Mental Health Matters Award: CALD Communities 2017

Pictured above, Gabriela Uribe (centre) and Dr Shameran Slewa-Younan (left) are being presented with the 2017 Mental Health Matters Award by the NSW Minister for Mental Health, the Hon Tanya Davies (source: WayAhead).

Gabriela, a PhD Candidate at THRI supervised by Dr Shameran Slewa-Younan and Professor Anthony Jorm (University of Melbourne), received the Mental Health Matters Award for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) Communities for her research on improving the capacity of Australian community-based workers to provide assistance to Iraqi refugees with mental health problems.

The Mental Health Literacy Course that we developed as part of my PhD Project in partnership with Mental Health First Aid Australia is designed to equip people who work with refugees, so they are able to provide initial help to refugees with PTSD and depression related problems. The evaluation of this program has shown that this training was effective in improving recognition of PTSD, reducing negative attitudes towards PTSD and depression and improving confidence when helping Iraqi refugees with mental health problems. -  Gabriela

The Mental Health Matters awards (opens in a new window) run by WayAhead Mental Health Association NSW seek to recognise the efforts of individuals and organisations in New South Wales in improving understanding, awareness, service provision and general mental health in their local communities. This year’s award winners were announced at the Mental Health Month Launch on Thursday 28th September 2017 at NSW Parliament House.

Watch a short promotional video produced by WayAhead about Gabriela's project (Opens in a new window)