Analysis/Findings
There are many challenges involved in delivering mental health care to refugees in
Sweden. This section of the paper will describe potential solutions for various challenges with
reference to six journal articles and an online Youtube video.
Coping With the Large Scale of the Mental Health Crisis
While there is a large population of refugees who need mental health care services, there
are not enough human resources providing mental health care interventions (Sijbrandij et al.,
2017, p. 4) .To solve this problem, the World Health Organization (WHO) suggested the
implementation of task-shifting，which refers to “a less specialized worker” in primary or
community care settings doing the task of “a highly-qualified specialist” (Sijbrandij et al., 2017,
p. 4). Sijbrandij et al. (2017) states the definition of task-shifting and we understand that taskshifting enables us to overcome the shortage of human resources. Furthermore, task-shifting
interventions are effective to improve access to mental healthcare for “non-communicable
diseases” in low and middle income countries (Joshi et al., as cited in Sijbrandij et al., 2017, p.
4). Another advantage of task-shifting interventions was mentioned in another article by
Petersen, Lund, Bhana, and Flisher (2012) which concluded that “the expected number of mental
health providers” (p. xxx) can be reduced significantly by using task-shifting interventions which
means task-shifting interventions can reduce the costs of labour. This point of view is also
supported by the research of Buttorff et al. (2012) which concluded that task-shifting
interventions are both “cost-effective and cost-saving” (p. xxx).(这里描述一下两个结果有什么
不同；然后另外一个有什么别的结论可以证明这个)
Additionally, e-mental health interventions including “classic website use” and
“smartphone e-mental health apps” (Sijbrandij et al., 2017, p. 5) can be effective when the
refugees don’t “have access to mental health treatment due to internal (e.g. fear of
stigmatization) or external (e.g. infrastructure) barriers” (Sijbrandij et al., 2017, p. 5). This means
there are institutions that offer mental health care services but some refugees don’t come to get
mental health care because they don’t want to be regarded as having mental illnesses or they
don’t know about the existence of mental health institutions due to the lack of information. In
such situations, smartphone e-mental health apps and classic website use can protect their
privacy and refugees can get information about health care online. Furthermore, professionals
can provide mental health services to more refugees due to “the relative brevity of e-mental
health interventions and the possibility to automatize parts of the treatment” (Sijbrandij et al.,
2017, p. 5) which means the process can save a lot of time by providing clear information and
reducing time-consuming steps; therefore, more refugees can get services within a particular
time and this overcomes the weakness of limited human resources in Sweden. The explanations
and evidence above clearly suggest that e-mental health interventions can be effective solutions
for mental health problems of refugees in Sweden.
Cultural Differences Between Refugees and Health Care Providers (这一段最好加入一些
其它人的观点，然后把这个researcher的观点删除一部分。)
Bäärnhielm and Mösko (2012) point out that cross-cultural training can help mental
health professionals to improve their knowledge, skills, cultural awareness and cultural
sensitivity so that they may be more familiar with the ways of thinking of refugees and
understand the cause of their mental health problems, and therefore this can help the treatment
process and solve mental problems more effectively. Bäärnhielm and Mösko (2012) found that
cross-cultural training can change health professionals’ attitudes towards refugees and improve
their ability to treat refugees, while refugees are more satisfied and happy to communicate with
mental health providers who know their culture and speak their language. Overall, this article
suggests the importance of cross-cultural training as it can overcome several inevitable
difficulties including “language barriers”, “cultural(ly?) diverse health belief models” and
“negative feelings on behalf of the staff in encounters with foreign patients in mental health care
institutions” (Bäärnhielm & Mösko, 2012, p. S70), and the positive effects of cross-cultural
training on both mental health providers and refugees are clear. Another article by Bhui, Warfa,
Edonya, McKenzie, and Bhugra (2007) noted that cultural sensitivity and cultural awareness is
required for mental health professionals when they treat patients from different countries.
However, these two studies lack evidence that can prove the effects of cross-cultural training.
Therefore I found another research study by Agic, Tuck, and McKenzie (2016) which concluded
that there is strong evidence that culturally sensitive interventions are usually successful.
Day Courses for Trainers and Ex.materials(?) for Training Others
The Youtube video talks about what the government did to solve mental health problems
of refugees in Sweden. The government offered 14 different day courses to 1000 participants in
total. The courses contain topics such as “basic knowledge about trauma”, “migration and mental
health – for primary care”, “migration and mental health – basic knowledge” etc. Most
participants are from counties or municipalities that .... After taking these courses, these
participants will be given Ex,materials such as manuals and presentation materials (slides,
movies), so when they go back to their counties or municipalities, these participants will become
trainers who can use these materials to train other refugees (Are the participants refugees
themselves?). According to the video, “55% of participants are explicitly committed to training
others”. Therefore, this is strong evidence that the courses can be an effective solution for mental
health problems of refugees in Sweden. In addition, this method can also solve the problem of
lack of human resources (Sijbrandij et al., 2017, p. 4) as mentioned above in the section “Coping
With the Large Scale of the Mental Health Crisis” which is a suitable solution for Sweden to use
to solve mental health problems of refugees.
Early Interventions
The MSF NGO has its own model of intervention which states that early mental health
interventions can prevent the mental illnesses of refugees from becoming more serious (cite).The
organization provides resources to refugees and lets refugees learn more about mental disorders
in order to improve the mental health care of refugees in Sweden (cite).
Conclusion
Overall, the solutions for mental health problems of refugees in Sweden consist of taskshifting interventions, e-mental health interventions including “classic website use” and
“smartphone e-mental health apps” (Sijbrandij et al., 2017, p. 5) , cross-cultural training and
courses for trainers providing Ex.materials which allow them to train others.
(Don’t use point form below.)
-I recommend the Swedish government set up more task-shifting interventions and e-mental
health interventions since they can make more efficient use of the limited mental health
resources. Cross-cultural training is also essential because cultural sensitivity and cultural
awareness is quite important.
-The limitations of the research is that the resources used are all written in English, so maybe
researchers should investigate some peer-review articles or online articles written in Swedish
which are most likely to contain more useful information about solutions for mental health
problems in Sweden. （不对、不是这样的）
-In addition, we have not discussed whether these solutions are more effective than typical health
care such as psychological therapy including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) , narrative
exposure therapy (NET) and medication. Maybe the government should spend more money on
these typical health care services. Therefore, for future research studies, we should investigate
what solutions are the most effective for the mental health problems of refugees in Sweden. （应
该采用一些不同的办法。）
References
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