SENIOR Research Fellow Felicity Thomas has recently contributed to four separate World Health Organization reports.

Dr Thomas’s work with the WHO forms a cornerstone of the work of the Wellcome Centre for Cultures and Environments of Health in their goals to transform institutions, policy and health outcomes across the life course.

The first brief is called Health Promotion for Improved Refugee and Migrant Health: Technical Guidance and can be found here.

The brief looks at addressing the impacts of migration and displacement on each person’s health and highlights the imperative position of advocating  for the diverse and unique needs of refugees and migrants. An online toolkit emerging from this report is also planned.

Secondly Dr Thomas attended a workshop in Klecany, Chzechia. The workshop was entitled Culture and reform of mental health care in central and eastern Europe. The aim of the workshop was to improve understanding of the key cultural aspects that impact and drive mental health care reform in the central and eastern European region. The report outlines key points and recommendations made by participants.

Dr Thomas also presented at the fourth meeting of a WHO expert group who were discussing Embedding a cultural contexts of health approach across the WHO European Region. The meeting was convened to take stock of existing progress and to reflect on the future strategic direction of the CCH (Cultural contexts of health and well-being), focusing in particular on its stated aim to break new ground practically as well as conceptually. The report outlines the recommendations that were made.

Finally, Felicity co-authored a policy brief called Culture matters: using a cultural contexts of health approach to enhance policy making. by exploring the three key public health areas of nutrition, migration and environment, the policy brief demonstrates how cultural awareness is central to understanding health and well-being and to developing more effective and equitable health policies. You can read the full report here.