A team from the Monash Centre for Development Economics and Sustainability (CDES) has found that simple activities such as play therapy and art have proven powerful not only for improving the mental health and wellbeing of Rohingya women and children but also for preserving their traditional culture.
Located in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, the world’s largest refugee camp is inhabited mostly by Rohingya refugees that fled ethnic and religious persecution in Burma (also known as Myanmar).
Lead author of the research project and CDES Director, Prof. Asad Islam, said that the play-based solution called the Humanitarian Play Lab has substantially improved the well-being of refugees who had suffered post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and grief from forced displacement….