A short AIFS research summary using BNLA data. It reports high levels of distress and trauma symptoms among refugees but only about one in five seeking help, usually from family and friends, with stigma, language and cost as barriers.
Resource type: Government report
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Service needs and experiences of culturally and linguistically diverse veterans: Final report
A study based on interviews with 38 veterans from CALD backgrounds about their support needs. It describes racism experienced in the Defence Force and barriers to culturally responsive services, including for mental health.
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Community-based mental health and wellbeing support for refugees: An Evidence Check rapid review
A review, done for NSW Health, of community programs that support refugees’ mental health in Australia and similar countries. It found promising approaches such as group therapy, education programs, physical activity, peer mentoring and school programs, but the evidence was weak because few programs were well evaluated.
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Culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) review: mental health, alcohol and other drug services
A Queensland Health review of how mental health and alcohol and drug services work for people from CALD backgrounds. It found these services are under-used by CALD communities because of stigma and language and cultural barriers, which can lead to worse outcomes and more emergency admissions.
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A review of mental ill health for culturally and linguistically diverse communities in Western Australia
A literature review for the WA Mental Health Commission on mental health in CALD communities. It found there is no reliable data on how common mental health issues are in these communities in WA, and it recommends funding transcultural services and cultural training for staff.
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Reporting on the health of culturally and linguistically diverse populations in Australia: An exploratory paper
This paper tests how linked government data (country of birth, language, ancestry and more) can be used to report on the health of CALD groups. It shows that health differences become clearer when data are broken down into detailed groups rather than one ‘CALD’ category.
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Social determinants of health among culturally and linguistically diverse people in Australia
An analysis of how things like income, education and housing relate to long-term health conditions in CALD groups, using Census data. For mental health conditions, adjusting for these social factors changed the picture only a little.
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Dementia in Australia: Dementia among people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
A section of AIHW’s national dementia report focused on people from CALD backgrounds. It shows that about half of CALD people with dementia living in the community did not speak English well or at all, which matters for assessment and care.