In 2016 HealthWest received a small grant to enhance the work of the public mental health service system in the western metropolitan area of Melbourne in responding to refugees and asylum seekers who have a mental illness, or who are at risk of experiencing an episode of acute mental illness.
There is no screening tool for major depressive disorder (MDD) or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in asylum-seekers or refugees (ASR) that can be readily administered by non-mental health workers. Hence, we aimed to develop a brief, sensitive and rapidly administrable tool for non-mental health workers to screen for MDD and PTSD in ASR.
This resource provides information about culturally informed ways to support the mental health of refugee and asylum seeker children. It aims to support practitioners from a range of mental health, social work and community-sector backgrounds who work with children and families from refugee and asylum seeker backgrounds.
Children from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds may have specific experiences which affect their mental health. It is important to use a social determinants lens when exploring the factors that contribute to the mental health of children from CALD backgrounds.
This literature review has been drawn from academic and grey literature available within Australia and internationally. It focusses on good practices that are considered to improve the lives of young people from migrant and refugee backgrounds that are experiencing mental ill-health and are being supported in the community, including primary care settings.