Refugee Mental Health and Place Network

We are a growing network of researchers and community organisations exploring post-migration factors and refugee mental health. We seek to strengthen interdisciplinary expertise and intersectoral capacity to inform health and social policy to help improve mental health outcomes for refugees and asylum seekers.

Mental health remains a pressing issue for displaced people. Recent scholarship has unequivocally recognised the importance of pre- and post-migration factors, including flight and resettlement, for people's mental health and wellbeing. Yet, increasingly hostile treatment of asylum seekers is but one sign that the post-migration context does not guarantee the peace of mind and safety associated with refuge. As well as experiencing precarious and uncertain conditions until asylum is granted, refugees have the added challenge of adapting to a new sociocultural environment, which can be difficult because of structural racism, discrimination, and marginalisation.

The role of place is salient given refugees have often little or no control over where they live and are more likely to experience the kind of adverse neighbourhood factors that have been more broadly associated with poor mental health. Furthermore, refugees can be isolated geographically because of dispersal policies which entails providing people with accommodation in often impoverished and isolated areas of the country. All these factors have been linked to worse mental health outcomes and a decrease in the quality of life for refugees.

Here you can find information about our current projects, activism and resources related to refugee mental health and the role of place. Please get in touch with us to learn more about our network and related initiatives.

If you would like to join our mailing list, please email

Guntars.Ermansons@kcl.ac.uk

Members

Ayesha Ahmad

Nazee Akbari

Leonie Ansems de Vries

Reader in International Politics

Zara Asif

Research Assistant

Kam Bhui

Erminia Colucci

Brian Dikoff

Guntars Ermansons

Lecturer in Social Science, Health & Medicine

Fatumah Farah

Farah Farsimadan

Mina Fazel

Simon Goodman

Matthew Hodes

Sandra Iman Pertek

Sohail Jannesari

Post-doctoral Researcher

Cornelius Katona

Hanna Kienzler

Professor of Global Health

James Kirkbride

Claire Marshall

Francesca Meloni

Lecturer in Social Justice

Sian Oram

Reader in Women’s Mental Health

Jenny Phillimore

Peter Schofield

Senior Lecturer in Population Health

Costanza Torre

Rachel Tribe

Charles Watters

Articles

Abi Chahine, M., Kienzler, H. Ageism, an invisible social determinant of health for older Syrian refugees in Lebanon: a service providers’ perspective. Confl Health 16, 62 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13031-022-00491-9

Alhakim J., Berdondini L., Marshall C. (2021) Humanitarian Intervention Training Programs. In: Bhugra D., Moussaoui D., Ventriglio A., Tribe R. (eds) Mental Health, Mental Illness and Migration. Mental Health and Illness Worldwide. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0750-7_32-1

Asif, Z., & Kienzler, H. (2022). Structural barriers to refugee, asylum seeker and undocumented migrant healthcare access. Perceptions of Doctors of the World caseworkers in the UK. SSM-Mental Health, 2, 100088. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmmh.2022.100088

Bulik, K. & Colucci, E. (2019). Refugees, resettlement experiences and mental health: a systematic review of case studies, Jornal Brasileiro de Psiquiatria, 68(2): 121-32 http://www.scielo.br/pdf/jbpsiq/v68n2/1982-0208-jbpsiq-68-02-0121.pdf

Colucci, E., Jaroudy, S. & Rossmann, M. (2022) Piloting of a Suicide First Aid Gatekeeper Training (online) for children and young people in conflict affected areas in Syria, International Review of Psychiatry, Sept https://doi.org/10.1080/09540261.2022.2100245

Colucci, E., Jaroudy, S., & Rossmann, M. (2022). Piloting of a suicide first aid gatekeeper training (online) for children and young people in conflict affected areas in Syria. International Review of Psychiatry, 1-9. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09540261.2022.2100245 Guidelines are freely available via links in the paper.

Colucci, E., Szwarc, J., Minas, H., Paxton, J. and Guerra, C. (2014). The utilisation of mental health services among children and young people from a refugee background: A systematic literature review. International Journal of Culture and Mental Health, 7(1), 86-108

Colucci, E., Minas, H., Szwarc, J., Paxton, J. and Guerra, C. (2015). Barriers and facilitators to the utilization of mental health services among young people of refugee backgrounds. Transcultural Psychiatry, 52(6), 766-790 http://tps.sagepub.com/content/52/6/766

Colucci, E., Valibhoy, M., Szwarc, J. Kaplan. I. & Minas, H. (2017). Improving access to and engagement with mental health services among young people from refugee backgrounds: Service user and provider perspectives, International Journal of Culture and Mental Health, 10(2), 185-196

Colucci, E., Too, T. & Minas, H. (2017). A suicide research agenda for people from immigrant and refugee backgrounds. Death Studies, Vol 41(8), Special Issueon Critical Suicidology http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/07481187.2017.1332912?scroll=top&needAccess=true

Colucci E. et al., (2018). Suicide first aid guidelines for assisting persons from immigrant or refugee background: a Delphi study. Advances in Mental Health, 16(2), 105-116 https://doi.org/10.1080/18387357.2018.1469383

Hodes, M. (2022). Editorial Perspective: Mental health of young asylum seekers and refugees in the context of COVID-19. Child Adolesc Ment Health, 27(2), 190-191. doi:10.1111/camh.12558

Hodes, M. (2022). Thinking about young refugees' mental health following the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry, 13591045221125639. doi:10.1177/13591045221125639

El Baba, R. & Colucci, E. (2017). Post-traumatic stress disorders, depression, and anxiety in unaccompanied refugee minors exposed to war-related trauma: a systematic review, International Journal of Culture and Mental Health, 11(2), 194-207 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17542863.2017.1355929

Ermansons, G., Kienzler, H., Asif, Z., & Schofield, P. (2023). Refugee mental health and the role of place in the Global North countries: A scoping review. Health & Place, 79, 102964. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2023.102964

Marshall C. (2021) Social and Political Agendas: The Securitisation of Migration and Detention as a Spectacle. In: Bhugra D., Moussaoui D., Ventriglio A., Tribe R. (eds) Mental Health, Mental Illness and Migration. Mental Health and Illness Worldwide. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0750-7_40-1

Marshall C. (2021) The Psychological Impact of Residing in a Refugee Camp. In: Bhugra D., Moussaoui D., Ventriglio A., Tribe R. (eds) Mental Health, Mental Illness and Migration. Mental Health and Illness Worldwide. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-0750-7_33-1

McDonough, S. & Colucci, E. (2019). People of immigrant and refugee background sharing experiences of mental health recovery: reflections and recommendations on using digital storytelling, Visual Communication 10(4): 527–540 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1470357218820651

Book chapters

Colucci, E. & Too, T. (2014). Culture, cultural meaning(s) and suicide among immigrants and refugees. In Heredia Montesinos, A., Van Bergen, D. & Schouler-Ocak, M., Suicide in the context of migration, 115–136, Gottingen, Germany: Hogrefe Publishing

Colucci, E. & McDonough, S. (2019). Recovering from mental illness and suicidal behaviour in a culturally diverse context: The use of digital storytelling in cross-cultural medical humanities and mental health, Chapter 13 in Lo, V, Berry, C. & Liping, G. (Eds) Film and the Chinese Medical Humanities, Routledge https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/recovering-mental-illness-suicidal-behaviour-culturally-diverse-context-erminia-colucci-susan-mcdonough/e/10.4324/9780429507465-18

Everyone welcom by katie moum via unsplash

The Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) Directory for Refugees and Migrants

Researchers at the ESRC Centre for Society and Mental Health have published a new directory listing mental health and social support services for refugees and migrants in London and Greater London.

Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) Directory for Refugees and Migrants in London

Finding our way

Stories of recovery from people with lived experience of mental ill-health from migrant and refugee background. Films can also be watched here: https://vtmh.org.au/stories/finding-our-way/

Finding Our Way

Café Scheherazade

Featuring photographs, stories and a documentary, Open for (more than) Business explores the unique role that local businesses play in Melbourne’s migrant and refugee communities, from an Indian grocery store in Clayton to an Italian barbershop in Brunswick and a Jewish cafe’ in St Kilda.

Cafe’ Scheherazade

Hiding in plain sight Survivor-led report highlights urgent need to recognise and help children and young people at risk of abuse during COVID-19 and beyond

Suicide First Aid Guidelines

Low-cost scalable community-based suicide prevention initiatives: Suicide First Aid Guidelines Approach

Suicide First Aid Guidelines

Working with Afghan Sanctuary Seekers: A guide for mental health professionals

Through cultural knowledge, this guide hopes to support health professionals in talking about and treating mental ill health in Afghan sanctuary seekers.

Working with Afghan Sanctuary Seekers: A guide for mental health professionals

LOHST – Lives on Hold , Our Stories Told

This interdisciplinary research will provide the first detailed study of the legal and welfare effects of Covid-19 on asylum seeking children and young people in the UK.

LOHST – Lives on Hold , Our Stories Told

Refugee Mental Health & Wellbeing Portal - University of East London

The Mental Health and Wellbeing Portal for Refugees & Asylum Seekers has been created to be utilised as a first stop resource to enable mental health and social care professionals, community organisations, statutory, international and national third sector organisations and refugees and asylum seekers themselves, to easily access the wealth of information, resources, and practical tools, many of which are not accessible in one place.

Refugee Mental Health & Wellbeing Portal

Guidelines for psychologists working with refugees and asylum seekers in the UK

This guideline is an important resource for directors, managers and practitioners of organisations working with refugees and migrants to provide services to this population, at home and abroad. This guidance will help everyone who is working with these vulnerable populations to access evidence-based psychology, which can help them to improve the lives of individuals and communities that have been affected by the ongoing crisis.

Guidelines for psychologists working with refugees and asylum seekers in the UK

Refugee Law Project

As a community outreach project of the School of Law, Makerere University in Uganda, currently host to the third largest refugee population in the world, Refugee Law Project seeks to empower asylum seekers, refugees, deportees, IDPs and host communities to enjoy their human rights and lead dignified lives.

Refugee Law Project

Social-Enterprise Groups for South Sudanese Refugee Survivors

The project supported refugee survivors of sexual and gender-based violence and torture, living in settlements in Northern Uganda, to establish and run social-enterprise groups.

Social-Enterprise Groups for South Sudanese Refugee Survivors

Student Action for Refugees (STAR)

STAR (Student Action for Refugees) is the national network of students building a more understanding and just society where refugees are welcomed and can thrive in the UK. The student groups based in colleges and universities and a central team of experts, work together at a number of levels to bring about lasting change.

STAR (Student Action for Refugees)

Refugee Education UK

Refugee Education UK are working towards a world where all refugee and asylum-seeking children and young people can access education, thrive in education, and use that education to create a hopeful, brighter future.

Refugee Education UK

Network for Dialogue

The Network for Dialogue has published new policy briefs which were developed for and further discussed at the 3rd European Policy Dialogue Forum on Refugees and Migrants in Lisbon, Portugal, on 19-21 October 2021, organised by the International Dialogue Centre (KAICIID), the Network for Dialogue and the European Council of Religious Leader/Religions for Peace Europe (ECRL/RfP), and supported by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).

Network for Dialogue

Poetry by Sanctuary Seekers

This anthology brings together poems from people who have sought sanctuary in the UK, primarily Iranians and Afghans. The poems were created from interviews for a PhD on mental health during the asylum process.

Poetry by Sanctuary Seekers

Without Capacity - Mental Capacity as a Barrier to Justice in the Immigration System

The main purpose of this report is to shed light on issues with mental capacity that appear in every step of the immigration process, and to show that there is a much bigger gap in the current system than initially suspected. Issues of mental capacity are often missed, not just by the Home Office, but by judges, lawyers, advisers, caseworkers and support workers on the ground.

Without Capacity - Mental Capacity as a Barrier to Justice in the Immigration System

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A sip from Syria: refugee integration and search for completeness

In this blog, Clinical Psychologist Mujahid Asmal-Lee reflects on the psychological distress experienced by refugees in their journeys to seek sanctuary.

A sip from Syria: refugee integration and search for completeness

Three young children walk in a refugee camp.

Refugee mental health: understanding place, politics and migration

Here in the UK, refugees and migrants face challenging conditions upon arrival – fuelled by anti-immigration policies and structural violence in the form of racism, discrimination and marginalisation, all of which lead to worse health and mental health outcomes. In this blog, the team reflect on our 2022 Refugee Mental Health & Place Network conference, which sought to explore these challenges and help create an opportunity to support these communities.

Refugee mental health: understanding place, politics and migration

Graffiti on a dirty wall, near barbed wire and an abandoned tent

The Border Follows Me

A border isn't simply a physical barrier but also a legal and social one that follows people around. Morteza draws on his lived experience seeking asylum in the UK to explain more. While Sohail, a migration and mental health academic, explains some of the theory behind it.

The Border Follows Me

Refugee Mental Health and The Role of Place

Mental health remains a pressing issue for displaced people. Recent scholarship has unequivocally recognised the importance of pre- and post-migration factors, including flight and resettlement, for people's mental health and wellbeing. Yet, increasingly hostile treatment of asylum seekers is but one sign that the post-migration context does not guarantee the peace of mind and safety associated with refuge.

Refugee Mental Health and The Role of Place