Cohort 2025 PhD Project
About The Project
The global refugee and asylum seeker (RAS) crisis continues to escalate, with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reporting a record 122.6 million displaced people in 2023. Nottinghamshire has welcomed and hosted approximately 7,000 RAS (Nottingham City of Sanctuary, 2023), however, they face significant challenges in integrating into local communities and economies, particularly as a result of mental health (MH) issues.
RAS are vulnerable to PTSD, depression, anxiety, and psychosis (Royal College of Psychiatrists, 2024), but despite the scale of the issue, MH support for RAS remains inadequate (Mental Health Foundation, 2024), with barriers such as language, inaccessible technology, and long waiting times (NNRF, 2023). However, research suggests that if these challenges are effectively addressed, their inclusion in local communities could have a substantial positive impact on the economy (NIESR, 2023).
As highlighted by a recent study conducted by the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Refugee Forum (NNRF), addressing these barriers is essential for cities like Nottingham (Nottingham City of Sanctuary, 2023). The NNRF identified a critical gap in the understanding of the severity and extent of the MH struggles of RAS by local support services. It emphasises the urgent need for service providers to tailor their offerings to the complex needs of this population.
This PhD project aims to explore the MH journeys of refugees and asylum seekers in Nottingham(shire), with a particular focus on the barriers and enablers they encounter when accessing MH services. We seek to gain insights into the effective MH support RAS needs, creating a blueprint design for it that can be implemented by public, private, and third-sector MH providers. Hence, positioning Nottingham as a pioneer in empathetic and effective service design, and enabling it to reap the socio-economic rewards of immigration.
Project Aims
The overall aims of this project are to:
- Explore and map the journey of refugees and asylum seekers (RAS) from the moment they anticipate becoming RAS, with a particular focus on their mental health challenges.
- Identify RAS key touchpoints with mental health service providers when seeking mental health support.
- Understand non-support seekers and their challenges in accessing mental health support.
- Outline potential interventions and policies that could assist in addressing refugees’ mental health and aid in their social integration.
Project Supervisors
- PhD Candidate: Aila Ramadan
- Lead Academic Supervisor: Dr Sahar Bakr (NTU)
- Academic Co-Supervisor: Prof. Jo Richardson (NTU)
- Academic Co-Supervisor: Dr Samanthika Gallage (UoN)
- Academic Co-Supervisor: Dr Simon Bishop (UoN)
- Community Supervisor: Debbie Royle, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Refugee Forum