The incorporation of family primary care for southeast Asian refugees in a community-based mental health facility

• Published in: Archives of psychiatric nursing Vol. 3; no. 3; p. 173
• Main Author: Pickwell, S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States 01-06-1989
• Subjects: Asia, Southeastern - ethnology; California; Community Mental Health Centers - organization & administration; Cultural Characteristics; Emigration and Immigration; Humans; Mental Disorders - epidemiology; Mental Disorders - nursing; Mental Disorders - therapy; Nurse Practitioners; Primary Health Care - organization & administration; Asia, Southeastern; California
• ISSN: 0883-9417

Immigration is a complex circumstance that exacts a serious toll from the migrant in terms of mental, physical, and socioeconomic status. Among migrating peoples, it is the refugee who encounters the greatest number of personal and social obstacles to resettlement and adaptation. The degree of effective acculturation among Southeast Asian refugees is largely unknown, but it appears that adjustment difficulties are manifest more and more in psychotic episodes, substance abuse, and other antisocial behaviors. This report reviews the literature that documents the incidence of mental health disturbance among this population and describes some of the treatment approaches being tried at various health care centers across the country. Nurses are confronted with the dilemma of integrating the techniques of modern clinical psychiatry with cultural reality into a model system for providing effective mental health services to ethnically diverse people. Described here is a Family Nurse Practitioner-faculty-student clinical experience designed to provide home health services to Southeast Asian refugees with psychiatric diagnoses.