Researchers
Dr Samuel Keast & Professor Christopher Sonn
Project Overview
One of the main purposes of this mental health literacy (MHL) project was to shift away from Western perspectives on mental illness and establish foundations to create culturally anchored methods of discussing and addressing mental wellbeing within non-Western cultural communities. This project supported three cultural communities: South Sudanese, Sri Lankan Tamil and Pasifika. Community consultants were selected by VicHealth to lead each program and ensure programs were culturally specific and community oriented. Programs were self-determined so that the community consultants were able to steward each program to best suit community needs, attitudes and accessibility. MHL for non-Western communities should be fostered from the ground up through amplifying cultural, ancestral and community wisdom, knowledge and ownership.
