Barriers and Facilitators to Implementing a Community-Based Psychosocial Support Intervention Conducted In-Person and Remotely: A Qualitative Study in Quibdó, Colombia

Diana Carolina Chaparro Buitrago; Michel Rattner; Leah Emily James; Juan Fernando Botero García

doi:10.9745/GHSP-D-23-00032

Figures & Tables

Tables

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TABLE 1.

Sociodemographic Distribution of Community-Based Psychosocial Support Group Participants Interviewed, Quibdó, Colombia

Variables	In-Person,No. (%)(n=15)	Remote, No. (%) (n=10)
Gender
Men	5 (33.3)	2 (20)
Women	10 (66.7)	8 (80)
Age, median (SD; range), years	56.1 (16.2; 22–75)	34.8 (12.8; 18–63)
Ethnicity
Afro-Colombian	13 (86.7)	6 (60)
Indigenous	0 (0)	1 (10)
Other	2 (13.3)	3 (30)
Nationality
Colombian	12 (48)	7 (28)
Venezuelan	2 (8)	3 (12)
Dual citizenship (Colombian and Venezuelan)	1 (4)	0 (0)
Location
Urban	11 (73.3)	8 (80)
Rural	4 (26.7)	2 (20)
Education level
Primary school or less	9 (60.0)	1 (10)
Middle to high school	4 (26.7)	4 (40)
Undergraduate degree or higher	2 (13.3)	5 (50)
Marital status
Single	3 (20)	4 (40)
Married/in a relationship	11 (73.3)	6 (60)
Widowed	1 (6.7)	0
Employment status
Formal	0 (0)	1 (10)
Informal	9 (60)	3 (30)
Work at home	1 (6.7)	5 (50)
Student	0 (0)	1 (10)
Unemployed	5 (33.3)	0 (0)
Internally displaced
Yes	10 (66.7)	8 (80)
No	5 (33.3)	2 (20)
Traumatic events, median (SD; range) (7 max)	2.07 (1.6; 0– 7)	1.60 (1.4; 0–7)

Abbreviation: SD, standard deviation.

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TABLE 2.

Sociodemographic Characteristics of Focus Group Discussion With Staff Members, Quibdó, Colombia

Variables	No. (%)
Gender
Woman	9 (100)
Age, years
30–39	5 (56)
40–49	4 (44)
Ethnicity
Afro-descendant	9 (100)
Education
High school	2 (22)
Technician	4 (44)
Undergraduate	1 (11)
Graduate	2 (22)
Marital status
Married/cohabitation	6 (67)
Single	3 (33)
Job position
Community psychosocial agent	7 (78)
Psychologist	1 (11)
Social worker	1 (11)
Experience in Heartland Alliance International, years
1–3	1 (11)
4–6	3 (33)
7–9	5 (56)
Victim of armed conflict
Yes	7 (78)
No	2 (22)

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TABLE 3.

Implementation Science Initial Descriptive Categories of Participants’ and Staff Members’ Experiences in CB-PSS Groups

Category	Description
Commitment	Factors that contributed to participants’ motivation and engagement in the CB-PSS
Feasibility	Factors that facilitate or limit participants attendance to the CB-PSS
Adaptability	Cultural adaptability of the CB-PSS groups
Utility	Effectiveness of the CB-PSS groups to address participants’ psychosocial needs
Scalability	Potential conditions for scaling up the CB-PSS to other demographic populations
Satisfaction	Participants’ satisfaction with the implementation of the CB-PSS
Adoption (only staff members)	Willingness of staff members to adopt the model of the CB-PSS

Abbreviation: CB-PSS, community-based psychosocial support.

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TABLE 4.

Analytical Themes and Subthemes That Emerged From Analysis of Participants’ and Staff Members’ Experiences in CB-PSS Groups

Themes and Description	Subthemes	Description
Contextual barriers: Barriers within the local context that hindered the implementation of the CB-PSS groups.	Participants’ competing responsibilities, COVID-19 infection, and national strike	Participants’ conflicting responsibilities (job, household chores, and academic commitments), as well as the COVID-19 infection, hindered the in-person attendance. None of the participants reported being affected by the national strike.
	Access to technological devices and connectivity	Participants’ limited access to technological devices and connectivity challenges.
	Confidentiality concerns	Factors that compromised confidentiality.
	Acculturation challenges among Venezuelans	Adaptation challenges for Venezuelans.
Contextual facilitators: Factors within the context that facilitated the implementation of the CB-PSS groups.	Community organizations and leaders	Local community organizations, local leaders, official institutions demonstrate openness to networking, space facilitation, and promoting the CB-PSS.
	Integration of cultural practices	Incorporation of cultural practices to facilitate the implementation of the intervention.
Support strategies: Strategies implemented by the project managers to mitigate contextual challenges and capitalize on contextual facilitators.	Participant engagement and retention strategies	Strategies implemented by the staff members to foster participants’ engagement and retention.
	Strategies to support facilitators	Strategies implemented by project managers to mitigate staff members’ burnout and facilitate peers’ exchange of experiences, resources, and information.
	Use of local knowledge and multicultural perspectives	Community psychosocial agents’ local expertise and cultural openness to integrate diverse participants’ backgrounds.
Psychosocial skill changes and satisfaction: Perceived psychosocial skills changes facilitated by the CB-PSS groups.	Community-building skills	Community support skills are cultivated within the groups and exhibited by participants in group sessions and daily lived experiences.
	Problem-solving	Participants enhance skills when discussing problems, suggesting solutions, and implementing them daily.
	Emotional regulation	Participants’ ability to understand, manage, and modify emotions to adapt to different situations and social contexts.
	Satisfaction	Participants’ and staff satisfaction with the implementation of the CB-PSS group activities.