Culture-sensitive diagnostics
The diagnosis of psychological stress and resources in an intercultural context requires a culturally sensitive approach. Appropriate translations of the questionnaires into different languages and sensitivity for culturally determined differences regarding clinical pictures and symptom descriptions, culturally shaped concepts of suffering as well as cultural peculiarities of vulnerability, resilience and in the relationship between the person affected and the person treating them should be taken into account. The questionnaires provided in our portal offer an important basis for a culturally sensitive diagnosis. However, diagnostic judgments in individual cases should always be backed up by a conversation that takes other cultural and individual aspects into account.
When working with refugees, experiences of flight and migration should also be recorded, as these can have a major impact on mental health. These include stressful and traumatic experiences before, during and after the flight, the social and asylum situation in the host country, ethnicity and access barriers to health care in the host country.
In the short handouts available for download here, you will find compact information on the topic that can be helpful in your work in an intercultural context.
