Carers of People with Mental Illness from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities

ABSTRACT

Australia is a multicultural country and it is common for families from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities to care for their relatives with mental illness. However, there are limited Australian studies examining the experiences of informal carers of people with mental illness from CALD communities. A scoping review was conducted to search for peer-reviewed articles reporting the perception of carers regarding their caregiving experiences, wellbeing, and needs. Using cultural responsiveness as a conceptual framework, this study analysed the findings of the identified studies to generate themes. Findings show that carers experience severe caregiving challenges and face considerably poor culturally oriented services in mental health. Social work implications concerning the need to provide culturally responsive practice in mental health services are discussed.

IMPLICATIONS

• Carers from culturally and linguistically diverse communities experience considerably poorer culturally oriented practices in mental health services.

• Cultural responsiveness is a relevant framework for social work practice with carers and their relatives with mental illness who are from culturally and linguistically diverse communities.

澳大利亚是一个多文化国家，那些来自不同文化和语言社群的家庭多由亲属照料精神病人。在澳大利亚，这类非正规看护者的经历很少得到研究。本文研究了经同行评论的相关文章，文章涉及看护者对自己看护经历、幸福、需求状态的感受。作者以文化反应为理论框架，分析了相关研究的发现。研究发现，看护人经历了严重的看护挑战，面对了精神健康领域受文化影响的糟糕服务机构。作者讨论了社会工作对于在精神健康服务领域提供必要文化反应实践的意义。

KEYWORDS:

• Caregivers
• Family
• Culture
• Mental Disorders
• Australia
• Migrants
• Culturally and Linguistically Diverse
• Mental Illness
• Wellbeing
• Cultural Responsiveness

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Abner Weng Cheong Poon http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2863-5916

Jung-Sook Lee http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2426-2104