British Red Cross and VCSE Health and Wellbeing Alliance have published a report exploring access to and experience of mental health support for refugees and people seeking asylum in England.
This work was done with the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) Mental Health Team at NHS England and NHS Improvement. The research was co-produced with the VOICES Network, a collective of refugees and people seeking asylum.
The report finds:
A need for a person-centred, trauma-informed approach where the specific needs of the individual are considered and the most appropriate mental health support is offered.
An opportunity to improve communication with refugees and people seeking asylum in the provision of mental health support, including longer appointment times to overcome language barriers, preference for face-to-face appointments, written and translated communication, and consistent access to professional interpreters.
Services need to better coordinate and communicate with each other. People have concerns about needing to share their story multiple times with different public services as well as over data sharing affecting outcome of asylum application.
Increased provision of peer support offers an opportunity to improve mental health.
It is important to maintain continuity of care and ongoing access to the same healthcare professionals once a relationship has been established. This is especially important during dispersal.
Service design and delivery could be improved by effective feedback mechanisms, which are accessible and easy to understand.
