Integration project

Support, counseling and therapy services for refugees of all ages.

Worldwide, approximately 80 million people are on the run - the highest number since the end of the Second World War. In Germany, currently about 1.1 million refugees applied for asylum [1]. The main countries of origin include Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Nigeria, Eritrea or Somalia. The National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina estimates that 40-50% of these individuals suffer from a trauma sequelae disorder and 25% of them need professional treatment [2] - 1,000 of circa 4,000 asylum seekers living in the district of Constance, need psychotherapeutic and/or psychiatric support.

There are clear barriers to the health insurance-financed regular care system, which go far beyond a lack of funding for language mediation. For example, in recent years, various studies by health insurance companies have found significantly lower utilization of services by psychotherapists among refugees compared to the population without a refugee background [3, 4].

A pilot project carried out in close collaboration with the non-profit non-governmental organization vivo international e.V. (www.vivo.org), a new model of care, coordinated psychotherapeutic treatment involving health sponsors (well-integrated persons from the refugees' countries of origin), has been established and tested at the community level since 2017 [5]. The project received support from the Hertie Foundation, the district of Constance, the cities of Constance, Singen and Radolfzell, and numerous other donors.


The following additional care components are implemented in the model project:

- Establishment of a municipal coordination office that manages registrations, free therapy capacities and a pool of language mediators and provides ongoing support to participating health mentors and therapists.

- The use of trained health mentors to provide outreach support for the utilization of psychotherapy in the care system.

- The development and funding of a pool of language mediators

- Regular further training and intervision offers for therapists (e.g. trauma therapy for refugees, working with language mediators, intercultural psychotherapy).


This project is co-funded by the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund. With the help of this funding from the EU Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) and the district of Konstanz, the model project will be implemented on a larger scale in 2020 - 2022 and evaluated in several studies. The AMIF project "Psychotherapeutic treatment of asylum seekers: a model in regular health care system" is led by Dr. Michael Odenwald and Prof. Dr. Daniela Mier (PIs).

In a smaller sister project, run by the non-profit association vivo interational e.V. (www.vivo.org), the offer is supplemented for refugees without an AMIF funding.

­
What we do?

The integration project mediates and promotes the treatment of traumatized and psychologically stressed refugees in psychotherapy practices and outpatient clinics in the district of Constance and breaks down access barriers to the regular psychotherapeutic care system. A network of local partners (psychotherapy practices, outpatient clinics, ZfP Reichenau) and close cooperations with district authorities and municipalities, support the project.


Who can take advantage?
People with a refugee background of any age and gender who suffer from mental health problems. The insurance status is not relevant (AsylbLG or health card or health insurance). We clarify the specific need for help for all registered persons, provide information and arrange for suitable offers of help in the regular care system. In particular, the integration project supports and accompanies the group of refugees who can and want to take advantage of outpatient psychotherapy over a longer period of time in a variety of ways.


Procedure, registration, admission and support in the project:
A central coordination office coordinates registrations for refugees, conducts initial interviews and refers them to established therapists in the district of Constance. Trained health mentors from different countries support the patients during the waiting period and the therapy phase. They work as organizational and cultural mediators between therapists and refugees. Our health mentors receive training and regular supervision by trained psychologists.