MAPSD5100 Mental Health Care with Minority Patients: Migration and Exile Course description

This subject explores theories and empirical data about mental health care and mental suffering among ethnic minorities. A key theme in the course is developing knowledge on an individual, family and cultural level in order to coordinate and implement appropriate transcultural mental health work. Upon completing this course, students will be competent in evaluating of the need for treatment as well as planning and implementing interventions for patients with different cultural backgrounds.

Admission to the study program and also students in master's programs in the health and/or social welfare at OsloMet  and partner universities and with English skills at the B2 level.

On successful completion of the course, the student has the following learning outcomes classified as knowledge, skills and general competence: 

Knowledge

The student has

• extensive knowledge on epidemiology and diagnosing mental suffering in patients with different cultural backgrounds
• knowledge about and can analyses how a cultural, familial and treatment contexts influence outcomes for mental health work with patients with different cultural backgrounds
• knowledge about migration and acculturation and how this influences mental health and suffering in patients with different cultural backgrounds
• knowledge about the connections between trauma, mental suffering and mental health work among refugees and asylum seekers

Skills

The student can reflect

• upon and develop work alliances in mental health work with clients with minority backgrounds and traumatized refugees
• upon and use a client perspective in mental health work with people from different cultural backgrounds
• upon culturally sensitive topics as professional ethical challenges in mental health work, and can use reflection in his/her own clinical and organizational work with patients with minority backgrounds

General competence

The student

• can analyse the links between his/her own attitudes and professionally based decisions in mental health work with patients with minority backgrounds

Lectures, cases and group work.  

The following must have been completed and approved in order for a student to be permitted to take the exam:

Written assignment

• Individual
• Scope: 1000 words (+/- 10%)
• This can be based on field-work or an evaluation of a patient with minority background.

For fieldwork: The student must identify a focus area related to people with mental health problems, observations, field notes, and write a report.

For patient evaluations: The student must identify and explain key areas necessary for understanding the patient’s mental suffering, and propose a well based intervention for the patient, including its social and professional context.

The student is allowed two attempts at passing the written assignment.

Attendance in compulsory activities

• of 80% in study groups and seminars

Home examination

• Written home examination during a 7 day exam period.

• Either written individually or in a group of 2 students.

• Scope: If written as an individual exam the text must be 2500 words (+/- 20%) or 4000 words (+/- 20%) if written as a group.

• Written exam may be in Norwegian or English.

A grading scale of A (highest) to F (lowest) where A to E is a pass grade and F is a fail grade.

If the exam is written by a group, each member of the group will receive the same grade. Students may protest their grades. However, only the student who has protested his/her grade will be affected by the evaluation committee's decision.

Each examination answer paper will be assessed by 2 examiners. An external examiner will assess at least 20% of the answer papers. The assessments provided by the external examiner should benefit all the students.