Migrant Groups Are More At Risk Of Developing Mental Disorder

Mental health is a person’s emotional and physiological well-being; some immigrants come to the country hoping for an easier and happier life, however, this is not always the case. As stated previously in lecture, assimilating to a new language, new food, and different cultural norms can be mentally draining. Experiences like exposure to war, death of loved ones, violence, oppression, and torture will likely make one mentally unstable and further complicates the resettlement process. The process of assimilating into a new cultural is mentally taxing to the soul, you are having to throw away all that you know and create a facade in order to be accepted. In my opinion, refugees and immigrants display poor mental health on arrival due to a combination

Writer and civil activist Audre Lorde points out, “It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.” The world is a made up of differences, which tends to lead to clashing ideas. Along the way of becoming “civilized”, humanity lost its most important idea: we are all one, we are all human. So why does this ancient idea not apply in modern day issues? What exactly happened along the way for one human to not be as entitled as another? The answers to these questions might never be answered, but there can be action done to remediate humanity's errs. One way to remediate is by asking what can be done for a population that is normally

According to SIM, various social determinants of health can dictate the presentation and severity of the patient’s illness. The main challenge in delivering effective care of refugee mental health is the complexity and the multi-factorial nature of their suffering. A refugee is identified as someone who was forced to flee his or her country due to traumatic factors such as war, persecution, violence and racism (Moussalli M., 1992). The exposure to these factors instills an overwhelming feeling of fear, submissiveness and vulnerability. As a result, refugees can be at a higher risk of developing debilitating psychological conditions such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety (McKenzie et al., 2010). On the other hand,

This report examines that the impacts of immigration detention and violating of human rights with the mental health care of asylum seekers. In the recent years, increased number of illegal immigrants arriving by boat in Australia. This raises key issues concerning about mental health of asylum-seekers, especially for detained immigrants. Research shows that Australia currently own around 13,000 refugees per annum, under the Refugee Convention (1951), Australia has obligation to evaluate refugee claims, but it processes only 2.2% of them made to 44 industrialised countries (p.315).

To begin it is helpful to understand that the word “migrant” is a rather contested concept, one that changes over time, and varies depending on the criteria used to assign it.(Raghuram & Erel, 2014, p.133)

The decision to relocate for many immigrants may be due to many challenging and stressful experiences (Yakushko and Chronister 2005). Even if the move was by choice, relocating takes a great amount of planning and pressure. The move often brings with it a great amount of losses of connections with family and friends from home. The pre-migration stress is very challenging. Stressors continue to be significant after relocating. Immigration challenges are stronger in immigrants than in normal demographics. Demographic variables such as age, gender, marital status,

This research is of importance because in order for individuals to function in society to their fullest capacities, they need to be the right mental and physical health. Immigrants tend to be a vulnerable group due to stigma and marginalization due to their differences with in their host countries. By pinpointing and understanding what social and cultural factors and how these factors affect them, medical measures and interventions can be taken in order to better their health and allow them to further advance their community. Current findings also show that individuals assimilate to Western culture, factors arising from the process and mechanisms of assimilation hurt health outcomes. Research as such can emphasis how medicine needs to be culturally sensitive when dealing with medical attention involving

A big part of understanding immigrant health is to make sure you know how it is determined by structural concepts. There are three types of concepts, the social determinant of health, structural violence, and structural vulnerability. The first being the social determinants of health, a key concept in public health, “focuses on the structural factors, aside from medical care, that are determined by social and economic policies and inequalities and have important effects on health” (Castaneda et al. 2014, 376). Immigration in itself is a health determinant because of its direct impact it has on social positioning. Im/migrants have an “ambiguous and often hostile relationship to the state and its institutions, including health services” (378). These have a direct impact on their health and wellbeing.

Different records put more prominent accentuation on basic obstructions to great health and care, for example, financial hardship including substandard housing and low quality nourishment, migrants absence of knowledge, access to and take-up of screening and immunisation, and insufficiency and inhumanity in support and including language support given by health care services .providers (Johnson, 2006). The health status and needs, and entitlement and access to healthcare of Migrants in the Uk today is a function of their diversity in terms of countries of origin, ethnicity, socio economic circumstances, religion, legal status and length of

I do believe migration should be considered a determinant of health. Migrants often have less access to health care facilities, are more prone to sexually transmitted infections and unwanted pregnancies, and often face various forms of abuse (Teweldeberhan, 2016). These factors can negatively affect a person’s health. Young migrant children are more vulnerable to diseases affecting the respiratory system and digestive system due to their poor living conditions and lack of proper hygiene (WHO, 2015). The environmental factors that migrants live in such as cold or hot weather can also lead to illness and death (WHO, 2015). Additionally, the social factors they face are separations from their spouses or family, lack of cultural norms, and sexual

Forced migration is defined as, “a general term that refers to the movements of refugees and internally displaced people (those displaced by conflicts within their country of origin) as well as people displaced by natural or environmental disasters, chemical or nuclear disasters, famine, or development projects” (Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, n.d.). Since the 1940, this issue has risen steady and affects over a million individuals globally. In 2015, nine out of 1000 people were evacuated by force (Bozorgmehr & Razum, 2017). Health problems can become abundant among forced migrants due to the vast amount of people dwelling within a small camp. Multiple diseases may begin to fester among the refuge location because many people may bring the foreign illness to the location. This may lead to new illnesses in a place that has not experienced that particular type of illness in that area. Because majority of forced migrants are in such crowded quarters, diseases can proliferate quickly throughout the population as a result of poor hygiene and sanitation. This leads to an increase in health care demand; however, due to the increased amount of people in the vicinity these types of services may be limited or unavailable to the individuals. A decrease or destruction of health care to forced migrates can eventually lead to and increase mortality rate (Skolnik, 2016).

In recent decades, population migration has become more common and prominent in many parts of the world. This means that two or more cultures have increasingly come in contact with each other and blended together, leading to what is known as the “melting pot”. This further leads to acculturation. Acculturation is the cultural and psychological changes caused by contact between two or more cultural groups and their individual members (Berry, 2005). Immigration is often a difficult process for individuals and families, even when voluntary. Often, the decision to leave one’s country of origin and move to another brings disconnection from familiar social institutions and cultural practices, separation from family members, and isolation from sources of support in one’s new homeland (Suárez-Orozco, Todorova, & Louie, 2002).

Adult (19-99 years) migrants (African origin) who visited the medical centre at least once during the period from 1st January 2010 to 31st December 2012 (three years) were included in the study. The information in the last visit was used from those who visited more than once during the specified period. Data cleaning was undertaken to get the most appropriate sample for the purpose. (Figure 1)

The number of refugees worldwide has increased as a result of acts of terrorism, ethnic cleansing, war and genocide (Assiri, 2014). It is estimated that there are over 12 million refugees worldwide (Crowley, 2009). A significant number of these refugees arrive in Australia yearly. Each year Australia receives 125,000 immigrants, 10 percent are refugees classified under the Humanitarian Program (Davidson, Skull, Calache, Murray, & Chalmers, 2006). Refugees are recognized as one of the most vulnerable population groups. Vulnerable population groups present with multiple cumulative risk factors for health complications, they are more likely to have worse outcomes from particular health problems as compared to the rest of the population (Pacquiao, 2008). Refugee’s often have a personal history marked by physical and psychological health problems. Most Refugees have experienced poor living conditions and have come from regions where access to healthcare is limited. Before migration, the experience of torture, loss, trauma is common. The acculturative stress connected to settlement in a new country can further complicate health problems. Common health issues for refugees include infectious diseases, dental diseases, poor nutritional status and mental health problems (Johnston, Smith, & Roydhouse, 2012). Healthcare professionals need to acknowledge these complex health issues. Refugee’s experiences with Australian healthcare professionals and services can significantly impact

In 2015, around 4900 people are compelled to flee every day, and if these people are populated as a country, the population number will rank in the 21st place around the world (Tatah et al., 2016). According to UNHCR (2011), refugee means “people are outside their country of origin or habitual residence and unable or unwilling to return there owing to serious and indiscriminate threats to life, physical integrity or freedom resulting from generalized violence or events seriously disturbing public order.” Turkey, Pakistan, Lebanon, Iran and Ethiopia are the countries hosting most refugees (UNHCR, 2017). Some critics state that many refugees with no skills or low skills are unable to enter into domestic labor market which may harm the economy in host country; moreover, communicable diseases carried by refugees challenge the local health control system. However, the influx of refugees can benefit the host country by improving the domestic economy and strengthening local public health system.