Psychological Resilience and Mental Health Care Services for Refugees in Europe

According to the UNHCR, a record number of around 65 million people are currently forcibly displaced worldwide, among whom 17 percent are hosted in Europe. Refugees are at high risk of mental health problems due to trauma before and during their flight which in turn may affect their health during resettlement in the host country. Providing efficient mental health services for refugees is a public health imperative with potentially long-term consequences.  From different perspectives the speakers in this workshop will discuss factors associated with psychological resilience and vulnerability of refugees, and how to prevent and treat mental health problems in this group.

If you wish to attend, please register here.

Program

9.30 Opening by Professor Gro Mjeldheim Sandal

9.45 "Our care for refugees: A Procrustean bed" by Professor Joop de Jong, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam - workshop presentation

10.35 Coffee/tea break

10.50 "Understanding the stakes in children’s idioms of distress" by Professor Ria Reis, University of Amsterdam 

11.40 "From being an asylum seeker to helping refugees" by Dr. Ali Watti

12.10 Lunch

12.50 "Lay explanatory models of depression and preferred coping strategies among Somali refugees in Norway" by PhD candidate Valeria Markova (UIB) - workshop presentation

13.10 "Somali immigrants' understanding of mental illness and utilization of mental health care services" by medical student Ayan Bashir (UIB)

13.40 "Contact between asylum seekers and Norwegians - welcome to the neighborhood?" by Associate Professor Hege Høivik Bye (UIB) - workshop presentation

14.00 "Barriers to help/treatment seeking among migrant" by Professor David Lackland Sam (UIB) - workshop presentation

14.20 "Ethnic differences in coping with mental health problems" by Professor Gro Mjeldheim Sandal - workshop presentation

14.40 Discussion/questions

15.00 Adjourn