Mental health needs of migrants and strategies to address them: a qualitative, participatory study applying a socio-ecological framework in Barcelona, Spain
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Introduction: Mental health among migrants represents a significant public health issue. The study aimed to explore the mental health needs and mental healthcare access barriers among migrants in Barcelona (Spain) and to co-design culturally sensitive strategies to address these challenges. Methods: The study (Sept 2021-Feb 2023) has a qualitative design with reflexive thematic analysis, including adult migrants born outside the EU, North America and Oceania. First, we conducted three focus group discussions (FGD) with 21 migrant women and two FGDs with 12 migrant men (phase 1), and later, three FGDs with 19 professionals working with migrants, including migrant cultural mediators (phase 2). Thereafter, three LivingLab participatory workshops (n=24) took place in order to validate the qualitative results while encouraging the proposition of solutions to improve migrant mental healthcare (phase 3). Results: . At the structural level, the absence of migrant-sensitive assessment protocols produced a 'diagnostic invisibility', whereby clinically evident distress went systematically under-recognised. Participants co-designed multilevel actionable solutions spanning self-care, empowerment of informal community initiatives, peer-support systems, intercultural initiatives with host communities, cultural mediation and integrative mental health protocols across the social and health sectors. Conclusions: Holding migrants' lived experiences alongside the perspectives of first-line professionals, participatory processes translated these social patterns into a feasible agenda for action, a concrete move from documenting inequity to acting on it.
Source: BMJ Public Health
Language: English
Topic: Migration, Health and Trauma
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7223821331