Abstract #1: Community-Based Mental Health Interventions in Indian Humanitarian Crises

Over 100 million people in South Asia face humanitarian crises annually, yet fewer than 10% receive mental health support. Humanitarian crises dramatically escalate mental health needs precisely when service systems are most fragile. In India, critical shortages of mental health professionals, urban-concentrated services, cultural barriers, and stigma render traditional care models inaccessible during crises. This scoping review examines and synthesizes how evidence from routine care settings can inform scalable crisis response specifically in the Indian context.

Bhanvi Sachdeva, MPH is a first-year medical student at the University of Alberta with a strong research interest in global public health, health promotion, and health equity. She completed her Master of Public Health at Columbia University and worked at the United Nations, where her work focused on climate-related humanitarian contexts and addressing barriers to culturally competent care & education for young people. Bhanvi's healthcare advocacy work has been recognized through awards including the Diana Award, Canada's Top 100 Most Powerful Women, and Alberta's 30 under 30.