Colombia has recently made unprecedented progress towards ending one of the longest armed conflicts in the world, entering a peacebuilding process which includes the reintegration of ex-combatants into society. However, psychosocial support is currently a small though critical component for ex-combatant reintegration. Our project aims to deliver and evaluate a contemplative-practice based psychosocial support program developed specifically to support Colombian ex-combatants in Colombia’s peacebuilding process. We will work in Medellin, Colombia with local partners to deliver and test the efficacy of this program through a combination of physiological, behavioral, and qualitative research methodologies. The proposed research aims to establish whether the program we’ve designed improves ex-combatants’ psychological health while providing initial evidence for how improvements in factors related to PEACE and trauma can support the well-being and healthy reintegration of ex-combatants to civilian communities. In addition, this research will help validate the use of this program as a tool for peacebuilding efforts in other Colombian regions. After our research, our local partners in Medellin will be the first to adopt this program as a permanent support structure for ex-combatants in Medellin.
Emery Brown
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Grantee
Emery N. Brown, M.D., Ph.D. is the Edward Hood Taplin Professor of Medical Engineering and Computational Neuroscience at MIT; the Warren M. Zapol Professor of Anaesthesia at Harvard Medical School; … MORE
Juan Santoyo
Universidad de Antioquia; Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Grantee, Planning Committee Member, Reviewer
Juan is an early-career researcher from Colombia who works in neuroscience and contemplative research. His training has involved studying the neurophysiological dynamics underlying meditation training and sensory perception in humans, … MORE
