Are asylum seekers and refugees provided with appropriate mental health support in the United Kingdom?

Figures & data

Table 1. Participant inclusion criteria.

Asylum seekers and refugees	Support workers
Applying for asylum in the UK or have been granted refugee status within the past 5 years	Have worked supporting ASR in the past 5 years
Over 16	Over 16
Have tried to access and/or used mental health support services within Brighton and Hove	Have experience providing mental health support to ASR
Can speak English	Can speak English
Gives consent	Gives consent

Table 2. Research informants.

Informant category	Migration status	Pseudonym^a	Gender	Age	Country of origin	Time in the UK (years)
Asylum seekers and refugees	Asylum Seeker	Zemar	Male	19	Afghanistan	5
		Mohammadi	Male	18	Afghanistan	3
	Refugee	Abed	Male	17	Afghanistan	2
		Isaad	Male	17	Afghanistan	1
		Yaya	Female	28	Sudan	4
		Kaled	Male	30	Syria	2
		Jaliyah	Female	27	Syria	2
		Tahir	Male	25	Syria	2
		Aisha	Female	22	Syria	2
Support workers	Type	Pseudonym^a	Gender	Place of work^b		Time in current job role
	Statutory	Natalie	Female	Brighton and Hove Wellbeing Service		1–9 years
		Michael	Male
	Non-statutory	Sarah	Female	The Hummingbird Project, Refugee Council, Voices in Exile, Doctors of the World		1–5 years
		Maria	Female
		Yasmin	Female
		Rachael	Female

^a Names of participants are fictional to protect their identity.

^b Support workers, their organisations, and their time in current job roles are not linked to preserve anonymity.

Table 3. Support services available, recommended, and used by informants.

Organisations	Times mentioned	Specific support services	Type of service	Use of volunteers
Organisations and support services recommended or used by asylum seekers and refugees
Local libraries	1	Access to computers, internet, and areas to study	Statutory	Yes
Sussex University	1	Free English courses for speakers of other languages (ESOL)	Non-statutory	No
Friends Centre	3	ESOL courses (no longer available)	Non-statutory	Unclear
Colleges	5	Free education	Statutory	No
Foster Carers	2	Support networks	Statutory	No
Organisations and support services recommended by support workers
MIND	1	Advice, information, and advocacy services	Non-statutory	Yes
Mosques	1	Cultural and social support networks	Non- statutory	Yes
BMECP (Black & Minority Ethnic Community Partnership)	1	Food bank, social support networks, advise drop-in sessions focused on money and rights	Non- statutory	Yes
MindOut- Health Service	1	Advice, advocacy, peer support, mentoring, suicide prevention, support groups, and social networking	Non- statutory	Yes
Refugee Radio	2	Community projects targeting mental health such as networking activities to prevent isolation and social exclusion, experience-sharing strategies, and music events to give a voice to asylum seekers, refugees and vulnerable migrants	Non-statutory	Yes
Cowley Club	3	Networking, informative events and various other projects, including free English language courses (the Migrant English Project) and a vegan food bank	Non-statutory	Yes
Brighton’s Wellbeing Service	4	Mental health support via the NHS for those over the age of 4	Statutory	No
Child & Adolescent Mental Health Service	3	Specialist NHS services and support for children, young people, families, and carers who are experiencing difficulties with their emotional, psychological, and mental health	Statutory	No
Organisations and support services recommended or used by ASR and support workers
Voices in Exile	4 ASR 3 SP	Advice, casework, food bank, English language courses, Migrant Welcome Project (networking and integration), Green Spaces Support Group	Non-statutory	Yes
Social Workers	4 ASR 4 SP	Support and case work for parents with children, unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors, or young refugees	Statutory	No
Refugee council	3 ASR 2 SP	Advice, advocacy, and casework for asylum seekers	Non- statutory	Yes
The Hummingbird Project	2 ASR 2 SP	Skills development, networking, 1–1 mental health support/counselling, advocacy	Non-statutory	Yes
BERTS- Brighton Exiled/Refugee Trauma Service.	2 ASR 4 SP	Specialist trauma counselling and psychotherapy for refugees, asylum seekers and destitute migrants in Sussex	Non-statutory	Yes
Brighton Table Tennis Club	1 ASR 1 SP	Integration support, including networking and English language skills	Non-statutory	Yes

Figure 1. Disjunctive between support services recommended by supportworkers and used by ASR.

Data availability statement

All relevant data are within the paper. Due to the nature of this research, further data will not be publicly shared.