A qualitative exploration of sources of help for mental illness in Arabic-, Mandarin-, and Swahili-speaking communities in Sydney, Australia

Klimentina Krstanoska-Blazeska, Andre Renzaho, Ilse Blignault, Bingqin Li, Nicola Reavley, Shameran Slewa-Younan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Despite being disproportionately affected by poor mental health, culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) individuals seek help from mental health services at lower rates than others in the Australian population. The preferred sources of help for mental illness amongst CaLD individuals remain poorly understood. The aim of this study was to explore sources of help in Arabic-, Mandarin-, and Swahili-speaking communities in Sydney, Australia. Eight focus-group discussions (n = 51) and twenty-six key informant interviews were undertaken online using Zoom. Two major themes were identified: informal sources of help and formal sources of help. Under the informal sources of help theme, three sub-themes were identified: social, religious, and self-help sources. All three communities strongly recognised the role of social sources of help, with more nuanced roles held by religion and self-help activities. Formal sources of help were described by all communities, although to a lesser extent than informal sources. Our findings suggest that interventions to support help-seeking for all three communities should involve building the capacity of informal sources of help, utilising culturally appropriate environments, and the collaboration between informal and formal sources of help. We also discuss differences between the three communities and offer service providers insights into unique issues that require attention when working with these groups.
Original languageEnglish
Article number5862
Number of pages16
JournalInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Volume20
Issue number10
Publication statusPublished - May 2023

Open Access - Access Right Statement

© 2023 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

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