Health professionals’ experiences of and attitudes towards mental healthcare for migrants and refugees in Europe: A qualitative systematic review

Migrants living in Europe constitute over half of the world's international migrants and are at higher risk of poor mental health than non-migrants, yet also face more barriers in accessing and engaging with services. Furthermore, the quality of care received is shaped by the experiences and attitudes of health professionals. The aim of this review was to identify professionals’ attitudes towards migrants receiving mental healthcare and their perceptions of barriers and facilitators to service provision. Four electronic databases were searched, and 23 studies met the inclusion criteria. Using thematic synthesis, we identified three themes: 1) the management of multifaceted and complex challenges associated with the migrant status; 2) professionals’ emotional responses to working with migrants; and 3) delivering care in the context of cultural difference. Professionals employed multiple strategies to overcome challenges in providing care yet attitudes towards this patient group were polarized. Professionals described mental health issues as being inseparable from material and social disadvantage, highlighting a need for effective collaboration between health services and voluntary organizations, and partnerships with migrant communities. Specialist supervision, reflective practice, increased training for professionals, and the adoption of a person-centered approach are also needed to overcome the current challenges in meeting migrants’ needs. The challenges experienced by health professionals in attempting to meet migrant needs reflect frustrations in being part of a system with insufficient resources and without universal access to care that effectively stigmatizes the migrant status.

Voluntary Association Participation and White Ethnic Diversity in Rural Iowa Communities

Membership in voluntary associations is of core importance to civil society. In this study, I build on the large literature that focuses on how community racial/ethnic diversity affects individuals’ joining of—and participation within—voluntary associations. The central focus is on White ethnicity or European ancestry, which I analyze using the 2004 Iowa Community Survey and 2000 U.S. Census data. I find that White ethnic diversity is associated with fewer overall memberships and less frequent participation, with differing effects for various large groupings of voluntary organizations. I close our study by discussing the implications of my findings for organizations and the broader community.

Race, homelessness and inner-city policy in 1980s Britain

This article utilizes an organizational history of the Birmingham-based Handsworth Single Homeless Action Group (HSHAG) to explore black youth homelessness and inner-city policy in 1980s Britain. It draws upon under-used charity archives to intervene in recent debates, considering the part played by the voluntary sector within the Thatcher administrations’ inner-city policies and what targeted funding of this kind reveals about the remaking of the welfare state in these years. First, it introduces HSHAG, setting out the context of inner-city funding programmes, before questioning how sustainable this might have been for voluntary organizations engaged in supporting the homeless population. Secondly, it examines the effects of housing privatization and unemployment on HSHAG's attempts to advise homeless black individuals and assert their rights as citizens to state support. Together, it exposes the role of the voluntary sector in welfare state restructuring and considers how this change made the task of homelessness organizations Herculean.

Eventful past, stagnant present, and hopeful future: A time order analysis of experiences of homeless women with chronic mental illness residing in shelter care homes

Background: In developing countries like India, many women with mental illness are residing in shelter care homes (SCHs) without their wish. SCHs are residential facilities provided to the socially and economically backward women for free of cost. These facilities are funded by government or voluntary organizations. Aim: To understand the living experiences of homeless women with chronic mental illness (HWCMI) admitted in SCHs. Method: This article highlights learning from a qualitative study, 17 HWCMI participated in the research. Along with their past experiences, present life, and expectations in the future, other socio-demographic details also recorded. Qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis approach with the Atlas ti-8 software. Findings: Three main themes were emerged from the analysis such as ‘Eventful past’, ‘Stagnant present’, and ‘Hopeful future’. The theme ‘Eventful past’ shows clear pathways to homelessness. ‘Stagnant present’ reflects upon trapped present life and their concerns and care-related aspects. The final theme, ‘hopeful future’, depicts strong hope in future and readiness for changing their living situations. The findings are discussed in the background of current trends in psychiatric rehabilitation and what is lacking in the Indian context. Conclusion: This study attempts to unveil the gender-specific and person-centric explanations of experiences associated with the combination of homelessness and mental illness.

ROLE OF NGOS IN STIMULATION OF GOVERNMENT SCHEMES IN ITDA ADILABAD, TELANGANA STATE

Development is a dynamic and multifaceted phenomenon. The correct philosophy of development like equity participation, gender equality, sustainability and empowerment of the weaker sections cannot be incorporated in the process of prosperity by Governmental Organizations or Non-Governmental Organizations alone but by their collaboration. As a result of which, the voluntary sector gained momentum for accelerating development in the socio-economic field. Being familiar with the conditions of people voluntary organizations really makes things viable, communicable, and accessible to them and tries its very best for the re-establishment of their attitudes, aspirations, accomplishments and abilities in a proper way. Developmental role of NGOs is preparing the people for a change which is basically an advocacy role, viz. development of education, incorporating self-sustainable development philosophy, and form public opinion about government policies or social issues, consciences for environmental problem, literacy, health, use of appropriate technology for family planning and empower the poor to overcome psychological inhabitations and opposition of appraisers. NGOs work in relief and delivery of public goods as direct suppliers and majority of the development by NGOs are NGOs and the Development of the Tribal People involved directly in productive activities. Role of direct supplier or implementer is relevant where bureaucracy is indifferent or inefficient, programs lack flexibility and cost effectiveness, poor are ignorant, elites are ambitious, success and services are reconditions for motivation, etc.

Devon Women in Public and Professional Life, 1900–1950

This book is one of the first to study the regional role of women in public and professional life, breaking new ground in early twentieth-century local and gender history. Covering politics (Eleanor Acland and Clara Daymond), medicine and education (Dr Mabel Ramsay and Jessie Headridge), and a variety of voluntary organizations (Florence Cecil, Georgiana Buller, Jane Clinton and Sylvia Calmady-Hamlyn), it shows how women worked individually and in collaboration to create new opportunities for women and girls in a large, mainly rural, county far from London and the industrial heartlands of England. These biographical studies are based on original research and reveal the huge public contribution made by these eight women, who up to now have been largely hidden from history. Devon Women in Public and Professional Life, 1900–1950 is a contribution to the history of women in Britain between the wars, a period that has received less attention than the Edwardian era and the two World Wars. It also fills a major gap in the history of Devon women, on which almost nothing has been published, and on Devon in the inter-war period, similarly neglected by historians. It will be of interest to academics and students in the fields of gender history and the history of modern Britain, as well as everyone interested in the history of twentieth-century Devon.

Nonpolitical Versus Political Participation: Longitudinal Associations with Mental Health and Social Well-Being in Different Age Groups

Drawing on public opinion and empirical research, one may advise people to participate in voluntary organizations because voluntary participation can improve their mental health and social well-being. However, do such benefits apply across different types of participation and across the life course? In this study, we investigated whether benefits to mental health and social well-being differ between nonpolitical and political participation and across age groups (preregistration is accessible at https://osf.io/kqcbe). Using 25 waves of data from the British Household Panel Survey and the Understanding Society (1991–2016), we conducted multilevel analyses with observations nested within participants in younger (14–29, n = 10,536), middle-aged (40–50, n = 4,955), and older (65–75, n = 3,059) adults. We used life satisfaction and GHQ-12 scores as measures of mental health, and social support and neighborhood belonging as measures of social well-being. We found only few and small significant effects at the within-person level: On occasions when younger adults reported political participation, they reported slightly higher neighborhood belonging than when they did not. On occasions when older adults reported nonpolitical or political participation, they reported slightly higher life satisfaction than when they did not. However, we found no significant differences between nonpolitical and political participation and among age groups. In sum, our findings qualify the opinion that voluntary participation yields significant benefits to engaged individuals. We discuss potential explanations, including characteristics of political participation in the United Kingdom.

Project MIRRA: Memory - Identity - Rights in Records - Access

Many people who grew up in care have gaps in their childhood memories and unanswered questions about their early lives. In the absence of family photos and stories they turn to records held by the local authorities and charities that looked after them. Accessing these records is a practically and emotionally challenging process. Response times are often long and the records received are redacted because they include confidential information about “third parties’” who are often family and carers. The language and ideas contained reflect the prejudices and assumptions of previous times. Some files are extremely long and confusing, whereas others only have a few pages to cover a whole childhood. Records may have been lost or destroyed altogether. Very few services are available to support people through the experience. MIRRA: Memory-Identity-Rights in Records-Access is a participatory action research project carried out at the Department of Information Studies at University College London since 2017 that explores these issues. It considered how child social care records have been created, kept and used in public and voluntary organizations in England from 1970 to the present. The research is co-produced with care leavers in partnership with The Care Leavers’ Association and reflects on how what it is recorded about a childhood can affect the individual concerned throughout their life. This article republishes edited blog posts produced during the research project. The original blogs in full are available at https://blogs.ucl.ac.uk/mirra/.

Barriers towards Resilient Performance among Public Critical Infrastructure Organizations: The Refugee Influx Case of 2015 in Sweden

During the autumn of 2015, Europe experienced a sharp increase in refugee influx, and many refugees arrived in the European Øresund Region. Refugees travelled through Denmark and over the Øresund Bridge, arriving in the third largest city in Sweden, Malmö. Private, public and voluntary organizations in Malmö had to change the way they worked to meet the new entry demands. Flexible adaptations to changing circumstances can be described as resilient performance and are supported or hindered by societal and organizational drivers and barriers. Qualitative interview data from Swedish organizations managing the refugee reception in Malmö were analyzed through the theoretical lens of Resilience Engineering (RE). The analysis results showed that necessary adaptations were not supported by the managerial design of the responsible public organizations. The analysis also showed that preconditions created from societal steering hinders value responsiveness at the public management level, i.e., the public management level has barriers towards becoming familiar with the organization’s value structures. Familiarity with the system value and goal structure is essential for an efficient prioritizing of conflicting goals, which is why it is suggested that this aspect be explicitly included in RE principles.