Abstract Body

Backround and purpose: Some 50% of refugees in Germany are affected by depression, anxiety or post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of their experience. Especially young children are impaired in their development. In this study we evaluate the impact of a psychological intervention performed by general practitioners (GP) to support the mental health problems (MHP) of this patient group.

Methods: 375 Arabic speaking parents in Germany with young children are included in a controlled trial, and randomly assigned to intervention or control group, rsp. The intervention group receives four 30 minutes sessions over a period of ten weeks, delivered by trained GPs, and an established online parenting program to improve mental health and parenting of the parents, whereas the control group is treated as usual. Data are collected of the parents and children before, directly after and six/twelve months after the intervention. Primary outcome are MHP of parents and children as indicated by using methods like the clinician severity rating, PSOC, Mini- or Infant–DIPS and CSR-P/ -C. Severity Ratings will be performed by blinded trained raters. All interventions and measurements were translated into Arabic and piloted to their cultural sensitivity. Cost-effectiveness analyses and culturally sensitive assessments will also be investigated next to guided qualitative expert interviews of GPs to analyze barriers of treatment.

Conclusion: Based on the outcome of our study we anticipate a potential for improvement in the primary care of refugee families, and a potential to support GPs to deal with cultural and language barriers with these patients.