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