Cultural competence in working with the Arab Australian community: a conceptual review and the experience of the Arab Council Australia (ACA) gambling help counselling service

Gambling and Migration - The Role of Culture and Family

Problem gambling (PG) is a public health concern with severe repercussions for the individual, concerned significant others and the society. Foreign borns generally gamble less but are overrepresented among those with PG. Previous research has suggested that other factors, such as socio-economic status, might explain this, but also that cultural factors might play a role in the relationship to gambling and the development of PG. This qualitative study using content analysis investigates the experiences of and opinions about gambling and PG among 12 males living in Sweden with a migrant background in Afghanistan, the Middle East and North Africa. The results were show that the acculturation process could be a factor in developing PG, as well as a cultural values regarding money and wealth. PG was seen as more stigmatized in the origin country, and the family played a more important role in the rehabilitation of PG compared to the general population. The results of this study could be used to inform preventive and clinical programs to better reach people with a migrant background.

Problem gambling severity in a nationally representative sample of the Israeli population: the moderating role of ethnonational affiliation

Introduction

Gambling is a public health concern. Problem gambling is related to a range of psycho-social risk factors including ethnonational affiliation. Israel is an insightful case to probe problem gambling, given the socio-economic marginalization of Israeli Arabs, the continued exposure of Israelis to stress and the conservative Israeli gambling market. This study aimed to estimate problem gambling severity in Israeli society, characterize the sociodemographic, environmental, mental health, and gambling-related risk factors associated with problem gambling severity, and examine the role of ethnonational affiliation (Israeli Jewish/Arab) as a moderating factor in the associations between these risk factors and problem gambling severity.

Methods

A cross-sectional study based on a representative sample of 3,244 Israelis was conducted in 2022, of whom 1,626 had gambled in the previous year. Measurements included Problem Gambling Severity Index, Gambling Behaviors, Perceived Neighborhood Cohesion, Stress, the Patient Health Questionnaire-4, and sociodemographic variables.

Results

Low-risk, moderate-risk and problem gambling were reported by 16.7% of the total sample. The main risk factors for problem gambling were being an Israeli Arab, traditional, residing in a low socio-economic cluster, reporting anxiety symptoms, and higher gambling behaviors, specifically in legal/illegal online gambling. Ethnonational affiliation (Israeli Jewish/Arab) moderated the associations between gambling, illegal online gambling, and problem gambling severity. Higher neighborhood cohesion emerged as a risk factor for problem gambling solely for Israeli Arabs.

Discussion

As an excluded minority, Israeli Arabs may turn to gambling as a method to access the core republican community, thus, exposing themselves to a higher risk of developing problem gambling.

Beliefs around help-Seeking and Support for Dementia in the Australian Arabic Speaking Community

BACKGROUND

The number of people with dementia in multicultural Australia is rapidly increasing. Despite its culturally diverse population, there is limited research about how people from ethnic minority groups understand and approach help-seeking and support for dementia. The aim of this study is to understand the perceptions of dementia symptoms, help-seeking and support in the Australian Arabic-speaking community.

METHODS

This study used a cross-sectional qualitative research design. Individual, semi-structured interviews using projective stimulus techniques were used. Participants were three Arabic-speaking people aged over 70 who were experiencing cognitive changes or dementia symptoms, six carers, and five health or social care practitioners experienced in working with Arab-Australians. Phone or video chat interviews were conducted in either Arabic or English. Interviews were audiotaped, translated when needed, transcribed verbatim and inductive thematic analysis was undertaken.

FINDINGS

Seven themes were identified. Participants described dementia as relating to symptoms of confusion and memory loss. Carers and older people believe that when older people are experiencing these cognitive symptoms, they must be cared for primarily by ensuring their happiness and comfort. Barriers to help-seeking and support included a lack of help-seeking due to cultural norms of family orientated care, families are unsure of where to seek help and fear of community judgement. Two ways to facilitate help-seeking and support were to build trust through culturally appropriate support and to educate the community.

CONCLUSION

Family, trust and community were identified as central pillars of the Australian-Arabic-speaking community. There is a need to increase dementia literacy in this community particularly around help-seeking and decreasing stigma. Education should be promoted by trusted community members and religious leaders. As the first point of professional contact, general practitioners need to be upskilled to support Arabic-speaking Australians around dementia.

Systematic review of health promotion policies or regulations with CCAT theory

One of the five Ottawa Charter's means of action is the concept of "healthy public policy," which is an approach to health promotion that is integrated with public policy. This concept can be used as an approach/method in solving health problems at the broader policy level and involving all sectors comprehensively, not just health promotion at the community level and the partial health sector, so that public health problems can be resolved properly. We conducted a systematic review of health promotion policies or regulations using CCAT theory. The purpose of this study is to find the state of the art of research related to stakeholder synergy in online game addiction prevention policies in adolescents. References and literature for this systematic review were collected from the Proquest, ScienceDirect, Pubmed, and Google Scholar databases. The search uses the boolean phrases "OR" and "AND." Keywords: policy or regulation, health promotion, and community coalition action theory. The results of the systematic review conducted by the researchers showed that of the twenty selected articles, three articles used the coalition/partnership dimension from the CCAT theory, four articles used the stakeholder dimension, two articles used the collaboration dimension, five articles discussed school health policies, policies related to gaming disorders. One article on the analysis of the juvenile contraceptive law, one article on the prevention of mental health disorders, one article on health promotion interventions, and two articles on risk factors and self-regulation focus on online gaming addiction in adolescents. This study concludes that in the future, further research is needed regarding health promotion policies to prevent online game addiction in adolescents to develop specific policy recommendations related to preventing online game addiction in adolescents.