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This page is an AI-assisted Turkish summary of the study presented at the 26th World Congress of Psychiatry. The study belongs to the presenting authors; please refer to the original source when citing it.

SO377

Co-designing migration-informed competencies for the child and adolescent psychiatric care of immigrant and refugee youth

CO-DESIGNING MIGRATION-INFORMED COMPETENCIES FOR CHILD AND ADOLESCENT PSYCHIATRY (CAP) CARE OF IMMIGRANT AND REFUGEE YOUTH

Integrating literature synthesis with lived-experience expertise has produced a scalable competency framework that prepares child and adolescent psychiatry residents to provide equitable care to immigrant and refugee youth.

The project aimed to identify competencies and develop a curriculum for the care of immigrant and refugee youth, using child and adolescent psychiatry (CAP) training in Canada—a multicultural resettlement setting—as a model. The methodology combined an environmental scan, a narrative review encompassing peer-reviewed literature, clinical guidelines and grey literature, and co-design with youth advisors who had lived experience of navigating mental health services as newcomers; the module was developed using Kern's six-step framework for curriculum development within a broader Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) initiative. Contextual data indicated 1.33 million new immigrants, of whom 13.5% were aged 24 or younger and approximately 40% had settled in Ontario. The literature showed that mental health presentations are shaped by experiences accumulated throughout the migration trajectory (exposure to conflict and violence, family discord and interrupted education before migration; displacement and uncertainty during migration; and acculturative stress, social isolation, discrimination, economic hardship, legal uncertainty and barriers to accessing care after migration), supporting longitudinal assessment rather than a focus solely on traumatic events. Since cultural differences in the expression of distress, stigma and structural barriers lead to delayed diagnosis and inequitable care, competencies were identified in culturally responsive assessment and in distinguishing normative migration-related adjustment difficulties from psychopathology. The poster categorizes symptoms as normative or expected (homesickness, sadness, adjustment difficulties), moderately concerning (anxiety, sleep disturbance, somatic symptoms) and pathological (PTSD, major depressive disorder, conduct disorders); social support, family cohesion and positive community attitudes are highlighted as protective factors. Youth advisors added priorities relating to navigating the healthcare system, building trust, collaborative treatment planning, culturally responsive communication, recognizing family roles (young people acting as interpreters or taking on adult responsibilities), and avoiding dismissive attitudes toward prior care. In conclusion, integrating evidence synthesis with lived-experience expertise identified competencies that strengthen migration-informed psychiatric training and provided a framework adaptable to different settings.

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