Providing newcomers with mental health services

Many types of treatment are available. The most important need is to develop a good partnership between the service provider and the client and their support network, if needed. Once this is done, a discussion of the benefits and challenges of different types of treatment can be undertaken.

Treatment for mental disorders depends on the type of mental illness, its severity, as well as the individual's clinical history. For immigrants and refugees, their cultural understanding of the disorder may also need to be considered. Depending on the diagnosis, health service providers need to consider the different types of treatment interventions (i.e., psychosocial, psychotherapy or pharmacotherapy) and different levels of intervention (i.e., individual, family or community) in the context of each client's particular situation.

Clinicians also need to consider a number of challenges when determining the type of treatment to recommend for immigrant and refugee clients. For example, knowing where refugee claimants are in the process of their claim is central; the anxiety refugees might experience prior to their hearing is best understood within this context.

Some immigrants and refugees may not want psycho-pharmaceutical treatment; if prescribed medication, they may not take it In addition, immigrants and refugees may also experience financial barriers to pharmacotherapy (Donnelly et al., 2011; Whitley et al., 2006; Antonipillai, Schwartz, Wahoush, & Baumann, 2022). If pharmacotherapy is the most appropriate method of treatment for the individual, health service providers may have to work with them, and potentially their family, to come to an understanding that such treatment is helpful to support their mental well-being.