The research consists of 3 interrelated parts:

1) in 4 Western Balkan countries and 3 member states, a new instrument to register health care and community bas ed interventions for people with posttraumatic stress will be developed and tested;

2) a survey of people who experienced potentially traumatic events in the Balkans will be conducted in each of the 7 participating countries, 640 in each Balkan country and 250 in each member state. We will assess stressful events, utilisation of health care and community based services since the traumatic experience, costs of interventions, current and past levels of posttraumatic stress and other mental health disorders, a nd quality of life. The data will be used to develop statistical predictor models for the use of interventions and their outcome, i.e. level of posttraumatic stress and quality of life, which will be validated for each country and compared;

3) in the above survey a total of more than 800 people with persistent posttraumatic stress will be identified, interviewed in more detail, and followed-up after one year. Thus, we will investigate factors that influence symptom change in people with chronic symptoms, an d estimate the cost-consequences of interventions in this group.

Overall, the project will identify the relative contribution of medical care and community based interventions to recovery from posttraumatic stress in different groups and contexts. It will provide empirical evidence to design effective health and social care policies for people with posttraumatic stress, including the particularly challenging group with persistent symptoms.