Christianity as coping mechanisms for migrants with mental health challenges in Australia: social work implications

Christian religion may be a powerful resource that can serve as a coping mechanism to resolve challenges and provide comfort to African migrants confronted with mental health challenges. We aimed to explore the coping strategies among African migrants in Australia. We undertook semi-structured interviews online with 11 participants with African backgrounds, comprising six mental health clinicians and five migrant service users living in Australia for at least the past 12 months. Literature exploring religious coping mechanisms, social support and acculturation was drawn on. The interviews were undertaken online via Teams, WhatsApp call, and zoom with participants whom we recruited through community groups utilising purposive sampling across towns and cities in Australia. We recorded and transcribed the interviews using a thematic analysis as the principal data analysis approach. Social workers have a critical role to play to support African migrants to establish religious social capital and family bonds, which are crucial in supporting integration.