MindSpring
MindSpring: Psychosocial group programme for refugees
MindSpring is a psychosocial group programme for refugees and people with ethnic minority background that aims to create awareness and empowerment and hereby prevent the development of severe psychological and social challenges.
Psychosocial and preventive method
MindSpring
A MindSpring group consists of 8-10 participants with refugee or ethic minority background. The content of MindSpring is based on a manual with themes related to life in exile such as identity and change in identity, cultural encounters and new norms, negative social control, gender and rights, loneliness and community, stress, trauma etc.
The participants in a MindSpring group meet 9-10 times over a period of 2 months. Each meeting has a specific theme which is described in the manual.
The meetings are facilitated by a MindSpring-trainer who has refugee experience and speaks the same language as the group participants. The meetings are conducted in the participants' original language and is based on the peer-to-peer approach which means likeminded individuals sharing experiences.
The MindSpring-trainer is supported by a co-trainer who is a professional and employee at the local authority where the MindSpring group takes place for example a municipality, a school or a social housing project.
MindSpring groups
MindSpring is both for newly arrived refugees and for those with refugee or ethnic minority background who have lived in Denmark for several years. Danish Refugee Council have developed MindSpring manuals for children, young adults, parents and seniors which are available in Danish, English, Arabic and Russian.
Youth (aged 15-30 years)
Parents
Seniors (aged 55+ years)
Materials
Find the pamphlet about MindSpring here.
MindSpring pamphlet
1 Fil(er)
MindSpring pilot study shows great results
A pilot study conducted by researchers at the Competence Centre for Transcultural Psychiatry shows that participants in a MindSpring group report a high level of satisfaction with the programme.
The aim of the study was to assess the acceptability of the MindSpring programme and its self-reported effects.
A total of 92 newly arrived Arabic-speaking refugees living in Denmark, who participated in the MindSpring programme, took part in the study. The results show:
- Very high satisfaction with the MindSpring programme.
- Positive outcomes related to key MindSpring objectives including family life, psychological challenges, life decisions, integration into life in Denmark and overall well-being.
- 22 % increase in well-being, as measured by the WHO-5 Well-Being Index.
The results were published in a scientific journal in February 2020. Read the abstract here. The findings from this pilot study have since been further examined in a controlled study, which is expected to be published soon.
I am feeling mentally better. I am happier and more optimistic since participating in MindSpring. Particulary, when other participants would talk about their issues, I felt that what happens to my children is normal. It made me calmer and I became happier
/ Participant in MindSpring for parents
Contact
The MindSpring Centre
Laura
Kildegaard Rasmussen
Projektleder