Infographic mental health guide for the Somali community based in Finland

Abstract

Mental health as a concept has always been taboo within the Somali community. There are negative connotations that are instantly associated with mental health in the Somali community, as the cultural perspective often perceive its sickness. To promote mental health for the Somali community, we made a development work. The aim of this work was to create an infographic poster, which would be easily approachable by our target group I.e., the Somali community. The development work included an infographic poster which was created to minimize stigma and taboo around mental health. The infographic poster and a following questionnaire was sent to 11 participants who represented different age groups and were born in Somalia or in Finland. All participants received and answered the questionnaire accordingly. This survey was conducted by using google docs and was sent via social media outlets. The mental health infographic poster was based on a theoretical study. Mental health is still quite unknown in the Somali society and our aim was to present our work from an easily approachable point of view.

These questions were also aimed to cater for all age groups. This infographic poster seeks to promote mental health awareness and understanding in hopes to minimize the stigma and taboo within the Somali community, in an understandable and accessible manner. It was found through this survey that mental health is unknown, and most people are ignorant of this topic, which leads to mental health being taboo in most Somali households. The poster was aimed to increase knowledge and awareness within mental health. Through this infographic poster, the participants answered the sent questionnaire based on what they learned from this poster/ previous knowledge they held from mental health. This theoretical research doesn’t only cater for the Somali people but also for those trying to understand this community. The research clearly indicates that most people are ignorant about mental health, and this has led to misconception around mental health and mental health illnesses.