Mental healthcare of asylum-seekers and refugees

By Helen McColl, Kwame McKenzie, and Kamaldeep Bhui in Advanced Psychiatric Treatment Vol 14 No 6.(2008) 14: 452-459. doi: 10.1192/apt.bp.107.005041

Many health professionals feel ill-equipped to deal with the complex needs of asylum-seekers and refugees. This article offers an overview of the literature, and reviews the demography, epidemiology and causes of mental illness in refugee and asylum-seeker groups. It discusses the types of service configurations and service response that would be appropriate. It highlights the findings of the Royal College of Psychiatrists’ consensus team and their position statement on the treatment of refugees and asylum-seekers. It finishes with some thoughts about what clinicians can do to improve their treatment. Clearly, there is a need for more training, education and service development.

Helen McColl is Mental Health Advisor for the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT), based in Copenhagen, Denmark (Email: [email protected]). Kwame McKenzie is a senior scientist within the Social Equity and Health Research section at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto, Canada, and a Professor at the Institute of Philosophy Diversity and Mental Health, University of Lancashire, UK. Kamaldeep Bhui is a Professor of Cultural Psychiatry and Epidemiology at Barts and The London, London, UK.

The failed Asylum Seeker:Lessons from two encounters

By Adeniyi S. Adetoki,
CT1 Trainee Psychiatrist
Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health Trust, Birmingham.

Within the last 6 weeks I have been directly involved in the management of two young female failed asylum seekers who presented with psychiatric problems. Both had children for partners who were themselves asylum seekers, and one had spent some time in a detention camp. Both had reasons for seeking asylum which would appear difficult to prove, as they fell more within the realm of personal experiences of persecution rather than such issues as war or political upheaval.

The severity of the impact of the asylum seeking process on these two individuals and the implications of this for their partners and the children involved further highlights the need for improvement in the approach to mental health care for asylum seekers. This includes full and careful assessment of their claims for seeking refugee status. I believe that training in trans-cultural aspects of psychiatric care should be introduced early in the curriculum for psychiatric training.

Declaration of interest: None.

References

1.Helen McColl, Kwame McKenzie, and Kamaldeep Bhui Mental healthcare of asylum-seekers and refugees. Adv Psychiatr Treat 2008; 14: 452-459