MindFresh: Working Out Refugee Mental Health in Bangladesh
Associate Professor Simon Rosenbaum’s research over the past decade has confirmed a simple, yet powerful fact - when we move, we feel better.
After a decade of successful work in Australia, Simon recently returned from a role with the United Nations working in the world’s biggest refugee camp in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Bangladesh is currently experiencing one of the biggest refugee crises in the world, with over 900,000 Rohingya refugees from Myanmar living in camps.
A/Prof Simon Rosenbaum and his team have completed extensive research alongside the Rohingya refugees, exploring exercise as a mental health and psychosocial strategy for displaced populations that are restricted by their environment and resources.
The goal of MindFresh, a sport and mental health-focused physical activity program, is to improve the mental and physical health of people from the Rohingya community in Bangladesh and Australia.
A/Prof Simon Rosenbaum and the team are working with the community to ultimately train local Rohingya as Sports Therapists to build community capacity to implement and sustain sport and exercise programs, and thereby reach a large number of young Rohingya living in Cox’s Bazar refugee camps in Bangladesh.
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