Health issues of asylum seekers and refugees in Gateshead and Newcastle 2016
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On 3 June 2015, Healthwatch Newcastle and Healthwatch Gateshead teamed up with the Regional Refugee Forum (RRF) to hold an event for asylum seekers and refugees resident in Newcastle and Gateshead. The event was designed to give RRF members the opportunity to tell us about the unique and distinctive health and wellbeing issues affecting them. They ran a second session bringing refugees and asylum seekers together with commissioners. 23 people attended.
Key findings
The stigma surrounding mental health was a common theme. People commented that in their cultures mental health was seen as shameful and so wasn’t discussed within families.
RRF members felt that the attitude of some health professionals often did not help when people were already feeling low. People commented that GPs were too quick to diagnose depression and prescribe medication, even when they were being told that the medication wasn’t working. There seemed to be an automatic assumption that asylum seekers and refugees have a mental health problem.
Many members commented that they encountered barriers when using the interpreting service. Interpreters from the same culture can be a barrier in some cases, as can the use of male interpreters for female patients. Miscommunication due to differences in dialect was also raised as an issue.
Members spoke a lot about the causes of mental health problems for asylum seekers and refugees. Many experience or witness progressive mental health deterioration after arrival in the UK.
Asylum policy itself was cited frequently as barrier to being healthy. As people are not allowed to work while awaiting a decision on the asylum claim, they spend a lot of time indoors being inactive.
Every asylum seeker supported by the government while their claim is being decided, and each family member, receives £36.95 per week in support. To make money stretch further people tend to buy cheaper brands and multi-buy offers, which tend to be more processed and unhealthy.
Cultural differences were mentioned frequently as a barrier to staying healthy in the UK. Among those who have been in the UK longer, obesity and diabetes are increasingly a common concern.
Participants said they would like more information about healthy food consumption as the messages weren’t clear and caused confusion as they were often only relevant to common UK diets. People particularly wanted information about weight management and healthy ingredients.