Title: Exploring Mental Health and Wellbeing Needs of Young Migrant Women
Funder: Department of Health and Social Care

Abstract: Aim:_x000D_ This project aims to understand the mental health and wellbeing needs of Young Migrant Women (YMW) aged 16-24 living in Kent, Surrey and Sussex. It will find out whether existing services in education, health, social care and community programmes either meet these needs or contribute to supporting good mental health and wellbeing and prevent mental ill-health. _x000D_ _x000D_ _x000D_ Background:_x000D_ Migration is a common factor in mental illnesses. Adolescents in particular have reported worse mental health symptoms in comparison with their counterparts. YMW in particular are prone to specific mental health illnesses due to the challenges they face during migration and other factors such as pre-existing vulnerabilities and experiences. Difficulties in adjusting to new environments, local systems, language and cultural disparities can contribute to poor mental health. Therefore, with the widening of migrant communities in KSS, this project has the potential to understand how to improve, change and inform policy and practice within the system for this vulnerable and marginalised group._x000D_ _x000D_ Design and Methods:_x000D_ We recognise the importance of capturing the voice and needs of YMW as a foundation to improving mental health and wellbeing for YMW. The project will bring together existing published evidence with these perspectives and professionals who support YMW by:_x000D_ • Conducting interviews with YMW (n=15-25) aged 16 to 24, who have been living in Kent, Surrey and Sussex for at least 5 years to understand their lived experiences of mental health, wellbeing and support received in their early life. _x000D_ • Conducting focus groups (n=6-8 people per group) with professionals responsible for policy, commissioning or provision of support services such as school health and charity services for mental health and wellbeing of migrant populations to understand how YMW are supported and how well existing services do this._x000D_ • Summarising published research (e.g. peer-reviewed articles, reports etc.) to understand what things are known to support the mental health and wellbeing of YMW._x000D_ _x000D_ Patient and Public Involvement:_x000D_ The project will benefit from two YMW public advisors to working with the research team throughout, sitting on our advisory group and being involved in project activities. In particular, they will support the running of the public focused work with YMW and synthesis of findings from all elements of the project described above. We will consult with additional YMW and members of the public to ensure our project documentation is clear and informative for participants, including our lay summary of findings. Two key stakeholders who provide services for YMW are also part of a project advisory group to ensure the work is focused on improving services for YMW. _x000D_ _x000D_ Dissemination:_x000D_ The results of this project will be reported to the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), published in journals and distributed through an accessible lay (non-English versions/alternative formats) and executive summary. We will present the findings at conferences and events such as the Migrant Help Building Bridges – Mental Health & Wellbeing in the Asylum Sector Conference._x000D_ _x000D_ To actively promote change, our findings will be shared at a project event bringing together YMW and those who provide support services to discuss the findings as a starting place to debate ways in which existing services might be improved to better support the mental health and wellbeing of YMW.

Lay abstract: Migration is a precipitating factor for mental health conditions, and Young Migrant Women (YMW) are more predisposed to mental health illnesses due to the specific challenges they face. According to the Office for Statistics’ report, migration in the UK is now at the highest level and in some areas school students for whom English is not their first language has increased by 49.2% since 2012. Therefore, with the widening of migrant communities, there is a need to understand how to reduce health inequalities in this population through improved, evidenced-based practice._x000D_ _x000D_ This project aims to understand the mental health and wellbeing needs of YMW aged 16 – 24 years living in Kent, Surrey and Sussex (KSS) as areas with medium to high migrant populations. This understanding will be used to discuss and co-design adaptations to existing non-NHS public health services with providers and YMW with respect to school, health, social care and community programmes to ensure the needs of YMW are met. A logic model will be co-designed with stakeholders detailing what effective support for good mental health, wellbeing and preventing mental ill-health is for this population. The project will be conducted with YMW, service providers and policy makers._x000D_ _x000D_ The project will bring together the voices of YMW, service providers and existing published evidence by:_x000D_ _x000D_ • Conducting interviews with YMW (n=15-25) aged 16 to 24, who have been living in Kent, Surrey and Sussex for at least 5 years to understand their lived experiences of mental health, wellbeing and support services received in their early life. Interviews will be 45-60 minutes in length and participants will be invited through organisations such as charities, schools (over 16 years), colleges and universities health programmes and groups, community and charity services for migrants and through social media. Interviews will be conducted in a neutral environment decided by the participant who can bring others for support if preferred. _x000D_ • Two 2-hour focus groups (n=6-8 people per group) with professionals responsible for policy, commissioning or provision of support services such as school health and charity services for mental health and wellbeing of migrant populations to understand how YMW are supported and how well existing services do this. Participants will be sought through the project team’s contacts and links with existing services, school programmes and charities for migrant populations such as Migrant Help. _x000D_ • A scoping review of the current published research (including grey literature and reports) will be conducted to understand the current evidence for determinants of good/poor mental health and wellbeing in YMW and evidenced preventative interventions supporting good mental health and wellbeing._x000D_ _x000D_ The emerging grounded theory from the above will be shared at a stakeholder/dissemination event for service providers and YMW. Findings will be discussed and used to appraise existing services and a logic model co-designed for optimum public health and non-NHS services for YMW. The logic model will then form the basis of a follow on study for which funding will be sought to evaluate the outcomes and impact of support for YMW. The findings will be reported to NIHR, through a lay and executive summary online and presented at national conferences e.g. European Forum for Primary Care conference and Migrant Help Building Bridges – Mental Health & Wellbeing in the Asylum Sector Conference.

Research activity codes: 8.1 ORGANISATION AND DELIVERY OF SERVICES
Health categories: MENTAL HEALTH