Abstract
This is the seventh volume in a series emanating from the NSW Transcultural Mental Health Centre.
The service needs within multicultural Australia require good understanding. These volumes have helped fill the gaps in available knowledge. The two editors have assembled a variety of authors to present a multidisciplinary view of the interactive issues as they pertain to young people. It demonstrates that while there are a range of practitioners working with newly arrived communities, the available tools require refinement and development.
The opening third of the text comprises a literature review. This focuses on a range of Australian and overseas literature; however, work and writing about this work in our own context requires significant development. The particular make up of Australian society, in all its regional variations means that solutions for our own problem requires better designed local inputs.
The remainder of the first section has a number of chapters outlining the broad issues from a variety of clinical and service perspectives. The chapter ‘Who's caring for whom? Living with parents with mental health problems’ highlights the extra difficulties newly settled young people face. Their networks are often not as broadly based which enhances both their vulnerability and isolation.
The shorter second section details five examples of interventions to improve young people's mental health among newly arrived communities. This section flags a range of pilot programmes, which all highlight both consequences of migration and also looks at some of the precipitants for the migration process. As the Australian and global communities debate and respond to the plight of refugees and asylum seekers, this issue is even more relevant.
This volume highlights that our services and practices need to incorporate established knowledge within their current frameworks and better develop our understanding of the specific needs of new settler communities.
The volume will be a useful resource for libraries and services, as well as individual practitioners, who are endeavouring to develop their work in this field.