Minor refugees’ access to mental health care services in Germany
As part of the YOURHEALTH consortium the main aim of the YOURCARE subproject is to assess minors’ and caregivers’ perceptions, knowledge of, and barriers in access to psychotherapeutic and mental health care services in Germany. We investigate whether there exists a gap between the minors’ needs on the one hand and the services provided on the other.
We involve gatekeepers, service and care providers, and non-governmental organizations whose judgement of the need for treatment of minor refugees and institutional support can play a key role in their access to mental health care. We ask which barriers in their view are of special relevance for minor refugees and how and on which level they can be addressed. We thus identify health system characteristics and predisposing factors that constitute barriers of access to, and use of, health care services for treatment of mental health problems.
We further invite refugee minors’ and their families’ input. We study the actual use of mental health services, perceived barriers to accessing mental health care, stigma-related attitudes towards help-seeking, perceived maintenance of positive health and sources of support when faced with mental health difficulties. We thus assess subjective needs and investigate the possible changes with duration of stay. We further study whether the support provided by so-called “intercultural therapy assistants” (see YOURTREAT subproject) intervention was effective from their point of view.
Project funding
Federal Ministry of Education and Research
( Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) )