Building a Program of Research to Address Refugee Mental Health Needs

Forced displacement and resettlement into a new country has reached the highest level since World War II resulting from war, organized violence, and climate related disasters around the world. The recent COVID-19 pandemic further exacerbated global displacement and insecurity. Exposure to multiple traumatic stressors and life adversities make forcibly displaced families among the most vulnerable populations. The dynamics of war/violence, poverty, political and economic instability, infectious diseases, and climate disasters are increasingly interconnected and mutually reinforcing. Forced displacement disrupts the entire ecology and family structure of refugee populations. After resettlement in a new country, cumulative daily stressors and additional exposures to traumatic stress place refugee families at risk of serious mental health and relational challenges. This workshop will focus on describing a prevention and intervention framework for guiding research directed at responding to the current human rights crisis with specific emphasis on cultural adaptation, treatment effectiveness, implementation sciences, and critical emancipatory engagement.

Learning Objectives:

• Apply ecological and critical frameworks to assess and intervene with refugee mental health
• Highlight and describe the current refugee crisis, global resettlement trends, and implications for communities in the U.S. (e.g., resettlement trends to the U.S.)
• Identify pathways for developing a culturally responsive and trauma-informed systemic program of research to address refugee MH at multiple levels
• Understand the role of EBIs, cultural adaptation models, and CBPR/PAR principles in refugee MH research