Mental health issues of refugee children: lessons from Croatia

According to the community-based approach, the psychosocial support was delivered to places where the displaced persons lived (host families or collective centers and camps), in collaboration with the World Health Organization and United Nations International Childrens Fund (UNICEF). Knowledge and s...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:European child & adolescent psychiatry 2017-03, Vol.26 (3), p.377-381
Main Authors: Marsanic, Vlatka Boricevic, Franic, Tomislav, Urkovic, Katarina Dodig
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Caregivers
Child & adolescent psychiatry
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Children
Children & youth
Collaboration
Displaced persons
ESCAP Communication
Families & family life
Hospitals
Medical personnel
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Mental disorders
Mental health
Mental health care
Parents & parenting
Population
Psychiatry
Refugees
Rehabilitation
Teenagers
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Summary:According to the community-based approach, the psychosocial support was delivered to places where the displaced persons lived (host families or collective centers and camps), in collaboration with the World Health Organization and United Nations International Childrens Fund (UNICEF). Knowledge and skills of pediatricians, school doctors, school personnel, social workers about mental health of traumatized children and young were limited. [...]an extensive training of professionals who were in direct contact with the refugee and psychotraumatized children was undertaken by mental health professionals [4]. [...]the interpreters had a more comprehensive role as cultural mediators, serving as intermediary between a displaced person and a service provider, using knowledge of the values, beliefs, and practices within the specic cultural group, along with the knowledge of the different care systems in the Croatian context. Supportive and caring attitude of mental health professionals toward young refugees and their families is important and can prevent suffering now and in the future, as it can lessen the burden of trauma and attachment disorders 1 3 Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry (2017) 26:377381 381 not only on their long-term psychosocial functioning, but also on our community. Besides their continuous education and improving their knowledge and skills in assessment and treatment of young refugees with mental health problems, mental health care professionals need to teach social workers, teachers, and other non-clinical professionals on mental health needs and problems of young refugees, so that they can incorporate it in their daily work.
ISSN:1018-8827
1435-165X
DOI:10.1007/s00787-016-0924-4