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Immigrants’ Pathways to Outpatient Mental Health: Are there Differences with the Native Population?

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Abstract

A poor use of mental health services has been described in immigrants. We compared the sociodemographic, clinical and treatment features of immigrants and natives attending a Community Mental Health Centre (CMHC). 191 immigrants and 191 randomly selected natives applying to the Borgomanero CMHC between 1 January 2003 and 31 August 2013 were compared. Our sample consisted mainly of the so-called “economic” immigrant. Adjustment disorders and reaction to stress were the most frequent diagnoses; in most cases symptoms onset occurred after migration. Although treatment features overlapped in the two groups (duration, number of contacts), immigrants showed a higher frequency of treatment dropout. While it is necessary to improve access to mental health services for immigrants, for the “economic” immigrant it may be more important to focus on establishing a therapeutic relationship that can be experienced as reliable and trustworthy. The finding of similar pathways to access the CMHC in natives and immigrants is encouraging.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Psychiatry, Dipartimento di Medicina Traslazionale, Università del Piemonte Orientale, Via Solaroli n. 17, 28100, Novara, Italy

    Carla Gramaglia, Eleonora Gambaro, Annalisa Rossi, Alessandra Toso, Alessandro Feggi, Eugenio Torre & Patrizia Zeppegno

  2. Community Mental Health Centre (CMHCs), Viale Zoppis 8, 28021, Borgomanero, NO, Italy

    Carlo Ignazio Cattaneo, Giorgio Castignoli & Piera Mainini

  3. Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche e Chirurgiche, viale C.Pepoli 5, Bologna, Italy

    Ilaria Tarricone

  4. SC Psichiatria, AOU Maggiore della Carità, Corso Mazzini n. 18, 28100, Novara, Italy

    Patrizia Zeppegno

Authors
  1. Carla Gramaglia
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  2. Eleonora Gambaro
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  3. Annalisa Rossi
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  4. Alessandra Toso
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  5. Alessandro Feggi
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  6. Carlo Ignazio Cattaneo
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  7. Giorgio Castignoli
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  8. Piera Mainini
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  9. Ilaria Tarricone
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  10. Eugenio Torre
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  11. Patrizia Zeppegno
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Correspondence to Patrizia Zeppegno.

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Gramaglia, C., Gambaro, E., Rossi, A. et al. Immigrants’ Pathways to Outpatient Mental Health: Are there Differences with the Native Population?. J Immigrant Minority Health 18, 878–885 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-015-0336-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-015-0336-4

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