Organization:
The Center for Victims of Torture works toward a future in which torture ceases to exist and its victims have hope for a new life. We are an international nonprofit dedicated to healing survivors of torture. We provide direct care for those who have been tortured, train partners around the world who can prevent and treat torture, and advocate for an end to torture. We are headquartered in Minnesota with offices throughout Africa and the Middle East.
Purpose and Scope of the Evaluation
Consultancy Goals
This consultancy aims to help CVT international projects identify appropriate, feasible, and clinically effective options for tele-mental health, tele-physiotherapy and psychosocial support services to be delivered to survivors of torture and war trauma in complex humanitarian and low-resource settings.
Funding Level
The funding level for this consultancy is $45,000 - $65,000.
Approach
The Consultant should first collect and absorb information from project archives and documents, CVT clinical practices and protocols, contextual news articles, grey literature, peer-reviewed studies and journal articles, public reports on relevant issues, and CVT staff. In doing so, the Consultant should aim to understand the full scope of CVT clinical services in its international projects as well as the complex socio-political environments that affect client resources, safety, and accessibility. The Consultant should develop insights into how CVT conceptualizes and delivers mental health, physiotherapy and psychosocial support services to survivors of torture and war trauma, including current models and clinical aims. Based on this, the Consultant should generate a guidance document related to best practices in the areas of tele-mental health and tele-physiotherapy, identify evidence based approaches to tele-mental health and tele-physiotherapy that could be implemented within CVT’s working contexts, and generate recommendations for CVT to adapt current services or develop new services to meet the needs of CVT’s beneficiaries using basic tele-mental health and tele-physiotherapy modalities.
Responsibilities
The Consultant will be responsible for the following:
· Provide guidance to CVT international project management, research, and clinical team members on the clinical and ethical best practices of tele-mental health services for survivors of torture and war violence
· Work closely with a team of clinical advisors and service providers to understand CVT’s current torture rehabilitation and resilience services, and to recommend approaches for interdisciplinary integration in tele health practices
· Recommend effective clinical approaches to working with torture and war trauma survivors that can be delivered in low-resource and humanitarian settings with limited or basic telecommunications infrastructure (e.g. feature phones, landlines, basic smartphones)
· Identify the practical and clinical limitations of tele-mental health/tele-physiotherapy services for survivors of torture and war trauma
· Communicate with project team members professionally, respectfully, and collaboratively, and help them contribute to recommendations in a creative and inclusive manner.
Key Deliverables
Following successful implementation of the above, the consultant will be required to deliver a final report with recommendations to CVT’s international services team. The final report should include: an executive summary; an overview of references and resources used (including staff consultations); an analysis of CVT contextual and clinical parameters in the context of tele-mental health; guidance on best practices related to the implementation of tele-mental health/tele-physiotherapy that includes clinical and ethical decision making; presentation of relevant clinical approaches to tele-mental health and tele-physiotherapy that do not rely on advanced technology, are culturally appropriate and can be applied in low resource and humanitarian settings; and a discussion of any recommendations for CVT service delivery. Using material from this final report, the consultant will prepare a presentation to CVT staff. Where appropriate, training for clinical staff on the use of these recommendations may also be requested.
Competencies
The ideal applicant will have a passion for innovative approaches to clinical service delivery and a commitment to high standards of care. The applicant should have experience working on interdisciplinary clinical teams with experience integrating discipline-specific practices to enhance collaborative services (e.g. physical therapy, social work, mental health). Strong interpersonal skills and a team-oriented approach will be required, as well as an ability to interact with project staff from a wide range of cultural, professional, and social backgrounds. The applicant should have a strong understanding of and practical experience working in sensitive contexts and subject areas. Experience working in social enterprise, human rights, humanitarian, and/or non-profit settings is desirable.
Qualifications
In addition to the competencies described above, applicants should have:
· Academic or professional qualifications in mental health counseling, clinical psychology, physiotherapy and/or a related field.
· Experience designing and delivering tele-health services.
Timeline
The timeline for this consultancy is to begin within the next 30 days. It is estimated to take approximately 30 working days, but this may be re-evaluated following preliminary discussions with the successful applicant. At that stage, the consultant will offer a tentative workplan with specific dates based on the deliverables. The overall consultancy should be completed no later than Sept. 30, 2020.
Location and Required Travel
There is no travel required as part of this consultancy. The successful applicant will be expected to participate in team meetings remotely (using Zoom).
How to apply:
To Patrick Robbins (probbins@cvt.org): Send CV and a statement of interest, which should include the following: details on your relevant experience; daily consultancy rate, availability, and 2-3 professional references who can speak to the competencies and qualifications listed above. Please apply no later than July 26, 2020.