Mental wellbeing is not just an absence of ill health, it is also about making positive lifestyle changes. Refugees have often displayed amazing resilience in surviving persecution in their home country, flight and resettlement in the host country. But it can still be difficult to deal with everyday problems when old systems of social support have been removed. This section includes guidelines for health professionals on how to protect the psychological wellbeing of refugee clients, as well as self-help strategies for healthy living.

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23 Items

NHS/DoH

Meeting the Health Needs of Refugees and Asylum Seekers in the UK

Angela Burnett and Yohannes Fassil, 2002

PDF. This is a comprehensive resource pack for health care workers working with refugees. It includes information on psychological wellbeing.

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The Refugee Experience: Responding to the Psychosocial Needs of Refugees Key Issues

A Ager, 2001

Ager addresses the argument of vulnerability versus resilience as it relates to the psychosocial wellbeing of refugees.

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Health Development Agency

Promoting the Health of Refugees

2000

PDF. This is a report by the Health Education Authority the HDA's predecessor and its expert working group on refugee health. It includes information on the preparation of culturally appropriate health promotion materials.

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Refugee Studies Programme, Oxford University

Psychosocial Wellness of Refugees The Issue of Measurement,

F Ahearn, 1997

PDF. This lecture is a comprehensive analysis of the difficulties in applying western psychodynamic models of mental health across cultures.

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UNHCR/WHO

Mental Health of Refugees

1996

PDF. The 96-page document is an invaluable resource for tackling the mental health problems faced by refugees, understanding their cultural needs and developing coping strategies. It includes helping skills, relaxation, alcohol and other drug problems, and services that promote well-being

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Medical Foundation

On Defeating Exile

J Shackman & J Reynolds, 1995

This paper acknowledges the value of a community based approach to improving the mental well-being of refugees.

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Refugee Studies Programme, Oxford University

The Non-Material Needs of Refugees

B Harrell-Bond, 1988

PDF. A paper presented to the World Congress on Physical and Mental Health of Emigrants, Rome. Set within the context of African Refugee Camps, Harrell-Bond examines the role of the capacity building in the promotion of mental well-being. In particular, the capacity to carry out traditional cultural practices such as burial rites and other ceremonies with a spiritual dimension.

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Free school meals are provided to children of asylum seekers

Children whose parents receive support under Part VI of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999 are entitled to free school meals.

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Refugee Council

Refugee Mental Wellbeing Training

These courses for people working with refugees were formerly run by the Breathing Space project a partnership between the Refugee Council and the Medical Foundation for the Care of Victims of Torture. Courses available include: Refugee Mental Wellbeing Awareness; Refugee Mental Wellbeing Training for Trainers; and Emotional Wellbeing of Refugee Children and Young People. To book phone 020 7820 3049

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Refugee Therapy Centre

This London based centre aims to provide culturally sensitive psychotherapeutic help for children and families of recently arrived refugees who are having problems of adjustment. The centre seeks to provide a healthy space so that refugees can discover their abilities and build their confidence to be active and healthy members of the community. Therapy is offered in Amharic, Arabic, Albanian, Bosnian, Farsi, French, German, Greek/Cypriot, Italian, Lingala, Russian, Serbo-Croatian, Swahili, Somali, Tigrina and Ukrainian.

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