The Centre for Migrant and Refugee Health (CMRH) is a not-for-profit organisation established in 2019 with a public health focus to improve mental health and well-being for Australian migrants, refugees, and asylum seekers from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) community backgrounds. We achieve our work by offering integrated mental healthcare services, both clinical and practical solutions. We utilise research, policy and advocacy to address definitive social determinants of health, including inequities and inequalities that create social isolation and vulnerability that impact and compound poor mental health outcomes.
The implications of poor mental health outcomes are also directly linked to chronic diseases and injuries that continue to remain an issue and exacerbate low-quality health outcomes.
Many significant associations exist between mental illness, chronic diseases, and injury. Individuals with chronic conditions such as sickle cell disease, diabetes and cancers, to mention a few, have an increased risk of mental illness. Injuries, both intentional, such as homicide and suicide and unintentional, for instance, motor vehicle accidents, are 2-6 times higher for persons with a history of mental illness than those without past experiences.