What CALD consumers say about mental illness prevention

Rita Prasad-Ildes
Queensland Transcultural Mental Health Centre, Brisbane QLD

Elvia Ramirez
Queensland Transcultural Mental Health Centre, Brisbane QLD

PP: 126 - 131

Abstract

This article discusses what consumers from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds said about mental illness prevention in a consultation conducted by the Queensland Transcultural Mental Health Centre (QTMHC).

The consultative process was organised by two CALD consumer workers and involved a total of 28 CALD consumers, as well as eight consumer facilitators who received training from the QTMHC on interviewing and conducting focus group discussions with consumers from their own cultural background in their own language on mental illness prevention.

CALD consumers drew on their personal experiences with mental illness to identify what may have made a difference to them personally in terms of prevention. They also discussed what service providers can do in both the multicultural and mental health sectors; the key issues they currently perceive as stressors for mental illness in their cultural communities (including for specific sub groups in communities at greatest risk); unmet needs and gaps in programs and services; existing activities within their communities that can further be supported or built upon to facilitate mental illness prevention; and what they as consumers would like to become involved in as part of a prevention strategy within their communities.

Keywords

multicultural mental health, prevention, culturally and linguistically diverse, consumers, stigma, mental health

Article Text

Given the significant underutilisation of mental health services by people from CALD backgrounds, the Queensland Transcultural Mental Health Centre (QTMHC) has had a proactive strategy of engagement with multicultural communities in Queensland to facilitate mental health literacy through broad mental health promotion activities. The National Framework for the Implementation of the Third Mental Health Plan in Multicultural Australia (Commonwealth of Australia, 2004) identifies the importance of promoting mental health and preventing mental illness in CALD communities. It describes how many of the risk and protective factors for mental health problems, mental illness and suicide occur in the daily lives of individuals and communities. As such they are outside the influence of mental health services, which alone cannot effect changes to risk and protective factors (Commonwealth of Australia, 2004). It also advocates that mental health promotion strategies with CALD communities should aim primarily at increasing mental health literacy, which has been the focus of the QTMHC mental health promotion program since its inception in 1998.

In the context of the development of its five year plan and an organisational review in 2005, the QTMHC decided to expand its focus to include prevention, building on the work that it has undertaken in mental health promotion over the past five years. Furthermore, after reviewing available evidence and research about risk and protective factors-such as recent studies advocating culture itself as a protective factor (Bhugra, 2004); research in relation to schizophrenia demonstrating that people with mental illness in developing countries have better prognoses and outcomes than those in the developed world, due to better community integration and connectedness (Saha, Chant, Welham & McGrath, 2005); and evidence that direct contact with individuals with mental illness contributes to decreased stigma (Francis, Pirkis, Dunt et al., 2002), which is relevant for CALD communities characterised by their collectivism-it was increasingly becoming clear that work was needed with specific population groups within the multicultural community, focusing specifically on minimising risk factors (eg, lower levels of mental health literacy) and enhancing protective factors (eg, community connectedness).

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