Understanding social determinants of mental health for young people from refugee backgrounds to improve mental health

Young people (aged 12-25) from refugee backgrounds are at significantly higher risk of mental health issues than the general population. Social determinants of health likely contribute to this inequity, though there is limited research that has explicitly examined this.

This national collaboration involves twelve key refugee, mental health and community organisations, and a multidisciplinary mix of experienced Chief and Associate Investigators, representing researchers, service providers, policy makers and community members. Using a multi-method research design, the project aims to better understand the social determinants of mental health for this group of young people. This includes secondary data analysis of the Building a New Life in Australia longitudinal database and the data linkage Person Level Integrated Data Asset (PLIDA). The project also involves in-depth interviews with refugee young people and their families, and consultations with community/religious leaders, mental health practitioners/other service providers and refugee young people. Finally, using a co-design process the project seeks to develop and pilot a social determinants screening tool for refugee youth and develop a prevention, early intervention and treatment framework.

The evidence gathered across these elements of the research will inform policy and practice recommendations to incorporate an understanding of social determinants of health to improve mental health outcomes for young people from refugee backgrounds.

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Youth Wellbeing research project artwork