The mental health needs of adult asylum seekers in Newcastle upon Tyne

Abstract

Dealing with the needs of asylum seekers and refugees presents a challenge to local health services, and mental health has been identified as the main health issue for this group. This paper reports the findings of a quantitative and qualitative study of the mental health care needs of asylum seekers and refugees in Newcastle upon Tyne. Primary and mental health services were found not to be meeting the needs of this group. In some practices, attitudes to asylum seekers among both GPs and other patients were reported as stigmatising. But there is evidence that many of the mental health problems of asylum seekers are related to post‐migration stress arising from practical and economic difficulties and experience of racism and other discrimination, highlighting the need to build support and social connections and include the needs of asylum seekers in local mental health promotion strategies.