scholarly journals Immigrant Mental Health, A Public Health Issue: Looking Back and Moving Forward

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Usha George ◽  
Mary S. Thomson ◽  
Ferzana Chaze ◽  
Sepali Guruge

The Mental Health Commission of Canada’s (MHCC) strategy calls for promoting the health and wellbeing of all Canadians and to improve mental health outcomes. Each year, one in every five Canadians experiences one or more mental health problems, creating a significant cost to the health system. Mental health is pivotal to holistic health and wellbeing. This paper presents the key findings of a comprehensive literature review of Canadian research on the relationship between settlement experiences and the mental health and well-being of immigrants and refugees. A scoping review was conducted following a framework provided by Arskey and O’Malley (Int J Soc Res Methodol 8:19–32, 2005). Over two decades of relevant literature on immigrants’ health in Canada was searched. These included English language peer-reviewed publications from relevant online databases Medline, Embase, PsycInfo, Healthstar, ERIC and CINAHL between 1990 and 2015. The findings revealed three important ways in which settlement affects the mental health of immigrants and refugees: through acculturation related stressors, economic uncertainty and ethnic discrimination. The recommendations for public health practice and policy are discussed.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Usha George ◽  
Mary S. Thomson ◽  
Ferzana Chaze ◽  
Sepali Guruge

The Mental Health Commission of Canada’s (MHCC) strategy calls for promoting the health and wellbeing of all Canadians and to improve mental health outcomes. Each year, one in every five Canadians experiences one or more mental health problems, creating a significant cost to the health system. Mental health is pivotal to holistic health and wellbeing. This paper presents the key findings of a comprehensive literature review of Canadian research on the relationship between settlement experiences and the mental health and well-being of immigrants and refugees. A scoping review was conducted following a framework provided by Arskey and O’Malley (Int J Soc Res Methodol 8:19–32, 2005). Over two decades of relevant literature on immigrants’ health in Canada was searched. These included English language peer-reviewed publications from relevant online databases Medline, Embase, PsycInfo, Healthstar, ERIC and CINAHL between 1990 and 2015. The findings revealed three important ways in which settlement affects the mental health of immigrants and refugees: through acculturation related stressors, economic uncertainty and ethnic discrimination. The recommendations for public health practice and policy are discussed.


2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mauro Giovanni Carta ◽  
Teresa Di Fiandra ◽  
Lorenzo Rampazzo ◽  
Paolo Contu ◽  
Antonio Preti

Introduction:Mental disorders are the largest cause of the burden of disease in the world. Most of the burden affecting adult life has its onset during childhood and adolescence. The European Pact for Mental Health and Wellbeing calls for immediate action and investments in the mental health of children and adolescents. Schools may be the ideal location for promoting health and delivering healthcare services, since schools are a location where young people usually spend their daytime and socialize, schools are easily accessible to families, can provide non-stigmatizing health actions, and form links with the community.Aims and Goals of this Special Issue:This issue is developed within the framework of the Joint Action on Mental Health promoted by the European Commission. This special issue presents a set of systematic reviews on the evidence of the international literature on school interventions for the promotion of the mental health and wellbeing of children and adolescents. It is focused on five topical main areas: promoting general health and wellbeing; programs targeting specific mental disorders and conditions and integration of adolescents with mental health problems; Bullying; Sport; Alcohol and Drugs. An additional paper on the results of the largest epidemiological study conducted in some European countries on the prevalence and relative risk factors of mental disorders in school-age completes the issue.Conclusion:These reviews are a first contribution to address future European research and interventions, in particular about the multiple ways through which European policies could support the schooling and wellbeing of children and adolescents.


2019 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. e231-e238 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleanor Holding ◽  
Lindsay Blank ◽  
Mary Crowder ◽  
Edward Ferrari ◽  
Elizabeth Goyder

Abstract Background The rising prevalence of mental health problems is a growing public health issue. Poor mental health is not equally distributed across social groups and is associated with poverty and insecure housing. An evaluation of a social housing intervention provided an opportunity to explore the connections between housing and wider determinants of health and wellbeing. Methods We undertook 44 interviews with social housing tenants over a two-year period to explore their views on housing, health and wellbeing. Results Poor mental health was common. The results suggest that perceptions of housing quality, service responsiveness, community safety, benefit changes and low income all have a detrimental effect on tenants’ mental health. Conclusions Social housing providers who wish to have a positive impact on the mental health of their tenants need to consider how to best support or mitigate the impact of these stresses. Addressing traditional housing officer functions such as reporting or monitoring home repairs alongside holistic support remains an important area where social housing departments can have substantial health impact. Tackling the complex nature of mental health requires a joined up approach between housing and a number of services.


New Medicine ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
gábor Kapócs ◽  
péter Balázs

mental health problems affect 10–20% of the pediatric population worldwide, with the same prevalence in both the high-income countries (hiCs) and low-and-middle-income countries (lmiCs). hungary has a relatively high prevalence of psychiatric disorders in children aged 4-17 (15.8%). psychiatric problems in children are an important public health issue in all countries, as the early diagnosis is important not only for the current well-being of the child, but also for their social and economic development throughout their entire lifetime. this paper reviews the relevant health policy acts of the hungarian government that have been released during the previous 15 years. all governmental programs followed the current Who (World health organization) and European union guidelines, indicating the growing influence of the international organizations on the domestic health policy. What is interesting, earlier programs concentrated on local governments and actions, and more recent documents underline the responsibility and role of the state and central government. When analyzing the health policy documents concerning child and adolescent mental health services, a gap between the growing scientific knowledge and its implementation can be seen. the situation of the hungarian psychiatry has been worsening from 2006 in terms of the capacity of both the in- and outpatient care. hungary has yet to fulfill the aims of already existing programs in the day-to-day clinical practice.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 184-194
Author(s):  
N. Akpysharov

Mental disorders are an acute public health problem in the WHO European region, affecting 25% the entire population every year. WHO activities in the area of mental health promotion at the level of individuals and society as a whole are aimed at improving human mental well-being, preventing mental disorders, protecting human rights and caring for people with mental disorders. The WHO European Conference on Mental Health (2005), 66th Session of the World Health Assembly (2013), 63rd Session of the WHO European Regional Committee (2013) have focused on mental health. In the Kyrgyz Republic, the State policy to change the system of assistance to persons with mental disabilities, to establish a unified mental health service and to change the attitude of society towards mental health and the mentally ill is reflected in the National Program Mental health of the population of the Kyrgyz Republic for 2001–2010, the National Health Reform Program of the Kyrgyz Republic Den Sooluk for 2012–2018, for the Sustainable Development Goals up to 2030, adopted at the Summit by UN members, the Program for Mental Health Protection of the Population of the Kyrgyz Republic for 2018-2030. Given the negative trends in the mental health care system, an important element in addressing the shortcomings is the increased use of new institutional forms of mental health care, such as the Medical Rehabilitation Unit, Intensive Mental Health Care Unit, Psychiatric Dispensaries and Outpatient Psychiatric Rooms, in dispensary monitoring. Priority in the further development of psychiatric care should be given to the most effective and less costly forms of its provision, ahead of the development of outpatient level, inter-agency interaction and integration of psychiatric service with other levels of regional health and social protection.


Author(s):  
Kwok Ng ◽  
Alina Cosma ◽  
Shynar Abdrakhmanova ◽  
Assel Adayeva

As mental health problems tend to increase during adolescence and is a serious public health issue in the Republic of Kazakhstan. Early detection is necessary and monitoring at the population level can be used to evaluate the progress of national programmes promoting positive well-being. Physical activity (PA) can be protective whereas increased screen time behaviours (STB) can be a risk for low levels of well-being. A national representative sample (n=4,731) of young adolescents aged 11y, 13y, and 15y from the Republic of Kazakhstan took part in the WHO collaborative Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) study. Respondents completed the WHO-5 Well-being scale, and items in on PA and STB. Internationally recognised, recommended cut-offs were used for analyses. Two models of binary logistic regressions were performed to examine the associations with PA (Model 1) and PA with STB (Model 2) after stratification by gender and controlling for age, locality and family affluence. Three quarters of young adolescents in the Republic of Kazakhstan have good overall well-being, despite the proportion reduces as adolescents age from 11y to 15y (boys, OR=0.66 CI=0.49-0.80; girls, OR=0.55, CI=0.43-0.71). The odds ratio for positive well-being were more than twice for boys and more than 3.5 for girls who reported daily PA than not being active daily. Spending less time on STB for girls was associated with positive well-being than spending more STB time (OR=1.28, CI=1.04-1.59). Well-being among young adolescents drops dramatically between the ages of 11y and 15y and is higher among rural schools attendees than in urban schools. The recommended amounts of PA can be protective of low well-being for both boys and girls. However, meeting reporting STB recommendations was only protective for girls and not boys. Designing and implementing positive well-being programmes require consideration of locality and amounts of PA and STB


2011 ◽  
Vol 198 (6) ◽  
pp. 417-419 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kamaldeep Bhui ◽  
Sokratis Dinos

SummaryThe government's Public Health White Paper for England sets out a utopian vision of how to prevent and remedy mental health problems. The public health approach relies on primary prevention, promoting individual responsibilities and resilience, while also sustaining existing services and tackling inequalities. These ambitions are consistent with the preventive psychiatric paradigm, and with the best of evidence-based psychiatric practice. Although the evidence on cost-effectiveness of public mental health interventions is growing, the challenge is to ensure that specialist knowledge informs policy, practice and research so that inequalities are not compounded. Specialist mental health professionals are needed to inform and lead public health reforms.


2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
M Bondy ◽  
D Cole

Abstract Background Farming continues to change globally, with steady industrialization, globalization and climate change and disproportionately high reports of stress and suicide. Little research has been done to understand how changes to farming impact mental health. We aimed to understand how Canadian farmers understand their stressors and experience their health. Methods We recruited 16 small-medium scale, diversified farmers through farm organizations in Grey-Bruce counties in Canada. We interviewed them about their perception of changes in farming, associated stressors, mental health and well-being, and community supports. Using a constructivist paradigm, we coded each interview, discussed results, and formulated emergent themes using thematic analysis. Results Farmers’ relationship to change was complex with both benefits and challenges of changing farm practices, technology and weather for health - a “double-edged sword”. Farmers described the resilience associated with farming which connects them to the land “essentially being at one with place.” Farmers’ work required them to be active, an asset for keeping them healthy, but also a challenge if mobility became restricted. Farmers’ noted overwhelming stress but stated “...the last thing most farmers want to do is admit that they are stressed or have a mental health issue.” Yet “...if you don’t have strong mental health then you can’t really be resilient and cope with the stresses of climate change and all the things that will happen on a farm.” They voiced a perceived lack of support from governments - dealing with bureaucracy, community - experience of isolation or stigma, and health services - an over-stretched, often distant system. Conclusions Farmers’ understandings from Canada will be compared to literature from Europe to demonstrate relevance inform public health programs promoting mental health in rural communities, advocacy for government supports to diversified farmers and evaluation of intervention programs. Key messages Farmers experience change as a double edged sword with benefits and challenges for health and mental health. Public health needs to intervene to meet farmers where they are and to advocate with farmers for further support.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 234-237
Author(s):  
Tulika Borah ◽  
Binapani Deka

Mental health has become a major public health issue worldwide. Physical, mental and social parameters are vital for all human beings and these are closely interwoven. Good diet has always been associated with physical health, but recent research shows that mental well-being is related to dietary behaviours. The way an individual eats is a complex mixture of thoughts, beliefs and moods.


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