Victorian Transcultural Mental Health (VTMH) has been working with Kenya Community Victoria (KCV) to engage the state’s Kenyan community on mental health issues.
The project began in 2024, with VTMH and KCV planning out the initial stages for the project and officially beginning the partnership.
The team identified the effectiveness of community advocates who can enhance their mental health knowledge and channel that energy and expertise back to the community.
Community members were invited to complete a form which assessed their mental health knowledge, including asking after their ideas of the mental health issues specific to their communities. This form acted as a way for the team to measure interest in the project and will help to inform future design decisions.
Almost forty community members completed the form, showing a strong interest in improving mental health knowledge and outcomes.
Of particular interest to the team were respondents’ insights into what they saw as the biggest barriers to better mental health outcomes in their community.
Stigma, a lack of awareness and knowledge, cultural beliefs, a lack of culturally safe services, and financial constraints were among the barriers and issues that were raised by potential advocates when filling out the form.
Education and Service Development Consultant Abie Jazi commented, “This situation is quite common in similar communities, and we observe these issues across different cultures, including my own Zimbabwean community. However, knowing that it is occurring here as well, along with evidence from the Kenyan community members, provides us with valuable information to work with. Developing culturally responsive programs necessitates this kind of detailed understanding”
Consumer Consultant Naomi Chapman, who designed the form for potential advocates, commented on the complexities of getting the right information for the program:
“The Kenyan community in Victoria spans all areas, including regional areas. We wanted to make sure we were getting a group of potential advocates who would be representative of the state. We’ve got advocates from almost everywhere, all with varying degrees of mental health knowledge and experience. We’re happy that we’ve got a few mental health professionals as advocates who will help guide the project.”
After advocates were selected from the pool of community members who completed the form, an introductory meeting was held with the advocates, VTMH staff and representatives from KCV.
Justin Njuguna, former chairperson of KCV whose passion for community work and mental health helped spur the project on, commented on the enthusiasm of advocates at the introductory meeting:
“The high attendance of community members for the first meeting was encouraging and inspiring. Their willingness to have open, candid and engaging discussions, including sharing ideas, experiences and suggestions reflects a real need for this project. I’m looking forward to the future [of the project] with anticipation and excitement.”
Advocates will continue to meet with VTMH staff members and representatives of KCV. They will work on a range of resources and projects which we will share as they come to fruition.