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GP Resources: Publications and Links

A number of resources are available that may assist GPs with patients who are refugees or asylum seekers.

Resource materials are available from:

Foundation House - Victorian Foundation for the Survivors of Torture

Foundation House (The Victorian Foundation for Survivors of Torture) provides a range of services to refugees and asylum seekers who have experienced torture or war related trauma in Victoria. Services include counselling, advocacy, family support, group work, psycho-education, information sessions and complementary therapies.

It also provides referral, training and health promotion aimed at developing and strengthening the resources of various communities and service providers.

Foundation House is non-denominational, politically neutral and non-aligned.

There are newly updated editions of the following publications:

• Promoting Refugee Health: A Guide for doctors and other health care providers caring for people from refugee backgrounds (292pp, 2nd edn.) and
• Caring for Refugee Patients in General Practice: A Desk Top Guide (21pp, 3rd edn)

The new editions are available to download on the Foundation House website www.foundationhouse.org.au/publications.php . They include information about the changing profiles and health needs of refugee communities, humanitarian and resettlement policy changes, MBS refugee health assessment items, approaches to consultation, assessment and management, torture and trauma, new guidelines on infectious diseases and service referral directories for each state & territory.

Limited hard-copy editions and CD Roms of both resources are also available. Please email publications@foundationhouse.org.au or check online for details

NSW Refugee Health Service

Funded by the NSW Department of Health, this service provides clinical assessments, orientation to the health system, advocacy, and works with health services to improve health and health service access for refugees and others of similar background living in NSW. The NSW Refugee Health Service has a number of useful resources for General Practitioners, including "Managing Survivors of Torture and Trauma: Guidelines for General Practitioners" which is available on the Service's website from mid June 2004.

Multicultural Mental Health Australia

Multicultural Mental Health Australia is the new national program in multicultural mental health and suicide prevention, funded under the National Mental Health Strategy and National Suicide Prevention Strategy by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing.

From March 1, 2003 Multicultural Mental Health Australia replaces the Australian Transcultural Mental Health Network as the program providing national leadership in mental health and suicide prevention for Australians from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds and working to promote better mental health and well-being for a diverse community.

Multicultural Mental Health Australia will continue to use a model of collaboration and partnership and take a population health approach to developing the issues of transcultural mental health and suicide prevention through a strategy and program of strategic alliance and network building focusing on national mainstream programs, State and Territory Mental Health Services, specialist transcultural, refugee and torture and trauma services, consumers, carers and the community sector and the ethnic media.

The new program represents a partnership of leading agencies in multicultural health operating as a consortium led by Western Sydney Area Health Service, Diversity Health Institute.

The MMHA website has available a range of resources relating to refugees and asylum seekers' mental health, including an index of current and past newsletters, a cultral awareness tool and information on education and professional development opportunities.

Department of Immigration & Multicultural & Indigenous Affairs

A detailed "fact sheet" about assistance for asylum seekers is available on the Australian Department of Immigration & Multicultural & Indigenous Affairs (DIMIA) website.

The Alliance of Health Care Professionals Concerned about the Health of Asylum Seekers and their Children

This alliance of 27 different medical colleges and other medical and nursing peak bodies has made a detailed submission to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission inquiry on Children in Detention. The submission presents research and case studies detailing the impact that our policies are having on the health of asylum seekers and their children, both in detention and in the community. Read about this group, and the submission on the Royal Australian College of Physicians website.

Refugee Health Care: a Guide for General Practitioners in Tasmania

In recent years Tasmania has seen a significant increase in refugee arrivals from a greater diversity of countries of origin, and with that, an increase in the diversity and severity of health problems on arrival.

This guide was produced primarily to assist General Practitioners to provide a thorough health assessment of newly arrived refugees in Tasmania, and to promote better linkages with other services providing health, specialised counselling and other support to refugees.

It has drawn from a wealth of existing information and publications, but has been tailored specifically to those working in Tasmania. It contains information on medical conditions, socio-cultural and religious considerations, language and interpreter information and a series of pre-prepared referral pro-formas.

A login is required to download the document. A modified version (minus medical information) will be available on the public-access site shortly. Contact the Department of Health and Human Services on 1800 671 738 or at public.health@dhhs.tas.gov.au for further information.

Publication Date: 9 June 2004