2024/02/29 by Vannaral Than, Nastaran Doroud, Lisa O’Brien · 3 citations
Medicine · Psychology · #Environmental health #Gerontology #Health services #Medicine #Mental Health Treatment and Access #Mental health #Migration, Health and Trauma #Population #Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research #Psychiatry #Psychology
paper · pdf · doi:10.1177/00207640241230848
published in International Journal of Social Psychiatry 70(4), 778-791 (SAGE Publishing)
openalex publication_date 2024/02/29 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/06
BACKGROUND: Health disparity and under-utilization of health services is prevalent among Asian refugees and migrants in Western countries and can profoundly impact health outcomes. Cambodians who survived extreme physical and emotional trauma during the genocides enacted by the Khmer Rouge regime in the 1970's are particularly vulnerable to poor mental health outcomes decades later. Understanding the experiences of help-seeking and service use by displaced Cambodians in Western countries may help to design more effective and culturally safe healthcare services. AIMS: To identify characteristics or factors associated with help seeking behaviours and service utilization of displaced Cambodians with mental health issues living in Western countries. METHODS: This review followed the Arksey & O'Malley methodological framework for scoping reviews. Articles for review were identified through searches of nine electronic databases and manual searches. Relevant articles were selected, and data was extracted and synthesized into key themes. RESULTS: = 13) with one each conducted in Canada and New Zealand. Seven studies used qualitative interviews, five used a cross-sectional survey approach, two used a mixed-methods approach and one was a narrative review and case series. Key findings highlighted the impact of Cambodian cultural beliefs about mental health (guilt, shame and help-seeking stigma) on service utilization and the disconnect between Western models of service provision and preferred Cambodian ways of receiving support. CONCLUSION: Mental health services in Western countries are likely to be under-utilized by Cambodians due to a mismatch between health beliefs and Western models of care. Further investigation of the association between health beliefs and barriers to service utilization among adult Cambodian refugees is warranted.