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New Directions in Refugee Youth Mental Health Services: Overcoming Barriers to Engagement

  • Ecological Factors and Trauma
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Abstract

Mental health outcomes in refugee youth are diverse, ranging from prolonged difficulties to resiliency. Refugee communities rarely access services, even for those youth who are in need. Barriers include (a) distrust of authority and/or systems, (b) stigma of mental health services, (c) linguistic and cultural barriers, and (d) primacy and prioritization of resettlement stressors. Mental health promotion among refugee youth requires an integrated response to these barriers. This article includes a description of how the previously mentioned barriers may prevent refugee youth from receiving mental health services; approaches to addressing them; and a detailed description of Supporting the Health of Immigrant Families and Adolescents (Project SHIFA), a program developed in collaboration with the Somali community in Boston, Massachusetts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, Children’s Hospital Boston, 21 Autumn St., 1st floor, Boston, MA, 02115, USA

    B. Heidi, Alisa B. Miller, Heather Baldwin & Saida Abdi

  2. Harvard Medical School, USA

    Heather Baldwin

  3. Boston University Children’s Hospital Boston, USA

    Alisa B. Miller & Saida Abdi

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  1. B. Heidi
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  2. Alisa B. Miller
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  3. Heather Baldwin
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  4. Saida Abdi
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Heidi, B., Miller, A.B., Baldwin, H. et al. New Directions in Refugee Youth Mental Health Services: Overcoming Barriers to Engagement. Journ Child Adol Trauma 4, 69–85 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1080/19361521.2011.545047

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