiting,
deliberately or even
unintentionally doing nothing)
Overly Active (outreaching,
proactive intervention)

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A theoretical framework
Acting too actively
Underestimated resilience and self–
reliance. Problems and complaints
are created or increased.
RISKS: Unsafe, Ineffective, Inefficient,
Not need-centered, Not timely, Inequity
Acting too passively Overestimated
resilience and self-reliance. Problems
and complaints
are missed or neglected. RISKS: Unsafe,
Ineffective; Inefficient; Not need-
centered; Not timely; Inequity
Psychosocial interventions after terrorism and
disaster
O Website MH17
O Family Liaison officers
O Government information to victims Belgium
O Public campaign Boston Marathon Bombings
O EMDR Italian Earthquake
O Scanning Social Media

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MH17
Slachtofferhulp
Information for Victims of MH17
• Up to date, one source,
• Public and closed
• Judicial, practical, psycho-
education
• For broader group
• Responsive and FAQ
• Referral to psychosocial support
• Email notifications
Family Liaison
Officers
- After attacks in Sousse, Paris,
Brussels
- Active flyering, identification of
non-identified victims on
arriving flights – offering
support from Family Liaeson
Officers

7. 6/30/2017
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Belgian government
- Commemoration
- Incomplete and scattered list of
victims
- Timing and language
- Privacy concerns - impact on
the information received and
spread
Massachusetts Office
for Victim Assistance
- Public psycho-education
campaign around anniversary
and trigger events
- Prevention of psychosocial
consequences
- Reach victims after an open
attack

8. 6/30/2017
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Molise (Fernandez,2007)
- School destroyed by Earth
Quake in Molise (32 survived,
27 died)
- As it was considered the event
met all the DSM IV criteria for
PTSD – EMDR was offered to all
children, only few did not
complete the sessions
NL, BE
- Active scanning of social media
to
- 1) Identify victims to offer
support
- 2) Identify social concerns,
fears, unrest, questions among
the population,…

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Thank you!
Victim Support Europe
An Verelst
A.verelst@victimsupporteurope.eu
Impact
Michel Dückers
m.duckers@nivel.nl
Needs of victims of terrorism
O Recognition
O Truth
O Commemoration
O Media attention
O Information – clear, consistent, repeated, easily accessible
O Peer support
O Cross-border
O Open disasters