Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here for FREE ACCESS to this landmark database

Click here to sign up for SAGE Journal Email Alerts today!

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Transcultural Psychiatry
This Article
Right arrow Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Scuglik, D. L.
Right arrow Articles by Logan, K. M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Scuglik, D. L.
Right arrow Articles by Logan, K. M.
Right arrowPubmed/NCBI databases
Medline Plus Health Information
*Mental Health
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

When the Poetry No Longer Rhymes: Mental Health Issues Among Somali Immigrants in the USA

Deborah L. Scuglik

Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, dscuglik{at}affinityhealth.org

Renato D. Alarcón

Mayo Clinic College of Medicine

Andre C. Lapeyre, III

Mayo Clinic College of Medicine

Mark D. Williams

Mayo Clinic College of Medicine

Kathleen M. Logan

Mayo Clinic College of Medicine

To identify and explore cultural dynamics influencing the psychiatric care of immigrant Somalis in the USA, we reviewed demographic data from Minnesota Departments of Human Services, and interviewed health professionals, exploring community perceptions of medical/psychiatric needs, cultural characteristics, barriers to care, and potential solutions. An informal survey of 37 members of the Mayo Clinic Department of Psychiatry and Psychology, to determine caregiver perceptions of care of Somali patients, cited language barriers (74%), and cultural misperceptions (68%) as the most frequent obstacles. Difficulties working within the patriarchal family structure, limited community resources, poor compliance, and financial issues ranged between 18 and 8%. Additional barriers mentioned were problems working with interpreters from `warring clan factions,' patients' fears of being labeled `crazy,' difficulties viewing illness within an emotional framework, and the need to address mental health from a physical framework through a focus on somatic symptoms. Somalis rarely acknowledge psychiatric problems and common traditional treatments have become ineffective in the new context. Recommendations include alternative health care approaches utilizing family values, `bargaining,' and educational approaches to acculturation.

Key Words: acculturation • culture • immigrant • psychiatry • Somali

Transcultural Psychiatry, Vol. 44, No. 4, 581-595 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/1363461507083899
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?