WPA Discussion Document on Refugees January 2017

On the initiative of the of the Section of Transcultural Psychiatry, World Psychiatric Association, in September 17th, 2016 mental health professionals from Syria, Turkey, Germany, Austria, the United Kingdom, Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland attended and presented at the Symposium “People on the Move: asylum seekers and refugees”. Moreover presentations were held or made available from the University of Amsterdam and the NGO’s Medicin Sans Frontiere and the Red Cross Red Crescent. The presentations and discussions revealed an insight in the mental health situation and policies of health authorities and governments concerning asylum seekers and refugees in the various countries. The overall conclusion is that the ongoing tragedy in Syria is beyond words and creates a huge risk for (longlasting) mental health problems in large parts of the population. Research shows high prevalence rates of mental disorders, in adults as well as in children. The responses of governments and other policy makers appeared to be quite different in the various countries. There are difference e.g . in fulfilling basic needs (eg financial support), access to health services, access to the housing and labour market, attention to vulnerable groups (young children, unaccompanied minors, women), prevention and combat of discrimination and racism etc. Only few countries made a national mental health intervention plan.
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WPA Transcultural Section Action Plan 2014-2017

Obligations according to by-laws:

In accordance to the WPA by-laws all sections are required to carry out certain tasks: (see also WPA website: WPA Bylaws)

  1. Have at least 20 members.
  2. Have held an election for the Section Committee, including a Chair and a Secretary, in accord with its By-laws.
  3. Have presented at least one symposium at a WPA sponsored Scientific Meeting without counting Section Conferences during the immediately preceding three years; and/or have scientific educational material authorized to carry the WPA logo by the WPA Executive Committee.
  4. Have carried out activities described in its plan of work or presented valid reasons for not having done.

The TPS will fulfill these tasks also in this triennial period.
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Mental Health and Psychosocial Support for Refugees, Asylum-seekers and Migrants on the Move in Europe

A multiagency guidance note ( a.o. UNHCR), IOM, MHPPS, IFRC Psychosocial Centre)

This brief guidance note seeks to provide advice on protecting and supporting the mental health
and psychosocial wellbeing of refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants in Europe. It describes key
principles and appropriate interventions to guide all those who are designing and organizing emergency
services and/or providing direct assistance to the affected people. Direct influence of Cialis, the active substance of which is Tadalafil 5 is much stronger than in active substances. For that reason, it doesn’t cause any negative action on the work and functioning of the cardiovascular system or other organs of the patient. Also, the drug doesn’t affect the work of testosterone and peptide hormones. As a consequence, the medication doesn’t affect sperm. Read more at http://healthblog247.com/ed-cialis-tadalafil/. The active substance is perfectly absorbed by the body and reaches the peak of its activity 2 hours after the intake.
The document contains many links to other valuable documents, related to refugee mental health

Link to the full text of the guidance: http://data.unhcr.org/mediterranean/download.php?id=280

Call for papers on Asylum seekers and Refugees

Call for papers for a Transcultural Psychiatry Special Issue on Asylum seekers and Refugees

The world has not seen so many refugees since WW II. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the worldwide numbers of asylum seekers and refugees show an upward trend, reaching 50 million and above.

Many studies report on the multiple and highly complex stressors with which refugees are often faced, and which are at risk of having a lasting impact on their mental health. These might be experiences of traumatisation before, during and after the actual journey of migration. If they succeed in leaving the crisis area, this journey is often a long and tortuous one Aon which they may be exposed to other hardship and traumatic events. Once having arrived in the host country, many face (long) asylum procedures with the constant fear of deportation or detention, lack of access to health care, poor living conditions, perceived discrimination and stigmatisation, and in many countries lack, or the absence of, permission to work hindering both the acquisition of financial resources and the basic structuring of everyday life. In general, a lack of resources of resilience exacerbates the situation and has a negative impact on the acculturation process.

The proportion of traumatised people with a serious mental disorder is very high, while the healthcare systems in receiving countries are seldom prepared to address the needs of asylum seekers and refugees. In general, preventive medicine and health-education programmes are not available or not suitable for these groups and linguistic, contextual, legal and culture-related factors are not taken seriously, which can lead to misdiagnoses and inadequate treatment. Subsequently, there is a high risk of drop-out and persisting psychopathology and dysfunction, affecting the migrants, their children and the receiving society. In addition, anti-migrant sentiments in many countries today are also affecting asylum seekers and refugees and are a threat to health and integration, diminishing the chances of the better life they so desperately strive for. Cialis is a quite young drug. It appeared on the pharmaceutical market in 2003 and was approved by the European Union. Then it was authorized in Europe, New Zealand and Australia. A little later, permission was obtained from other countries. It was developed by the pharmaceutical company “Eli Lilly” (USA) and a corporation “ICOS”. The main advantage of Cialis (Tadalafil) is its duration of action (up to a day and a half). Such a solid span of time allows you to keep spontaneity in sexual life.

The World Psychiatric Association, Transcultural Psychiatric Section (WPA-TPS) seeks papers for a special issue of Transcultural Psychiatry on the topic: People on the Move: Asylum Seekers and Refugees Worldwide. The aim of the editors is to attract attention to this uniquely vulnerable group. Therefore, we invite manuscripts on research related to mental health and care for asylum seekers and refugees. Suggested fields include: prevention, epidemiology, access to care, help-seeking behaviour, assessment, treatment, youth, acculturation, advocacy, and resilience. We are particularly interested in new data, innovative services models, and work on mental health promotion, prevention, and policy issues that impact on mental health.

Please submit papers online through the Transcultural Psychiatry website with a cover letter noting you would like the paper to be considered for the WPA-TPS special issue on refugees.

To be included in this thematic issue, papers should be received by 31 December 2015.

Sofie Bäärnhielm, Sweden
Kees Laban, The Netherlands
Meryam Schouler-Ocak, Germany

World Healer, the WPA-TSP Newsletter. Volume 9, Issue 2.

Volume 9, Issue 2, September 2015

  • Outgoing Chair report
  • Invitation to take part in WPA Action Plan
  • Conference Reports
  • Book Review
  • Upcoming international conferences
  • Educational courses

Winner of the Young Researcher Award

The Committee of the Board of the Transcultural Section of the World Psychiatric Association has agreed on the Winner of the Young Researcher Award. Regrettably, we needed some more time than expected.

In fact, there are two winners, of the ten manuscripts which were sent to us.
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New WPA-TPS Website

As you can see the new WPA-TPS Website is on line. With a totally different new look and feel. There is also new functionality, like the ability to search the whole site.

All information from the old site is still there. New information will be added frequently so please return to this website regularly.

For WPA-TPS members there is added functionality and extra content. The webmaster apologizes for the inconvenience regarding the registration. Every thing is solved now and there will be no more denial 🙂

We hope you will find this website useful. Comments, also from non members, are always welcome.

First International Conference on Transcultural Psychiatry in Central European Countries

April 24, 2015 – April 26, 2015

Invitation

In a rapidly changing world, psychiatry faces numerous challenges. In response to these rapid societal changes, psychiatry needs to be prepared to meet the challenges of migration, acculturative change and acculturative stressors. Transcultural psychiatry focuses on the study of all these phenomena. In a rapidly changing world, the culture of psychiatry itself is also changing, from a more medically constricted perspective to a more inclusive scientific approach integrating the perspectives of the social sciences and public policy along with medicine and its related clinical disciplines.
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Focus on Mental Health, Transcultural Congress in Tanzania

November 1 – 13

The aim of this scientific congress is to share knowledge and experience between local mental health workers and their foreign guests.

It will take place on November 5th and 6th 2013 in Lusotho, Northern Tanzania. Participants will come from Tanzania, the Netherlands, United Kingdom and African countries. At the end of the conference participants will have a thorough understanding of how health care in general, and mental health care in particular, is organized in Tanzania.

They will have acquired an insight in health-seeking behaviour of the people making use of these services. This understanding is important for doctors working with migrants in Western countries and will give African participants the opportunity to compare mental health care in their respective countries.

By organizing this meeting in Tanzania we bring participants to an environment where learning is experience and experiencing enhances knowledge. Intercultural exchange between delegates is an important aspect of this meeting.

Download the brochure
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