Re: the target population

We have to be aware that the population of traumatised refugees is far from a homogeneous population, although this is often how the group is perceived by administrators. On the contrary, it includes persons with very different backgrounds in terms of education, religion, economic status, etc. as well as very different resources that need to be taken into consideration when planning services.

Re: staff

There is a need to ensure that staff possess the necessary cultural competence to manage patients of different cultural and ethnic backgrounds and that there is an awareness of the important impact that trauma may have on the general psychiatric morbidity and manifestation of symptoms, also among patients suffering from other psychiatric disorders. Working more frequently with interpreters requires that staff are trained to do so.

Re: services

Treatment of traumatised refugees started outside the public health services at highly specialised institutions. Over time, however, we have seen a movement of the therapeutic activities towards mainstream public services, thereby providing the possibility of inspiring the mental health services in general to have a larger focus on the impact of trauma as well as cultural matters. It is also important to be aware that working with interpreters requires extra time and resources.