Session: Health and Resilience: Community-Driven Strategies to Address Violence and Climate Stressors in Informal Settlements (Society for Social Work and Research 30th Annual Conference Anniversary)

This symposium features five interdisciplinary studies that examine the intersections of violence, health, climate stress, and displacement across Nairobi's informal settlements and refugee communities. Anchored in the 2025 conference theme, "Leading for Transformative Change: Aligning Social Work Science with Policy and Practice," each study offers research-driven insights into community-rooted and survivor-led responses that center spiritual, structural, and relational resilience as tools for equity and well-being in high-risk, under-resourced settings.

The first presentation explores spiritual resilience as a critical yet overlooked coping resource among women facing climate-related stressors in informal settlements. Based on 144 in-depth interviews, this study highlights prayer, scripture, and religious institutions as vital sources of psychosocial support and calls for integrating spiritual practices into national climate adaptation and disaster response policies.

The second study elevates survivor-led recommendations for preventing violence against women (VAW) using a public health-social work framework. Drawing on interviews with IPV survivors, the study identifies multi-level prevention strategies, including community education, trauma-informed care, and one-stop service centers. Findings align directly with Kenya's GBV policy frameworks and call for greater survivor inclusion in service design.

The third presentation examines health resilience among women with chronic conditions and disabilities. This study identifies coping strategies such as hygiene practices, health service navigation, and the use of community health programs during extreme weather events. Findings point to urgent policy needs for disability-inclusive climate adaptation.

The fourth study introduces a new Integrated Migration Process Model of Coping with GBV, drawing on 50 in-depth interviews with refugee women in Nairobi. The model tracks evolving coping strategies across three migration phases: country of origin, transit, and host setting, revealing how spiritual, familial, and institutional supports shift over time. This research offers a policy-relevant framework for developing trauma-informed, migration-phase-specific interventions.

The fifth and final study examines neighborhood cohesion as a violence prevention mechanism in informal settlements. Participants describe the roles of trusted community leaders, religious institutions, and grassroots support systems in fostering cohesion and accountability. Findings challenge deficit-based narratives and call for investment in local social infrastructure to reduce IPV and mental health burdens.

Together, these studies advance a vision of transformative change grounded in lived realities, responsive to intersecting vulnerabilities, and actionable at the policy-practice nexus.