Levent Küey, Turkey

Istanbul Bilgi University Psychology

Presenter of 2 Presentations

Educational 13:30 - 15:45

Forcibly Displaced People (Refugees, Asylum Seekers) and Mental Health: Basic Knowledge and Skills for Mental Health Workers

European 08:40 - 09:00

Do Asylum Seekers and Refugees Need Specialised Services? Pitfalls and Challenges of Mental Health Care for Asylum Seekers and Refugees. Status Quo in Europe - S067

ALL SESSIONS
European

Abstract

Abstract Body

This article discusses a current dilemma in the mental health care for refugees and asylum seekers: specialized or mainstream services?

The last decade had witnessed an increasing number of forcibly displaced people settling in European countries. Many are in the status of refugees, fewer in asylum seeking status. The integration process also includes mental health issues. Accordingly, health and mental health care systems are facing a dilemma: whether constructing new specialized services for refugees and asylum seekers or integrating such services into the mainstream services.

Creating special services has the advantage of responding to the unique needs of this population groups. The high prevalence of complex traumas and related complex mental disorders shape a series of special mental health needs. On the other hand, such special services have a risk of marginalizing refugees and asylum seekers.

However, organizing mental health care for refugees and asylum seekers in the mainstream health services faces a different challenge: how to respond the unique needs of this population groups becomes a crucial question. Training of the already available health / mental health personnel, or the health personnel who themselves are refugees are some of the solutions practiced so far.

This is not only a process of facing new problems but also opens the doors for a more multi-cultural milieu both for the receiving society and the refugees, also in the fields of health and mental health. It is also an opportunity of co-creating new ways and models of improving more culturally competent health systems.

Hide

Moderator of 1 Session

Date
04.07.2020, Saturday
Room
Caracas/Bogota
Session Description
By 2017 UNHCR estimated that over 68.5 million persons were forcibly displaced due to wars, armed conflicts, persecution and human rights violations. Mental health problems that forcibly displaced people (refugees and asylum seekers) experience constitute a serious public mental health problem. There is increasing evidence that a large proportion of refugees and asylum seekers residing in Europe suffer from the consequences of traumatic events and exhibit mental disorders including, but not limited to, trauma related disorders, e.g., Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. EPA considers as one of its major tasks to raise awareness on this important problem and outline strategies for how its member societies and the psychiatric profession at large may contribute to managing these challenges. This course aims to increase awareness, basic knowledge and skills of the psychiatrists and other mental health workers. The following issues will be addressed during this course: (i) basic nosology/terminology related to the forcibly displaced people (i.e., refugees, asylum seekers, IDPs, and etc.); (ii) facts and statistics on the current dimensions of problem; (iii) physical and psychological traumas, including sexual abuses, related to the displacement process; (iv) mental health situation and needs of specific risk groups among the forcibly displaced people; (v) current evidence on the mental health consequences and related psychiatric disorders; (vi) culturally sensitive clinical interview and assessment techniques; (vii) evaluation of the current situation of mental health care provision including a review of the opportunities and limits of existing mental health services for the forcibly displaced people.