Building resilience in transcultural adults (BRiTA): Developing a novel preventative intervention

• Published in: Advances in mental health Vol. 11; no. 3; pp. 302 - 312
• Main Authors: Gohar Khawaja, Nigar, Ramirez, Elvia, Prasad-Ildes, Rita
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Maleny Routledge 01.06.2013; eContent Management Pty Ltd; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Acculturation; Assimilation (Sociology); Company business management; Consumers; Cross-cultural psychology; culture; Emigration and immigration; Ethnopsychology; Facilitators; Implementation; Language; Management; Mental health care; Mental health services; Migration; Parents; Population; Preventive mental health services for older people; Preventive programmes; Psychological aspects; Resilience; Resilience (Personality trait); Social exclusion; Society; Values; Australia
• ISSN: 1838-7357; 1837-4905; 1837-4905
• DOI: 10.5172/jamh.2013.11.3.302

There is a dearth of preventative programmes that enhance the Australian culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) adults' resilience to cope with the acculturation process. This article introduces the reader to the BRiTA Futures for Adults and Parents, a culture and language sensitive programme for the CALD. The conceptual framework and the development process are described. The manualised programme consisting of one introductory and eight intervention modules is presented. A training programme is also developed to train facilitators, who can deliver the programme in English or other languages. Preliminary trials indicated that the programme was received well by the consumers. A block mode, instead of the traditional weekly sessions, appeared to be more practical for the small population for which it was trialled. Implications and future directions are discussed.