Psychosocial Adaptation and Integration of
Syrian Refugee Communities Using
Community Learning for Empowerment Groups (SP-ADAPT Project)

This research project is undertaken thanks in part to funding from the
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) Insight Grant.

Overview

The Psychosocial Adaptation and Integration of Syrian Refugee Communities Using Community Learning for Empowerment Groups project or, as abbreviated in the title, SP-ADAPT Project was implemented with Syrian refugees arriving in Edmonton, Canada.

The purpose of the project was to examine the psychosocial needs and adaptation processes amongst Syrian individuals and families by using community learning for empowerment groups (CLEGs) to build knowledge and identify community-based solutions. 

In this project we addressed the following research questions: 

1. What psychosocial challenges and needs do different Syrian refugee community members identify during early years of settlement? 

2. What psychosocial strengths and adaptation processes do different Syrian refugee community members utilize during early years of resettlement? 

3. What are the processes involved in developing and implementing community learning for empowerment groups?  

4. How do community-identified solutions affect different groups’ integration pathways?

In the video below, you can find an overview of the project.

Project Reports:

• Project Brief

• Community Report for Syrian ADAPT Project  (English)

• Community Report for Syrian ADAPT Project  (Arabic)

Educational Resources and Toolkits:

• Guide to Facilitating Community Learning for Empowerment Groups (Sessions Guide)

• Individual solutions toolkit (English)

• Individual solutions toolkit (Arabic)

Project videos:

In the videos below, you can find a summary of our learning about Syrian refugee community's challenges, strengths, and community-identified solutions as they resettled in Canada. These challenges, strengths, and solutions were organized across five psychosocial adaptation domains (Safety, Meaning, Attachment, Justice, and Identity) that are presented in five different videos. 

Please note that the characters in the videos are fictional. Their experiences are a composition of multiple participants in the project.

1-Safety Themes 2-Meaning Themes

3-Attachment Themes 4-Justice Themes

5-Identity Themes

Media:

• Newsletter - Education researchers seek to help refugees help themselves

Multiphase project prepares Syrian community leaders in Edmonton to facilitate difficult conversations and support resilience  (22 May 2019)

• Short video: Exploring psychosocial adaptation and integration with Syrian refugees by Joud Nour Eddin, a top 25 finalist in SSHRC’s 2020 Storytellers challenge.

Student Research:

• A community engaged research by Taylor, M. (23 Feb 2021)

• An arts-based research by Nathoo, J. (26 Feb 2021)