Elsevier

Health & Place

Volume 79, January 2023, 102964
Health & Place

Refugee mental health and the role of place in the Global North countries: A scoping review

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2023.102964Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Highlights

  • Very few studies conceptualize place explicitly in relation to refugee mental health.

  • Five place-specific key themes have been identified in the current research.

  • Intersecting material, social and policy characteristics of place are relevant for refugee mental health.

  • Place must play more central role in research and understanding of refugee mental health.

Abstract

Post-migration factors significantly influence refugee mental health. This scoping review looks at the role of place in refugee mental health. We included 34 studies in Global North high-income countries that elaborated on the place characteristics of facilities, neighbourhoods, urban and rural areas, and countries. While the role of place remains under-theorised, all studies reveal common characteristics that support a strong relationship between place of residence, refugee mental health and wellbeing outcomes in post-migration context. Given that refugees often have little or no choice of where they ultimately live, we suggest future research should focus on how characteristics of place co-constitute post-migration refugee mental health risks, protections, and outcomes.

Keywords

Refugees
Mental health
Place
Post-migration
Scoping review

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