Conference proceedings of the 4th Masterclass Psychiatry: Transcultural Psychiatry - Diagnostics and Treatment, Luleå, Sweden, 22-23 February 2018 (Region Norrbotten in collaboration with the Maudsley Hospital and Tavistock Clinic London)

Abstract

Background: According to estimates from the European Commission, Europe has experienced the greatest mass movement of people since the Second World War. More than one million refugees and migrants have arrived in the European Union in the past few years. Mental health and primary care professionals are more likely than ever to meet patients from different cultures and backgrounds.

Aims: To equip mental health and primary care professionals with transcultural skills to deal with patients from unfamiliar backgrounds.

Method: Lectures and case discussions to explore the latest advances in the diagnosis and treatment of serious mental health problems in a transcultural context.

Results: Lectures covered transcultural aspects of mental health problems, treatment in different cultural and ethnic contexts, and assessment of risk factors for self-harm and harm in migrant populations.

Conclusions: Clinicians require a sound grounding in transcultural skills to confidently and empathically deal with patients from unfamiliar backgrounds.

Keywords: Culture: psychiatry: neuroscience: ethnopharmacology: refugees.