The Forum of Australian Services for Survivors of Torture and Trauma (FASSTT) agencies provide ‘multi-modal’ mental health interventions to address the complex array of psychological reactions and psychosocial stressors that refugees and asylum seekers present with. FASST clinicians report a diverse range of clinical outcomes where the well-being of some clients shows significant improvement, whereas others do poorly even after lengthy periods of assistance. Although FASST agencies assisted 17,771 survivors of torture and trauma in 2016-2017, the clinical outcomes of interventions provided have not been systematically documented. The current research will examine factors which might influence differing trajectories during and following treatment for this population.
AIMS:
• To document different psychosocial trajectories of refugees and asylum seekers receiving specialist torture and trauma
support services in Australia
• To examine the factors that differentiate recovery trajectories from trajectories with limited recovery outcomes
METHOD:
This is a pilot study, aiming for a future larger trajectory study, which will examine the feasibility and acceptability of clinician administered and self-report measures. Thirty participants will be recruited from STARTTS clinical counselling services and ten from Foundation House in Victoria
MEASURES:
Assessment will include a structured psychiatric diagnostic interview and self-report measures to assess factors that lead to divergent clinical outcomes.
ANALYSIS:
Mplus will be used to conduct latent growth mixed modelling in order to identify distinct psychological and social trajectories and the covariates which predict class membership.
OUTCOMES/CHALLENGES:
It is anticipated that the findings will enable service providers to adapt and develop the assistance they provide particularly with respect to enhancing interventions for individuals whose history and circumstances indicate a higher risk of poor outcomes.
CONCLUSIONS:
Identifying predictors of poor clinical and social outcomes amongst survivors will help improve the capacity of FASSTT services to meet the needs of the communities we serve.
