Integration of Refugees Into Public Mental Health Care (INT_REF_MH)

Integration of Refugees With Mental Disorders Into the Public Psychotherapeutic Health Care Services - a Model Project With Trained Peers

There are specific barriers to utilise psychotherapeutic services for refugees with mental health problems in the German public health care system. This study aims to evaluate additional organisational components that are hypothesised to improve service utilisation. In a randomised controlled trial, refugees with mental health problems are identified by peers, subsequently assessed by professional staff and referred to public psychotherapeutic health services who offer standard care. Participants are assigned to care as usual or to "coordinated and peer supported mental health care"; the latter includes several additional organisational assistance components, i.e. a coordination center, trained peers to support treatment utilisation, a support and training center for therapists, and a interpreter pool. Measures include service utilisation and symptom change after 6 months. Furthermore the study evaluates whether trained peers can correctly identify participants with mental health problems.

Participants receive standard psychotherapeutic care in the public healthcare system. For participants and therapists in this group standard care and additional organisational support is available which is labeled "coordinated and peer supported mental health care". This includes several additional organisational assistance components that are currently not part of the services of the public mental health care system, i.e. a coordination center, trained peers to support treatment utilisation, a support and training center for therapists, and an interpreter pool.This is Treatment as Usual plus coordination and peer support.

Participants receive standard psychotherapeutic care in the public healthcare system. For participants in this group no additional organisational support is available. This is Treatment as Usual.

Inclusion Criteria: Psychiatric diagnosis from Chapters 3 and 4 of ICD10 Participant applied for asylum in Germany Entry to Germany after 2012 Participants is motivated to utilise psychotherapeutic services Patient speaks one of the languages in which services are offered (i.e. German, English, French, Arabic, Kurdish, Dari, Farsi, Urdu, Pashto, Tirginya, Somali) Exclusion Criteria: Mental disorder that requires inpatient treatment