Sydney’s United Approach to Refugee Mental Health
Supporting people affected by the Gaza conflict is the focus of a recent mental health initiative offering tailored local services, and culturally sensitive support that’s improving emotional wellbeing and community connection. A joint initiative of Western Sydney, Central and Eastern Sydney and Sydney North Primary Health Networks, The Wellness and Resilience: Gaza Conflict Project tailored […]
Supporting Refugee Patients in Western Sydney
In Western Sydney, over half of the region’s population was born outside of Australia, a statistic significantly higher than the state average[1]. In a community marked by diversity, it’s crucial to acknowledge the journey and challenges that people from refugee backgrounds and asylum seekers face, particularly in finding the right health care for them and […]
Holistic Care for People from Refugee Backgrounds
People from refugee backgrounds face a number of challenges when accessing health care services. Understanding their background and journey can give all health care professionals a greater understanding of how to provide best-practice health care. Refugees and internationally displaced people may have experienced many traumatic experiences relating to conflict, persecution, environmental degradation and poverty, resulting […]
WentWest Stories, STARTTS: Tohan’s Story
The NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors (STARTTS) is a non-profit organisation providing culturally appropriate psychological treatment, support and community interventions. STARTTS’ South Sudanese Youth Ambassador (SSYA) Program helps young people increase their mental health literacy, social connections and wellbeing. The program provides ongoing support to a pool of […]
Healing the Scars: Ground-breaking Mental Health Programs for Refugees
Western Sydney is extremely fortunate to be one of the most multicultural regions in Australia, with many different nationalities calling it home. The 2021 Census indicates that 52.6% of the Western Sydney population was born outside of Australia, much higher than the NSW average of 34.6%. With 1 in 5 people across Australia experiencing a […]
WentWest Stories, STARTTS: Aidah’s Story
The NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors (STARTTS) is a non-profit organisation providing culturally appropriate psychological treatment, support and community interventions. WentWest has commissioned STARTTS since 2015 to implement culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) mental health literacy and suicide prevention programs for refugees, asylum seekers and other diverse […]
WentWest Stories, STARTTS: Atur’s Story
The NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors (STARTTS) is a non-profit organisation supporting refugees, migrants and culturally and linguistically diverse. WentWest has commissioned STARTTS since 2015 to implement culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) mental health literacy and suicide prevention programs for refugees, asylum seekers and other diverse communities […]
Improving Refugee Health in Our Community
People from refugee backgrounds and Asylum Seekers are one of the community groups that present with the poorest health outcomes. They have higher rates of chronic diseases and mental health problems than migrants due to past experiences of exposure to violations of their human rights, persecutions, exposure to civil war or traumatic scenes, deprivation as well as post-migration stressors. Environmental change and unfamiliarity with Australian healthcare services systems and procedures add more challenges to accessing […]