A Scoping Review and Analysis of Mental Health Literacy Interventions for Resettled Refugees in High-Income Countries 

Background and Purpose

This poster provides a scoping review of mental health literacy (MHL) interventions for resettled refugees living in high-income countries. Refugees have high rates of mental health disorders, including Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD), and somatic disorders. Despite high rates of mental illness, resettled refugees have low rates of mental health service utilization. Stigma surrounding mental health and low mental health literacy are primary reasons why resettled refugees do not discuss mental health needs or seek out mental health services in their country of resettlement. This poster highlights mental health literacy as an important and understudied area of need and intervention.

Methods

A scoping review was conducted to identify peer-reviewed journal articles that describe MHL interventions for resettled refugee populations in high-income countries of resettlement. Three databases were searched: ProQuest, PubMed, and Web of Science. Search Terms included “mental health literacy,” “intervention,” and “refugee.”

Findings

Through a scoping literature review, eight MHL intervention studies for resettled refugees in high-income countries were found that included three main approaches: Mental Health First Aid trainings (3), MHL interventions through group instruction beyond Mental Health First Aid (3), and MHL through community-oriented initiatives (2). Key concepts of interventions include participatory development methods, introduction of Western concepts of mental health and vocabulary, translation of mental health communication materials into native languages, situating MHL within a holistic well-being program, and including the voices of community members as advocates for increasing MHL.

Conclusion and Implications

The common thread across the studies in this review is an emphasis on adapting existing MHL interventions to linguistic and cultural contexts or creating new MHL interventions tailored to specific cultures and languages with input from community members. Bridging the cultural gaps between Western mental healthcare and resettled refugee populations can be greatly aided by incorporating a culturally sensitive approach in the development of MHL interventions. MHL intervention studies in refugee-serving schools and medical settings are warranted, as well as across multiple media platforms (e.g., radio, television, website, print, and social media). As the global refugee population continues to grow, future research should continue developing MHL interventions for diverse refugee communities to increase mental health service utilization and reduce mental health disparities.