The Role of Culture, Religion, and Spirituality on the Mental Health of Africans in Australia
摘要
Australia’s population is shaped by cultural and linguistic diversity, with almost half of its population identifying as culturally and linguistically diverse. It is this diversity, however, that is presenting the Australian health care system with challenges. Health inequalities in Australia are, and have been, prominent features in mental health care despite reforms. This scoping review explores the experiences and views of African Australians regarding the impact of culture, religion, and spirituality on the mental health care provided to them. Five electronic databases—PubMed, Scopus, Embase, PsycInfo, and Web of Science Core Collection were searched between January 2025 and March 2025. Additionally, a manual search of the reference lists and bibliographies of key articles was conducted to identify studies that met the inclusion criteria. This scoping review meticulously utilises the five-step framework in conjunction with thematic data analysis. A total of twenty-one (n = 21) articles were reviewed. Three themes emerged from the review and analysis: aetiology of mental illness, barriers to engagement, and propositions for improvement of care. Findings from this scoping review reveal that culture, religion, and spirituality can have both positive effects by buffering psychotic symptoms and negative effects by acting as barriers to seeking mental health care. Furthermore, evidence from this scoping review is in tandem with previous results, which revealed that Australian mental health services are not offering culturally appropriate care and continue to be lacking when it comes to delivering inclusive or responsive treatment for its diverse population, particularly for African Australians. This is despite decades of research revealing inequalities in mental health provisions for African Australians.