Mental Health for Migration: Psychoeducation and Mental Health Promotion for Newly Arrived Refugees (TUULI)

Project picture for TUULI. A red kite on a blue sky.

TUULI project aimed to develop multilingual psychoeducational material that promote, support and screen mental health among newly arrived refugees.

Watch videos:
Mental Health for Migration – video series for refugees

Aim

As affirmed by the population-based studies carried out in the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, the prevalence of mental health problems is higher among people of refugee background than in the entire Finnish population. The early resettlement period is a favorable timing for influencing a person’s perceptions of mental health. This project aimed to produce high-quality, video-based psychoeducational material for refugees on various mental health themes.

Implimentation

What was unique in the implementation of this project was that the psychoeducational materials were produced by utilizing the methods of co-creation. The various stakeholders, including newly arrived refugees, were invited to participate in the development process so that the materials were culturally-sensitive and influential to the end-users. Stakeholders were also invited to participate in the piloting and dissemination of the developed materials.

Collaborative partners

The Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment
The Ministry of Social Affairs and Health
Finnish Migration Services
Helsinki Police Department
University of Helsinki and Åbo Akademi University Working Group on Forensic Psychology of Children and Adolescents
City of Helsinki
City of Kuopio
City of Tampere
Mental Health Organisation of Southwest Finland (Lounais-Suomen Mielenterveysseura ry)
Centre for Psychotraumatology
MIELI Mental Health Finland (Suomen Mielenterveys ry)