Abstract
Background: Australia is an ethnically diverse nation with one of the largest refugee resettlement programs world wide, including high numbers of refugees with an Arabic speaking background. Evidence suggests that refugees can demonstrate high levels of psychological distress and are at a higher risk of developing mental illness such as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD). Notwithstanding, research has also shown Arabic speaking refugees have lower levels of professional help-seeking behaviours, postulated to be related to mental health literacy levels. Methods: A culturally sensitive mental health literacy (MHL) training program was developed and delivered in Arabic to Arabic speaking religious and community leaders using a 1-day training workshop format. An uncontrolled pre-, and post study design was used to provide a preliminary evaluation of improvement in PTSD-related knowledge, attitudes and help-seeking measures. Results: A total of 54 adults were trained, with 52 completing the pre- and post-intervention questionnaire. Significant differences were found post-training in measures such as the ability to recognise mental health problems (p=0.035) and an increased recognition of the role that medication can play in the treatment of PTSD (p=0.00). Further, an improvement in negative attitudes such as a desire for social distance (p=0.042) was noted and participants reported more helpful strategies in line with promoting professional help-seeking following training (p=0.032). Conclusion: Our findings indicated the training led to an improvement of some measures of MHL. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that the MHL program has been tailored for Arabic speaking religious and community leaders; who assist refugees with an Arabic background. By equipping community leaders with the knowledge to better respond to mental health problems, the overall goal of improving the mental health outcomes of Arabic speaking refugee communities is closer to being realised.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | 69 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | International Journal of Mental Health Systems |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 20 Aug 2020 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2020 The Author(s).
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- Arab countries
- health literacy
- mental health
- mental health promotion
- refugees
- religious leaders
