A discussion paper for nurses and health workers on how COVID-19 worsened the mental health of refugees and people seeking asylum on temporary visas. It offers a trauma-informed way to respond.
Place: National
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The association between COVID-19 related stressors and mental health in refugees living in Australia
A survey of 656 refugees and people seeking asylum in June 2020 found that COVID-19 worries were linked to PTSD, depression and health anxiety. The strongest link was the pandemic reminding people of past trauma.
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Trauma and Mental Health in Resettled Refugees: Mediating Effect of Host Language Acquisition on Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms
A study of Bosnian refugees long resettled in Australia and Austria found that learning the host country’s language partly explained the link between past trauma and mental health symptoms. It supports language learning as part of recovery.
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Understanding the patterns and predictors of elevated psychological distress among humanitarian migrants compared to the host population: comparative matched analysis using two national data sources from Australia
Compared serious psychological distress in BNLA humanitarian migrants with matched Australian-born adults from the National Health Survey. It identifies which factors predict high distress in each group.
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Trends and determinants of mental illness in humanitarian migrants resettled in Australia: Analysis of longitudinal data
Used five waves of BNLA data to track PTSD and psychological distress among humanitarian migrants over time and to find the factors linked to them. It helps show who remains at risk years after arrival.
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Psychiatric status of asylum seeker families held for a protracted period in a remote detention centre in Australia
Psychiatric interviews with 10 asylum seeker families held in a remote detention centre for over two years. Every adult and child had at least one mental disorder, and disorders rose sharply after detention.
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Cohort Profile: Building a New Life in Australia (BNLA): the longitudinal study of humanitarian migrants
Describes the design of the BNLA study, which recruited 2,399 humanitarian migrants in 2013–14 and followed them over several yearly waves. It explains what was measured, including health, mental health, English and settlement.
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Pre-migration and post-migration factors associated with mental health in humanitarian migrants in Australia and the moderation effect of post-migration stressors: findings from the first wave data of the BNLA cohort study
Using the first wave of the BNLA study (about 2,400 humanitarian migrants), this study linked traumatic events before migration and stresses after arrival to PTSD and serious distress. Stresses after arrival made the link between past trauma and poor mental health stronger.
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Cultural diversity: Census, 2021
Census data on country of birth, ancestry, languages spoken at home and religion across Australia. It is the key source for describing the size and make-up of multicultural and multifaith communities.