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Refugees, war trauma and mental health: knowledge and experience from trainees and early career psychiatrists

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 July 2023

S. Bianchi ,
I. Riboldi ,
D. Őri ,
S. Pompili ,
C. Pavel ,
A. Seker  and
E. Psychiatry Across Borders Working Group
S. Bianchi*
Affiliation:
1Department of Psychiatry, University of Perugia, Perugia
I. Riboldi
Affiliation:
2Department of Medicine and Surgery, University of Milano-Bicocca, Monza, Italy
D. Őri
Affiliation:
3Institute of Behavioural Sciences, Semmelweis University 4Department of Mental Health, Heim Pal National Pediatric Institute, Budapest, Hungary
S. Pompili
Affiliation:
5Clinical Unit of Psychiatry, Department of Neuroscience, University Polytechnic of Marche, Ancona, Italy
C. Pavel
Affiliation:
6Prof. Dr. Alexandru Obregia Clinical Psychiatry Hospital, Bucharest, Romania
A. Seker
Affiliation:
7Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
E. Psychiatry Across Borders Working Group
Affiliation:
8 European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Psychiatry Across Borders working group of the European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees has the mission to improve psychiatric training in transcultural psychiatry and trauma-related topics in Europe. It started conducting a survey in 2016, to assess trainees’ experiences in forcibly displaced people mental health (Frankova et al. Transcult.Psychiatry, in press).

Objectives

To investigate European psychiatric trainees’ and Early Career Psychiatrists’ (ECPs) training about trauma and refugees’ mental health, focusing on educational and clinical difficulties occurring while assisting war refugees or in Eastern Europe, due to the ongoing conflict.

Methods

A new survey for European psychiatric trainees and ECPs was designed. A web questionnaire was shared through various channels, including social media, in September 2022. It included an informed consent form and investigated socio-demographic data, training in trauma and refugees’ mental health, clinical practice in war areas or with war refugees.

Results

As of 16/10/22, 31 were the responders, mainly adult psychiatrists (93.6%). Although the 87.1% worked with forcibly displaced people, only 29% received a specific training, and 53.6% didn’t feel prepared to face war trauma-related disorders. However, 64.3% could reach out to a teamwork member specialized in the topic, and 72.2% to interpreters. The 67.7% worked with actual war refugees, mainly addressed to psychiatric services due to new onset of psychiatric symptoms, especially insomnia (66.7%), often diagnosed with Acute Stress Reaction (66.7%) and treated with psychiatric drugs (83.3%). Two colleagues working in war areas participated in the survey: both lost patients at follow-up and experienced increased workload or lack of means (i.e., drug supply) or support.

Conclusions

This survey can spot educational needs in transcultural psychiatry, helping to program targeted interventions for psychiatric trainees and ECPs, aimed at implementing clinical practice towards the common goal of social cohesion.

Disclosure of Interest

None Declared

Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 66 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 31st European Congress of Psychiatry , March 2023 , pp. S283
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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