What are the challenges migrants face in accessing mental health services, and how are Member States addressing them? This inform maps the policies in place to help legally-residing migrants access mental health services.
In most Member States, once an individual has been granted legal status to remain on the territory, they have the same access to mental health services as national and resident EU citizens. However, access to services often presents several challenges for both migrants and Member States. For migrants, these range from practical issues such as language barriers, lack of information, difficulties in accessing mainstreamed services, high costs, and long waiting lists, to social and cultural issues including stigma, taboo, lack of awareness, lack of trust, and socioeconomic disadvantages
the Member States’ perspective, challenges include language and cultural differences between migrants and practitioners and a lack of financial and human resources or specific expertise to support migrants.
To address the identified challenges, 21 Member States provided examples of measures that improved access to mental healthcare for migrants including to facilitate affordable and non-discriminatory access to services or reduce communication barriers.
