Benefits of the study
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Wellbeing through understanding:
Emotional health and resilience are crucial to the development and wellbeing of children and adolescents. Understandings of emotional (or ‘mental’) health differ between and within cultures, as well as across the lifespan. The World Health Organization (2004:12) defines mental health as a:
…state of well-being in which the individual realises his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community.
Poor emotional health can seriously limit a young person’s ability to cope with and enjoy life, or form lasting and meaningful relationships with others. The experience of emotional problems can also bring distress, vulnerability, stigmatisation and disempowerment, and may lead to acts of self-harm or suicide.
In a multicultural country like Australia, fostering the wellbeing of young people from refugee backgrounds depends on having a good understanding of their specific personal and cultural mental health needs. It also means ensuring that young people are able to access culturally appropriate help and services. However, while insight into the mental health of adults with refugee backgrounds has grown in recent years, research into the mental health needs of young people with refugee experiences remains scarce.
This is despite the fact that half of the world’s 20 million refugees are children and teenagers. In South Australia alone, up to 44% of all refugees settled under the Humanitarian Program between 1997 and 2003 were children and adolescents.
The present study is expected to lead to a sustainable improvement in the mental health of young people with refugee experiences by providing a better understanding of the mental health needs and the impact of emotional health issues. It will also help to make sure young people from refugee backgrounds are getting the appropriate assistance and care. Fostering the wellbeing of young people with refugee experiences will have a positive, life-long impact on their lives, their families and their communities.
The involvement and support of two universities and the MRCSA, a state-wide service provider with a long history of working with refugee communities, ensures that the findings will be quickly translated into changes in policy and practice at a state level.