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“I can’t describe how I could get better, but I would like to” - Conception of health and illness of refugee youth in Germany
Introduction and objective: Almost half of all the people displaced worldwide are children and adolescents. Many refugee children, adolescents, and young adults suffer from psychological stress. However, their utilization of (mental) health services is low, probably due to a lack of knowledge abo...
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Philipps-Universität Marburg
2023
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | PDF Full Text |
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| Summary: | Introduction and objective: Almost half of all the people displaced worldwide are
children and adolescents. Many refugee children, adolescents, and young adults
suffer from psychological stress. However, their utilization of (mental) health
services is low, probably due to a lack of knowledge about (mental) health and
(mental) health care. The current study aimed to explore concepts of (mental)
health and illness of refugee youth as well as assess their mental health literacy
(MHL) to arrive at conclusions for improving mental health care access and use.
Method: From April 2019 to October 2020, we conducted 24 face-to-face
interviews with refugee children and adolescents in an outpatient clinic (n = 8), in
youth welfare facilities (n = 10), and at a middle school (n = 6). A semi-structured
interview was used to assess knowledge about mental and somatic health and
illness as well as corresponding health strategies and care options. The material
was evaluated using qualitative content analysis.
Results: Participants (N = 24) were between 11 and 21 years old (M = 17.9, SD = 2.4).
The coded material was assigned to four thematic main areas: (1) conception
of illness, (2) conception of health, (3) knowledge about health care structures
in their country of origin, and (4) perceptions of mental health care structures
in Germany. Compared to somatic health, the interviewed refugee children and
adolescents knew little about mental health. Furthermore, respondents were
more aware of opportunities of somatic health promotion, but almost none
knew how to promote their mental health. In our group-comparative analysis
we observed that younger children possess little knowledge about mental healthrelated
topics.
Conclusion: Our results show that refugee youth have more knowledge
about somatic health and somatic health care than about mental health (care).
Accordingly, interventions to promote the MHL of refugee youth are necessary to
improve their utilization of mental health services and to provide adequate mental
health care. |
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| Item Description: | Gefördert durch den Open-Access-Publikationsfonds der UB Marburg. |
| DOI: | 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1107889 |