Prevention programs for refugees: An interface for mental health and public health

Refugee movements impose tremendous psychological and physical trauma on survivors, making refugees a high risk group for psychopathology and psycho-social adjustment problems. Prevention programs based on public mental health principles are needed for refugees, but few exist, and none have been evaluated empirically to determine if they lower rates of illness or other psycho-social problems. This paper explores impediments to the development of prevention programming for refugees and describes public mental health strategies for the psycho-social problems of refugees. A necessary step towards the development of prevention programs is the recognition that a substantial body of knowledge exists about the refugee experience and its community mental health implications. Attention to prevention is important, particularly the need to evaluate empirically any prevention program's effectiveness with refugees.