The purpose of this thesis was to investigate ways to support the mental health of refugees on their path to employment all the while advancing their employment in itself. The thesis was commissioned by the PALOMA project, more specifically by the project worker for their project partner, the City of Hämeenlinna. The results of this research will be utilized by the PALOMA project to construct a national model for refugees’ mental health work.

The theoretical basis of this thesis consists of factors related to refugees, employment and mental health. The purpose of this thesis was achieved by using a systematic literature review and data-driven content analysis. With these methods 9 categories were uncovered, which describe how the mental health of refugees can be supported on their road to employment from the perspective of preventative mental health work.

These categories were: recognizing earlier knowledge and skills, individually tailored solutions, collaboration, a coherent path through services, the improvement of education and language skills, adding awareness, influencing attitudes, supporting and motivating employers in addition to well established practical methods. The results of the research show that broad intersectoral collaboration, influential work, employer- oriented approaches, individuality and better service strings with new and adequate services are needed.

The results of this thesis are very current because of the increasing number of refugees. The research of this thesis is significant in relation to both society as a whole and the advancement of the social field, as refugees have a lower employment rate and higher risk for mental health problems. In the future it would be good to research the effectiveness of the categories described in this thesis. The research of this subject matter should also commit to a customer oriented viewpoint through sustainable and regular research as opposed to the current fragmentary project-based model.