Melbourne School of Population and Global Health - Research Publications
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ItemNo Preview AvailableMental Health in Multicultural Australia(Springer Singapore, 2018)Cultural and linguistic diversity is a core feature of the Australian population and a valued element of national identity. The proportion of the population that will be overseas-born is projected to be 32% by 2050. While a very active process of mental health system reform has been occurring for more than two decades – at national state and territory levels – the challenges presented by cultural and linguistic diversity have not been effectively met. A review of Australian research on mental health of immigrant and refugee communities and their patterns of mental health service use reveals many gaps. Although lower rates of utilization of specialist public mental health services by immigrants and refugees are repeatedly reported, the lack of adequate population data prohibits conclusions about whether the observed patterns constitute underutilization. There are virtually no data on quality of service outcomes. A review of studies published in four key Australian journals reveals considerable neglect of cultural and linguistic diversity in Australia’s mental health research. The purpose of this chapter, which is an abbreviated and updated version of Minas et al. (Int J Mental Health Syst 7(1):23, 2013), is to examine what is known about the mental health of immigrant and refugee communities in Australia, whether Australian mental health research pays adequate attention to the fact of cultural and linguistic diversity in the Australian population, and whether national mental health data collections support evidence-informed mental health policy and practice and mental health reform in multicultural Australia. A set of strategic actions is suggested to improve knowledge about, and policy and service responses to, mental health problems in immigrant and refugee communities.
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ItemIntroduction(Springer International Publishing, 2021)In China, conceptions of mental health and illness, and the mental health systems developed to respond to mental illness, have changed dramatically from the second half of the nineteenth century to the present, the historical period that is the focus of this book. As is the case in every other country, these changes have been fundamentally influenced by the particular political, economic, social and cultural contexts that have been dominant at different historical periods. During the same period, there has been large-scale emigration from China, mostly to countries in Southeast Asia but also at smaller scale to much of the rest of the world. The objectives of this book are to examine mental health system development in China and the historical and cultural contexts in which this has occurred, and the mental health of Chinese immigrant communities in selected Southeast Asian and Pacific countries that have large populations of Chinese origin.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableMental Health of Chinese Immigrants in Australia(Springer International Publishing, 2021)The Chinese are among the earliest immigrants to Australia, with substantial numbers coming from the middle of the nineteenth century, fully half a century before Federation of the states to form the Commonwealth of Australia. The White Australia Policy, established immediately after Federation in 1901 specifically to prevent migration from China, was not dismantled until 1972, when Australia was among the first Western nations to recognise the People’s Republic of China. Since that time, large-scale migration from China has recommenced, and the Chinese are now the fastest growing immigrant community in Australia. Substantial differences between the culture that Chinese immigrants bring with them and the dominant Australian culture contribute to risks for development of mental disorder, as a result of the challenges associated with settlement in a new country and culture. While there have been no adequate epidemiological studies of mental disorders in Australia’s Chinese communities, it is probably the case that the overall prevalence of mental disorders is not substantially different to that in the overall Australian population and in other immigrant communities. Despite this, Chinese immigrants with mental disorder substantially underutilise public mental health services, largely as a result of the lack of culturally appropriate, acceptable and effective mental health services. In recent years, the political and economic tensions between Western countries – primarily the United States – and China have become prominent also in Australia, with the possibility that these may be undermining Chinese immigrants’ sense of security and wellbeing.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableThe National Mental Health Work Plan 2015–2020(Springer, 2021)Development of the contemporary mental health system in China has been a work in progress since the late nineteenth century. Until the late 1970s, this has been in a context of conflict, and social and economic disruption. Despite such a difficult environment for attention to an already neglected field, progress was made, both during the Republican period and during the first three decades after the foundation of the People’s Republic. The same period saw a major transition from largely traditional approaches to mental disorders to Western conceptions of mental illness and medical and other interventions and the institutional arrangements for the delivery of such interventions. It was not until the economic and social reforms that commenced in the late 1970s and early 1980s that mental health began to receive sustained government attention and investment, for the first time in a context of political stability, spectacular economic growth, growing international engagement and rapidly expanding internal capacity in all fields. In a very short historical time span, only four decades, a great deal has been achieved in population health and in mental health. The National Mental Health Work Plan 2015–2020
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ItemNo Preview AvailableMental Health in Multicultural Australia(Springer, 2021)Cultural and linguistic diversity is a core feature of the Australian population and a valued element of national identity. The proportion of the population that will be overseas-born is projected to be 32% by 2050. While a very active process of mental health system reform has been occurring for more than two decades – at national state and territory levels – the challenges presented by cultural and linguistic diversity have not been effectively met. A review of Australian research on mental health of immigrant and refugee communities and their patterns of mental health service use reveals many gaps. Although lower rates of utilization of specialist public mental health services by immigrants and refugees are repeatedly reported, the lack of adequate population data prohibits conclusions about whether the observed patterns constitute underutilization. There are virtually no data on quality of service outcomes. A review of studies published in four key Australian journals reveals considerable neglect of cultural and linguistic diversity in Australia’s mental health research. The purpose of this chapter, which is an abbreviated and updated version of Minas et al. (Int J Mental Health Syst 7(1):23, 2013), is to examine what is known about the mental health of immigrant and refugee communities in Australia, whether Australian mental health research pays adequate attention to the fact of cultural and linguistic diversity in the Australian population, and whether national mental health data collections support evidence-informed mental health policy and practice and mental health reform in multicultural Australia. A set of strategic actions is suggested to improve knowledge about, and policy and service responses to, mental health problems in immigrant and refugee communities.
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ItemFrom Innovation to Scale: Policy Engagement for Enhanced Community-Based Depression Care in Vietnam(Springer International Publishing, 2021-01-01)Policy engagement is essential for the implementation and scale-up of global mental health innovations, but the process of policy engagement can be challenging and unpredictable. The Mental Health in Adults and Children-Frugal Innovations (MAC-FI) project, taking place in Vietnam, is a successful and novel partnership between policy makers and researchers that emerged from a history of collaboration on mental health policy engagement with partners in Canada, Australia, and Vietnam. Policy engagement takes place within dynamic contexts and changes in the internal and external policy environment may pose challenges to policy engagement. Alignment with government policy priorities, the support of policy champions, and building on existing relationships, however, have facilitated policy engagement in the MAC-FI study and have led to opportunities for ongoing collaboration. Though the Vietnam policy context is unique, lessons learned from the MAC-FI study may be helpful for other global mental health initiatives seeking to navigate the process of policy engagement.
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ItemNo Preview AvailableMental Health System Development in Sri Lanka(Springer, 2017-02-23)We need to apply what some health analysts have called the 're-socializing' disciplines—history, anthropology, sociology and political economy—to understand more fully mental health in the Asia-Pacific region, and so, hopefully, to contribute ...
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ItemViet Nam(ASEAN Secretariat, 2016-12-01)
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ItemNo Preview AvailableMental Health Cardiovascular Disease Risk in Refugees(Springer, 2016)In 2013 there were 51.2 million persons worldwide who had been forcibly displaced as a result of persecution, conflict, generalized violence, or human rights violations. 16.7 million persons, half of whom were children, were refugees. More than 80 % were living in refugee camps and other generally temporary although often long-lasting arrangements, in developing countries. From this massive population, only 98,000 were resettled in refugee-receiving countries. The prevalence of mental disorders, particularly post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety, is greater in refugees than in non-refugees, although prevalence estimates vary greatly. As well as having poorer mental health, refugees are also more likely than non-refugee immigrants or host populations to experience poorer physical health, higher all-cause mortality, and higher cardiovascular mortality. Although the severe and persistent stress that is a central element of refugee experience is probably an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease, it seems likely that the higher cardiovascular risk is mediated by mental disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, which are common in refugees and are clearly associated with increased cardiovascular risk. In addition, refugees are less likely to have access to effective mental health and general health services, resulting in further avoidable risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality.