COVID-19 and Mental Health (CMH) Initiative: Research

Promising Practices in Accessing Virtual Mental Health: Supporting Refugees during COVID-19

Key Messages

Recently arrived refugees may face greater challenges in accessing and using virtual mental health care services. Service providers working with refugee clients are developing strategies to work around barriers, but need better support in finding and accessing culturally, linguistically and technologically appropriate virtual mental health services to which they can refer their clients.

Lay Summary

With our advisory committees we have developed recruitment strategies, refined materials and discussed initial findings. Team materials are shared in virtual space, and a public website was established for dissemination. Key informant interviews with service providers and community leaders are complete, analysed and used to modify service provider focus group questions and the survey. The former begins this month. The survey is being translated into French but has begun circulating in English. Interviewers speaking Amharic, Arabic, Creole, English, Farsi, French, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Somali, Spanish, Swahili and Tigrinya are now hired and trained. The scoping review is in the writing stage.

Author(s)

  • Nominated Principal Applicant: Michaela Hynie, Department of Psychology/Centre for Refugee Studies, York University

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Population

Vulnerable or At-Risk Populations

Language

To ensure the rapid dissemination of this critical information, information is published in the language in which it was submitted. Please contact us for French or English translations.

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