Refugee Health Provider Resources

Refugee Mental Health

Clinician Tools - It is important when working with refugee populations to be aware of cultural backgrounds and potential past trauma, especially when it comes to mental health. Cultural and Trauma-Informed Care

Refugee Mental Health Screening
  • Introductory and Referral Scripts for the Refugee Health Screener-15: A sample script by EthnoMed for clinicians on how to have a dialogue with refugee patients about counseling referrals after completing the RHS-15. (Click Here) 
  • RHS-15 (A mental health-specific screening for refugees developed by Pathways to Wellness and created to "sensitively detect the range of emotional distress common across refugee groups.”
  • The National Child Traumatic Stress Network (Click Here) - Provides mental health clinicians and professional interpreters with information about a trauma-informed approach to mental health interpretation that is socio-culturally and linguistically responsive to the needs of children and families receiving services.
Guides & Resources
  • Building a Culturally Informed Network of Refugee Mental Healthcare Providers (Click Here) – A guide for refugee service providers to increase cultural awareness in mental health practitioners.
  • Guide to Trauma-Informed Care: Preventing Crises and De-escalating Difficult Situations (Click Here) – A guide to help service providers interact with refugees in a trauma-informed way.
  • Institute on Trauma and Trauma-Informed Care (Click Here) – A website with talks, online modules, and manuals on trauma-informed care.
  • A Trauma-Informed Understanding of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (Click Here) – A Switchboard guide to the concepts of mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) and its implementation in support of resettled refugees’ MHPSS.
Health Equity Resources
  • Health Information Translations (Click Here) - Plain language health education resources for those working with people who don’t speak English well.
  • Healthy Roads Media (Click Here) - Health education materials in a number of languages and formats.
  • Think Cultural Health (Click Here) - Looks at how culture can impact health among various ethnic groups
  • MedLine Plus (Click Here) - National Library of Medicine that has information about diseases, conditions, and wellness issues in language you can understand.
  • Traditional Knowledge & Medicine (Click Here) - From the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. It has directories and databases that cover common and scientific names for medical terms, pharmacology, and chemistry.
  • CDC Health Education & Communication Tools (Click Here) - Health education tools from the CDC. These focus on refugee, immigrant, and migrant communities and others who don't speak English well.
Webinars & Trainings:
  • Afghan Culture & Refugee Health (Click Here) 
  • Access to Mental Health Services and Other Vulnerable Immigrants in the U.S.: Overcoming Barriers and Strengthening Enablish Factors (Click Here)