Policy

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Refugee Policy

Canadian Council for Refugees
The Canadian Council for Refugees is a non-profit umbrella organization committed to the rights and protection of refugees in Canada and around the world and to the settlement of refugees and immigrants in Canada. The site maintains a very useful set of links to Canadian resources.

WPA guidance on mental health and mental health care in migrants
The purpose of this guidance is to review currently available evidence on mental health problems in migrants and to present advice to clinicians and policy makers on how to provide migrants with appropriate and accessible mental health services. The three phases of the process of migration and the relevant implications for mental health are outlined, as well as the specific problems of groups such as women, children and adolescents, the elderly, refugees and asylum seekers, and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals. The concepts of cultural bereavement, cultural identity and cultural congruity are discussed. The epidemiology of mental disorders in migrants is described. A series of recommendations to policy makers, service providers and clinicians, aimed to improve mental health care in migrants, are provided, covering the special needs of migrants concerning pharmacotherapies and psychotherapies.

A Review of the International Literature on Refugee Mental Health Practices (pages 61-70)
This  literature review provides background on services that are available for refugees to Canada to support their mental health, emotional wellbeing, resiliency and recovery. The review is organized according to themes relating to three levels: the individual (refugees); the level of social systems (medical care and service provision), and policy-level decision-making.

Refugee Mental Health Promising Practices and Partnership Building Resources
This CAMH document is geared toward frontline workers, program managers and the leaders of agencies addresses the settlement and mental health needs of refugees.

Keeping Canadian Values in Health Care Inclusion, Diversity and Social Justice in Health: Newcomers from Kosovo
This report is based on a symposium organized by the Nova Scotia Council on Multicultural Health (NSCMH) to address the needs of Kosovar refugees to the Province. Several barriers were identified such as the need for trained interpreters; cultural understandings of mental health, and, the specific needs of providers and interpreters who work with refugees. Recommendations to address these barriers are also included in the document.