IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i5p2723-d759330.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Promoting Mental Health and Wellbeing in Multicultural Australia: A Collaborative Regional Approach

Author

Listed:
  • Ilse Blignault

    (Translational Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University, Penrith 2751, Australia)

  • Hend Saab

    (South Eastern Sydney Local Health District, Multicultural Health Service, Darlinghurst 2010, Australia
    St George Community Mental Health, Kogarah 2172, Australia)

  • Lisa Woodland

    (South Eastern Sydney Local Health District, Population and Community Health, Darlinghurst 2010, Australia
    Centre for Primary Health Care and Equity, UNSW Sydney, Sydney 2052, Australia)

  • Klara Giourgas

    (South Eastern Sydney Local Health District, Multicultural Health Service, Darlinghurst 2010, Australia)

  • Heba Baddah

    (South Eastern Sydney Local Health District, Multicultural Health Service, Darlinghurst 2010, Australia)

Abstract

Migrant communities are often under-served by mental health services. Lack of community engagement results in missed opportunities for mental health promotion and early intervention, delayed care, and high rates of untreated psychological distress. Bilingual clinicians and others who work with these communities lack linguistically and culturally appropriate resources. This article reports on the implementation and evaluation of a community-based group mindfulness program delivered to Arabic and Bangla-speaking communities in Sydney, Australia, including modifications made to the content and format in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The program was positioned within a stepped-care model for primary mental health care and adopted a collaborative regional approach. In addition to improved mental health outcomes for face-to-face and online program participants, we have documented numerous referrals to specialist services and extensive diffusion of mindfulness skills, mostly to family members, within each community. Community partnerships were critical to community engagement. Training workshops to build the skills of the bilingual health and community workforce increased the program’s reach. In immigrant nations such as Australia, mainstream mental health promotion must be complemented by activities that target specific population groups. Scaled up, and with appropriate adaptation, the group mindfulness program offers a low-intensity in-language intervention for under-served communities.

Suggested Citation

  • Ilse Blignault & Hend Saab & Lisa Woodland & Klara Giourgas & Heba Baddah, 2022. "Promoting Mental Health and Wellbeing in Multicultural Australia: A Collaborative Regional Approach," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-21, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:5:p:2723-:d:759330
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/5/2723/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/5/2723/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chan-Young Kwon & Hui-Yong Kwak & Jong Woo Kim, 2020. "Using Mind–Body Modalities via Telemedicine during the COVID-19 Crisis: Cases in the Republic of Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-11, June.
    2. Klimentina Krstanoska-Blazeska & Russell Thomson & Shameran Slewa-Younan, 2021. "Mental Illness Stigma and Associated Factors among Arabic-Speaking Religious and Community Leaders," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(15), pages 1-13, July.
    3. Walther, Lena & Kröger, Hannes & Tibubos, Ana Nanette & Ta, Thi Minh Tam & von Scheve, Christian & Schupp, Jürgen & Hahn, Eric & Bajbouj, Malek, 2020. "Psychological distress among refugees in Germany: a cross-sectional analysis of individual and contextual risk factors and potential consequences for integration using a nationally representative surv," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 10(8).
    4. Math Janssen & Yvonne Heerkens & Wietske Kuijer & Beatrice van der Heijden & Josephine Engels, 2018. "Effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on employees’ mental health: A systematic review," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(1), pages 1-37, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ilse Blignault & Hend Saab & Hanan Youssef & Heba Baddah & Klara Giourgas & Lisa Woodland, 2023. "“It Is Definitely a Good Program for Everyone from Every Community”: A Qualitative Study of Community Partner Perspectives on the Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Mindfulness Program," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(16), pages 1-16, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Math Janssen & Beatrice Van der Heijden & Josephine Engels & Hubert Korzilius & Pascale Peters & Yvonne Heerkens, 2020. "Effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Training on Healthcare Professionals’ Mental Health: Results from a Pilot Study Testing Its Predictive Validity in a Specialized Hospital Setting," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-14, December.
    2. Madsen, Julian & Jobson, Laura & Slewa-Younan, Shameran & Li, Haoxiang & King, Kylie, 2024. "Mental health literacy among Arab men living in high-income Western countries: A systematic review and narrative synthesis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 346(C).
    3. Holt, Stephen B. & Wang, Rui & Gershenson, Seth, 2020. "Stress Test: Examining the Evolution of Teachers' Mental Health Over Time," IZA Discussion Papers 13361, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Massimiliano Barattucci & Anna Maria Padovan & Ermanno Vitale & Venerando Rapisarda & Tiziana Ramaci & Andrea De Giorgio, 2019. "Mindfulness-Based IARA Model ® Proves Effective to Reduce Stress and Anxiety in Health Care Professionals. A Six-Month Follow-Up Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-13, November.
    5. Xinyue Wen & Ismaël Rafaï & Sébastien Duchêne & Marc Willinger, 2022. "Did Mindful People Do Better during the COVID-19 Pandemic? Mindfulness Is Associated with Well-Being and Compliance with Prophylactic Measures," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(9), pages 1-25, April.
    6. Anton Skolzkov & Evgeniya Efremova, 2023. "Impact of a Brief Mindfulness Training on Anxiety, Depression, and Subjective Happiness of the First-Year Psychology Students in Russia: Pilot Case Study of Ural Federal University," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(2), pages 21582440231, April.
    7. Hongmei Tong & Yu Lung & Shen (Lamson) Lin & Karen M Kobayashi & Karen M Davison & Senyo Agbeyaka & Esme Fuller-Thomson, 2021. "Refugee status is associated with double the odds of psychological distress in mid-to-late life: Findings from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 67(6), pages 747-760, September.
    8. McDaid, David & Park, A-La & Wahlbeck, Kristian, 2019. "The economic case for the prevention of mental illness," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 100054, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Ram B Singh & Shaw Watanabe & Duo Li & Teiji Nakamura & Lekh Raj Juneja & Toru Takahashi & Anuj Maheshwari & Narsingh Verma & Sanit Wichansawakun & Germaine Cornelissen & Agnieszka Wilczynska & Ibrahi, 2019. "Diet And Lifestyle Guidelines And Desirable Levels Of Risk Factors And Protective Factors For Prevention Of Dementia - A Scientific Statement From Joint Symposium Of Jaas And Apcns," Biomedical Journal of Scientific & Technical Research, Biomedical Research Network+, LLC, vol. 17(3), pages 12844-12864, April.
    10. Alessio Matiz & Franco Fabbro & Andrea Paschetto & Damiano Cantone & Anselmo Roberto Paolone & Cristiano Crescentini, 2020. "Positive Impact of Mindfulness Meditation on Mental Health of Female Teachers during the COVID-19 Outbreak in Italy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-22, September.
    11. Temesghen Gebresilassie & Claudia Beiersmann & Sandra Ziegler & Verena Keck & Yonas Semere Kidane & Albrecht Jahn & Janine Benson-Martin, 2022. "Mental Wellbeing and Social Resilience of Eritrean Refugees Living in Germany," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-16, September.
    12. Li, Ying & Chen, Hongyu & Xin, Xiaoyang & Ji, Ming, 2020. "The influence of mindfulness on mental state with regard to safety among civil pilots," Journal of Air Transport Management, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    13. Honorati,Maddalena & Testaverde,Mauro & Totino,Elisa, 2024. "Labor Market Integration of Refugees in Germany : New Lessons After the Ukrainian Crisis," Social Protection Discussion Papers and Notes 189759, The World Bank.
    14. Tia Rich & Benjamin W. Chrisinger & Rajani Kaimal & Sandra J. Winter & Haley Hedlin & Yan Min & Xueyin Zhao & Shankuan Zhu & San-Lin You & Chien-An Sun & Jaw-Town Lin & Ann W. Hsing & Catherine Heaney, 2022. "Contemplative Practices Behavior Is Positively Associated with Well-Being in Three Global Multi-Regional Stanford WELL for Life Cohorts," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-19, October.
    15. William J. Fleming, 2024. "Employee well‐being outcomes from individual‐level mental health interventions: Cross‐sectional evidence from the United Kingdom," Industrial Relations Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 55(2), pages 162-182, March.
    16. Cintia Díaz-Silveira & Carlos-María Alcover & Francisco Burgos & Alberto Marcos & Miguel A. Santed, 2020. "Mindfulness versus Physical Exercise: Effects of Two Recovery Strategies on Mental Health, Stress and Immunoglobulin A during Lunch Breaks. A Randomized Controlled Trial," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(8), pages 1-18, April.
    17. Löbel, Lea-Maria & Jacobsen, Jannes, 2021. "Waiting for kin: a longitudinal study of family reunification and refugee mental health in Germany," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 47(13).
    18. Annalisa Grandi & Margherita Zito & Luisa Sist & Monica Martoni & Vincenzo Russo & Lara Colombo, 2022. "Wellbeing in Workers during COVID-19 Pandemic: The Mediating Role of Self-Compassion in the Relationship between Personal Resources and Exhaustion," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-16, February.
    19. Agnieszka Dudziak & Anna Kocira, 2022. "Preference-Based Determinants of Consumer Choice on the Polish Organic Food Market," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(17), pages 1-18, September.
    20. Bellucci, Marco & Biggeri, Mario & Nitti, Carmela & Terenzi, Linda, 2023. "Accounting for disability and work inclusion in tourism," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:5:p:2723-:d:759330. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.