Immigrants and mental health services: increasing collaboration with other service providers

This article examines the potential modifications of care indicated to engage migrant and refugee families in making use of needed mental health services for their children in Canada and the role psychiatrists can play in this process.

The clinical and consultative role of the members of the Transcultural Child Psychiatry Service at the Montreal Children's Hospital is used as a model. This model has been useful in engaging both migrant families and local front line service providers to work with each other in a collaborative manner.

Important aspects to be considered in these cases are: Modifications in obtaining access to care; Issues of communication (i.e., the use of interpreters); Addressing cultural differences in understanding and responding to a child's difficulties; recognizing the plasticity of culture; Collaboration with colleagues in hospitals and with professionals in the community.

New models of care, involving increased collaboration between professionals, need to be devised to facilitate the mental health care of immigrant and refugee children and their families.