[Durgical](https://durgical.com/en/) › [DurgiPedia](https://durgical.com/en/durgipedia/) › [Nursing](https://durgical.com/en/nursing/) › [Mental health and psychiatric nursing](https://durgical.com/en/nursing/areas/mental-health/) › Psychosocial care for victims of Colombia's armed conflict (Ley 1448 de 2011, PAPSIVI) # Psychosocial care for victims of Colombia's armed conflict (Ley 1448 de 2011, PAPSIVI) - Fundamental Victims of the armed conflict have a right to psychosocial and health rehabilitation; nurses give trauma-informed care and link them to PAPSIVI. Updated Nov 13, 2026 ## Key points - Ley 1448 de 2011, art. 3: victims are people harmed by violations linked to the armed conflict from 1 January 1985, and in some cases their close relatives. - Art. 135: rehabilitation covers legal, medical, psychological and social measures to restore physical and psychosocial conditions. - Art. 137 (modified by Ley 2421 de 2024): PAPSIVI is proactive, individual, family and community, free of charge and interdisciplinary, with nurses named in its teams. - PAPSIVI has two components: psychosocial care and comprehensive health care, guided by MinSalud's protocol of comprehensive health care with a psychosocial approach. - Trauma-informed care: safety, trust and transparency, peer support, collaboration, empowerment and choice, and attention to culture, history and gender. - The law's validity was extended to 10 June 2031 (Ley 2078 de 2021). Official text checked on 2026-11-13 at secretariasenado.gov.co. ## What it is Ley 1448 de 2011 (the Victims and Land Restitution Law) recognises the rights of people harmed by the internal armed conflict and includes rehabilitation as a form of reparation. Its article 137 created the Programme of Psychosocial Care and Comprehensive Health for Victims (PAPSIVI), run by the Ministry of Health with two components: psychosocial care, and comprehensive physical and mental health care. Nurses meet victims in every service: displaced families, survivors of violence, relatives of disappeared people, former child recruits. The nurse's role is trauma-informed care that avoids re-traumatising, detection of mental-health needs and risk, and linkage with PAPSIVI and the health route. ## Key points - Victims include people abroad, members of the security forces harmed in the terms of the law, and children who were unlawfully recruited and left the groups as minors (art. 3). - The psychosocial support must last as long as the victims need it and take gender, ethnic, social and cultural factors into account (art. 136). - PAPSIVI must give quality care with trained staff, especially for victims of sexual violence, and has special mechanisms for children orphaned by the conflict (art. 137). - MinSalud Res. 1166 de 2018 sets guidelines for the staff who guide and assist victims. ## Components - The legal frame: Ley 1448 de 2011 and its changes (Ley 2078 de 2021, Ley 2421 de 2024). - PAPSIVI: psychosocial component and comprehensive health component. - Trauma-informed care in every service. - Detection, first support and referral by the nurse. ## What it is for - To guarantee victims the right to rehabilitation as part of comprehensive reparation. - To ease emotional suffering, support physical and mental recovery and help rebuild the social fabric of communities. - To give nurses a route: detect, support, refer to PAPSIVI and follow up. - To make health services safe places that do not re-traumatise. ## In nursing practice - Ask about experiences of violence privately and only as far as needed for care; let the person decide what to tell. - Explain each procedure before touching and offer choices: control reduces arousal and re-traumatisation. - Screen for depression, post-traumatic stress, substance use and suicide risk, and refer to mental-health services when needed. - After a recent crisis, offer humane, practical support (psychological first aid) that respects dignity, culture and abilities. - Inform the person about PAPSIVI and the victims' route, and coordinate with social work and the territorial health entity. ## Common mistakes - Making a victim retell the events in detail at every contact. - Treating fear, anger or mistrust as lack of cooperation. - Ignoring the ethnic, rural and gender context of the harm. - Not referring to PAPSIVI because the person did not ask. ## Test yourself Think of the answer, then tap the question to see it. ## Which article of Ley 1448 de 2011 created PAPSIVI? Article 137 (modified by Ley 2421 de 2024): the Programme of Psychosocial Care and Comprehensive Health for Victims, run by the Ministry of Health. ## What are PAPSIVI's two components? Psychosocial care, for psychosocial harm, and comprehensive health care, for physical and mental health. ## Which three principles of trauma-informed care can you name? Safety; trustworthiness and transparency; collaboration and mutuality. Others are peer support, empowerment and choice, and cultural, historical and gender issues. ## Until when does Ley 1448 de 2011 apply? Until 10 June 2031, after the extension made by Ley 2078 de 2021. [Add to my cards (4)](https://durgical.app/estudiar/?add=/en/nursing/psychosocial-care-for-victims-of-colombia-s-armed-conflict/) ## Connections ## Related 3 - [Trauma-informed care and nursing for PTSD and acute stress](https://durgical.com/en/nursing/trauma-informed-care-and-nursing-for-ptsd-and-acute-stress/) - [Community mental health: primary care, home follow-up, rehabilitation, recovery and stigma](https://durgical.com/en/nursing/community-mental-health-primary-care-home-follow-up-rehabilitation-recovery-and/) - [People who live on the street (habitantes de calle): health risks and how to reach them](https://durgical.com/en/nursing/people-who-live-on-the-street-health-risks-and-how-to-reach-them/) ## Related conditions 1 - [Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and acute stress disorder](https://durgical.com/en/conditions/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-and-acute-stress-disorder/) [← All of nursing](https://durgical.com/en/nursing/) Educational content for students; it does not replace your institution's protocols, supervised clinical training or a prescriber's order. Dose-calculation examples use made-up numbers: they are educational, not a clinical order. Sources: [Ley 1448 de 2011 (Ley de Víctimas y Restitución de Tierras), texto vigente: arts. 3, 135–138 y 208](https://www.secretariasenado.gov.co/senado/basedoc/ley_1448_2011.html) (Secretaría General del Senado de la República de Colombia, 2011); [Programa de atención psicosocial y salud integral a víctimas (PAPSIVI)](https://www.minsalud.gov.co/Proteccion-Social/promocion-social/Victimas/Paginas/papsivi.aspx) (Ministerio de Salud y Protección Social, Colombia, 2026); [Nursing: Mental Health and Community Concepts, 15.3: Trauma-informed care](https://med.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Nursing/Nursing%3A_Mental_Health_and_Community_Concepts_(OpenRN)/15%3A_Trauma_Abuse_and_Violence/15.03%3A_Trauma-Informed_Care) (Open RN, Wisconsin Technical College System (CC BY 4.0), LibreTexts, 2022); [Psychological first aid: guide for field workers](https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241548205) (World Health Organization, War Trauma Foundation and World Vision International, 2011). ## **Spotted a mistake?** We are always improving for the community. Tell us what is wrong and our team will review it. Report a mistake Representative model, for educational purposes only. --- Source: https://durgical.com/en/nursing/psychosocial-care-for-victims-of-colombia-s-armed-conflict/ License: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Cite as: DurgiPedia (durgical.com), https://durgical.com/en/nursing/psychosocial-care-for-victims-of-colombia-s-armed-conflict/