Cultural brokers’ role in facilitating informal and formal mental health supports for refugee youth in school and community context: a Canadian case study

ABSTRACT

Refugee youth, who experience developmental, settlement and/or premigration related challenges, rarely utilise mental health services due to systemic and cultural barriers. Cultural brokering, the act of linking different cultural groups to enhance practice and communication, is one approach to addressing barriers to mental health service provision experienced by refugees. Results from a qualitative case study in Canada identified informal and formal activities of four cultural brokers that facilitate the mental health and adaptation of refugee youth in schools: facilitating cultural integration and sense of belonging, bridging to settlement services, supportive counselling, facilitating referrals to mental health practitioners, educating about mental health, providing contextual information and cultural interpretation. Results provide initial insights into a holistic approach that could be used by mental health service providers to enhance service provision and the wellbeing of refugee youth in schools and community settings.

KEYWORDS:

• Cultural brokering
• refugee youth
• cross-cultural issues
• counselling
• adaptation
• settlement supports
• school supports

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Novjyot Brar-Josan is a registered psychologist at the Centre for Cognitive Behavioral Therapy in Edmonton, Canada. Her main research interests are multicultural counselling, refugee mental health, and sense of belonging among refugee young adults. Her clinical interests include the assessment and treatment of anxiety and mood disorders.

Sophie Yohani is an associate professor of counselling psychology at the University of Alberta, Canada. Her interests are in multicultural counselling and refugee mental health, particularly pre-migration trauma, adaptation, and programme/practice implications in community and educational settings.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the University of Alberta’s Supports for the Advancement of Scholarship (SAS) grant.