Abstract
BackgroundRecent years have seen an increase in Arabic-speaking immigrants in Sweden and other European countries, with research showing this group to suffer from elevated levels of various forms of psychological disorders. There is a lack of treatment options for immigrants with mild to moderate mental health problems, with barriers including lack of accessible services and concerns that problems will not be understood by health care providers.ObjectiveThis study aims to describe the process of developing a transdiagnostic internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy self-help program in Arabic for mild to moderate symptoms of common psychological problems such as anxiety, depression, and insomnia.MethodsThe iterative development process, including feedback from 105 pilot users as well as 2 focus groups, is described.ResultsOverall, the modules were rated as acceptable by the pilot users, with overall ratings ranging from 3 to 4 points on average for the respective modules on a 5-point Likert scale. Feedback from the 2 focus groups was overall positive with regard to the content and structure of the program but also included suggestions for improving the Arabic translation as well as the usability of the material.ConclusionsAn internet-based self-help program that is deemed acceptable by an Arabic-speaking audience can be successfully developed, thus providing increased access to psychological help for an at-risk population. However, further research regarding the efficacy of this type of intervention is warranted.
Highlights
BackgroundRecent years have seen a sharp increase in Arabic-speaking immigrants in Sweden, with a majority of these arriving from either Syria or Iraq [1]
An internet-based self-help program that is deemed acceptable by an Arabic-speaking audience can be successfully developed, providing increased access to psychological help for an at-risk population
There is a lack of treatment options for immigrants with mild to moderate mental health problems in Sweden, partly because of an overall low availability of psychotherapy in Swedish http://www.researchprotocols.org/2018/12/e11872/
Summary
BackgroundRecent years have seen a sharp increase in Arabic-speaking immigrants in Sweden, with a majority of these arriving from either Syria or Iraq [1]. Previous research has established that immigrant populations tend to underutilize mental health services in relation to the majority population [8], with common barriers including lack of services in their respective language (eg, Arabic), concerns that problems will not be understood by health care professionals because of cultural differences, as well as stigma associated with mental health issues [9] This was true in a Swedish study, which found that refugees received more psychiatric inpatient care than the Swedish native population but similar levels of outpatient care, leading the authors to speculate that there were barriers to accessing care for milder forms of psychiatric problems [10]. There is a lack of treatment options for immigrants with mild to moderate mental health problems, with barriers including lack of accessible services and concerns that problems will not be understood by health care providers
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