Abstract
Forced migration is likely to continue to grow in the coming years due to climate change, disease outbreaks, conflict, and other factors. There are a huge number of challenges to maintaining good health, and specifically good mental health, among migrants at all stages of migration. It is vital to fully understand these diverse challenges so that we can work towards overcoming them. In 2017, as a response to the growing health challenges faced by migrants and refugees, the M8 Alliance created an expert group focussing on migrant and refugee health. The group meets annually at the Sapienza University of Rome, Italy, and this article is based on the discussions that took place at the third annual meeting (6–7 June 2019) and a special session on “Protecting the Mental Health of Refugees and Migrants,” which took place on 27 October at the World Health Summit 2019 in Berlin. Our discussions are also supported by supplementary literature to present the diverse and complex challenges to the mental health of migrants and refugees. We conclude with some lessons learned and hope for the future.
Highlights
At a time when much of the Western press seem increasingly concerned about the problem that migration poses to their way of life, what these host nations stand to gain from the entry of skilled migrants and the scale and diversity of challenges faced by migrant and refugee populations is still largely underestimated
Forced migration, which refers to involuntary movement of individuals, and its implications have long been an issue for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), with developing countries hosting 85% of the world’s refugees [3]
The best practice at this moment is the use of an invalidated screening tool and this is advised as part of refugee health assessment, but these tools usually focus on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) through phases of migration [20]. Because of these challenges associated with mental health diagnosis and possible inaccuracy, recent efforts have focussed rather on the identification and study of protective and risk factors for mental health among young refugees. These factors may be studied according to various models, such as the chronological model, as factors related to the three phases of migration contribute to the cumulative stress experienced by children and may negatively impact their mental health, with exposure to trauma in the early phase linked to worse outcomes [18]
Summary
At a time when much of the Western press seem increasingly concerned about the problem that migration poses to their way of life, what these host nations stand to gain from the entry of skilled migrants and the scale and diversity of challenges faced by migrant and refugee populations is still largely underestimated. The M8 Alliance aims to set the agenda for global health improvement and development of science-based solutions to global health challenges. For these particular meetings, the M8 alliance focussed on some of the key issues for migrant health. Within this report, some of the really key issues, surrounding migrant mental health, will be explored. One such issue that limits the quality of care that migrants receive is that of cultural competence, or a lack thereof.
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