A Qualitative Exploration of Sources of Help for Mental Illness in Arabic-, Mandarin-, and Swahili-Speaking Communities in Sydney, Australia

Klimentina Krstanoska-Blazeska; Andre Renzaho; Ilse Blignault; Bingqin Li; Nicola Reavley; Shameran Slewa-Younan

doi:10.3390/ijerph20105862

A Qualitative Exploration of Sources of Help for Mental Illness in Arabic-, Mandarin-, and Swahili-Speaking Communities in Sydney, Australia

Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 May 18;20(10):5862. doi: 10.3390/ijerph20105862.

Authors

Klimentina Krstanoska-Blazeska¹, Andre Renzaho¹, Ilse Blignault¹, Bingqin Li², Nicola Reavley³, Shameran Slewa-Younan^{1

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Translational Health Research Institute, School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown 2571, Australia.
² Social Policy Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney 2052, Australia.
³ Centre for Mental Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne, Melbourne 3010, Australia.
⁴ School of Medicine, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown 2571, Australia.

Abstract

Despite being disproportionately affected by poor mental health, culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) individuals seek help from mental health services at lower rates than others in the Australian population. The preferred sources of help for mental illness amongst CaLD individuals remain poorly understood. The aim of this study was to explore sources of help in Arabic-, Mandarin-, and Swahili-speaking communities in Sydney, Australia. Eight focus-group discussions (n = 51) and twenty-six key informant interviews were undertaken online using Zoom. Two major themes were identified: informal sources of help and formal sources of help. Under the informal sources of help theme, three sub-themes were identified: social, religious, and self-help sources. All three communities strongly recognised the role of social sources of help, with more nuanced roles held by religion and self-help activities. Formal sources of help were described by all communities, although to a lesser extent than informal sources. Our findings suggest that interventions to support help-seeking for all three communities should involve building the capacity of informal sources of help, utilising culturally appropriate environments, and the collaboration between informal and formal sources of help. We also discuss differences between the three communities and offer service providers insights into unique issues that require attention when working with these groups.

Keywords: Arabic-speaking; Australia; Congolese; Mandarin-speaking; Swahili-speaking; culturally and linguistically diverse; mental illness; qualitative research; sources of help.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Australia / epidemiology
Focus Groups
Health Behavior
Humans
Mental Disorders* / epidemiology
Mental Health

Grants and funding

Funding for this research was provided by Mental Health Australia Ltd. as part of the Embrace Multicultural Mental Health Project. The Embrace Multicultural Mental Health Project provides a national focus on mental health and suicide prevention for people from CALD backgrounds. It also works in partnership with mainstream services and institutions to build cultural capacity and support the representation of multicultural voices.