Understanding community-based mental health interventions among migrant workers in Singapore.

Abstract

Background: Migrants in Singapore face unique mental health risk factors and barriers to formal care. Within this context, the Migrant Writers of Singapore (an arts collective) has organised a community-based intervention to address mental health needs, the Mental Health Awareness and Well-Being Festival.

Aim: To understand migrants' motivations for organising and participating in the Festival as a form of community-based mental health support, as well as their perspectives on the role and effectiveness of such interventions.

Methods: Thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted in October and November 2023, with 10 members of MWS involved in the Festival.

Results: Interviewees were primarily motivated by personal experiences of giving or receiving peer support, or finding relief through MWS's arts-based activities; and to a smaller extent by the need for greater mental health awareness among migrants. Interviewees saw the value of community-based interventions in: (i) easing loneliness, (ii) establishing solidarity, (iii) facilitating communication in help-seeking, and (iv) building longer-term social networks.

Conclusions: Findings suggest that community-based interventions may be an enabler of peer support, and help address underlying mental health risk factors. Arts-based activities can enhance these interventions, though further research is required to evaluate concrete outcomes, and ascertain the wider applicability of these findings.