1. Refugee Mental Health Local Community prepared and presented by Bindu Narula Settlement and Special Project Coordinator Calgary Catholic Immigration Society National RAP Conference Vancouver, BC February 2007

2. Mental Health Cross Culturally Cross culturally mental health is viewed differently Stereotypes about mental health Both amongst refugees and about refugees “What is normal behaviour?” Need to understand values and behaviour in a cultural context

3. Mental Health vs. Mental Well Being Degrees of Mental Health Not static, can change with circumstances GAR clients with severe mental illness are few but there are many people living on the fringe, they can go either way coping resettlement obstacles with alcoholism, family violence, withdrawal and social isolation

4. Services Provided to all GARs Primary Counselor (RAP & ISP) up to 3 yrs Follow up and monitoring HOST program Dedicated volunteers from community Survivors of Torture Program Listening to people’s stories Refers clients for appropriate psychological counseling Calgary Refugee Health Program Referrals to mainstream resources Psychologists Hospitals for more severe cases

5. Mental Health Resources On-going joint meetings with Calgary Refugee Health Clinic, CCIS and CHRA Objective: meeting was intended to discuss mental health issues and identify gaps Identify some refugee sensitive resources in the community

6. Some Gaps Identified: staff not trained to recognize symptoms lack of sufficient support system-both clinical and informal fall through the cracks in system back home clients with more serious issues would most likely be institutionalized and monitored here they are left virtually unmonitored above cases are few

7. Some resources: networking with other agencies and community members Connecting people with ethno-cultural communities Cross Cultural Mental Health CHRA 1st language resource for mental health Peter Lougheed Centre Crisis Team Loss Counseling/Grief Counseling thru CRHA Mental Health Clinician at Alberta Children’s Hospital

8. References http://ethnomed.org/ethnomed/clin_topics/me ntal_health.html#mental