Abstract

ANTUNES, José António Pereira de Jesus. Refugees and mental health: hosting, understand and treat. Psic., Saúde & Doenças [online]. 2017, vol.18, n.1, pp.115-130. ISSN 1645-0086.  https://doi.org/10.15309/17psd180109.

The number of refugees in the world has not stopped increasing in recent years. The refugees differ from other migrants because they were forced to leave their countries and they are prevented from returning, benefiting therefore, from a status guaranteed by international law. To these must be added people who face similar risks but whose status has not be yet been determined. These are populations with a higher prevalence of mental health problems and should have a special treatment. Research in biomedical literature available, systematic reviews published in the last ten years on refugee's mental health led to conclude that these have special characteristics that must be taken into account by professionals and health services in terms of primary, secondary and tertiary prevention. Issues addressed include language barriers, cultural differences and the role of translators and cultural mediators, the organization of the services, the intervention in particularly vulnerable groups such as children, women especially pregnant women and the elderly. Discussed are also the most prevalent problems resulting from exposure to trauma that assume very specific characteristics among the refugees.

Keywords : Refugees; Mental Health; Trauma; Review.

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