The world is facing an unprecedented number of forcibly displaced people as a result of war, conflict, human rights violations and natural disasters. Conflicts have become more protracted, often lasting for years, and displacement as a short-term option is unrealistic. The most recent United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) annual global trends report shows an ever-increasing number of people displaced. The UNHCR has estimated it will be supporting an expected 130 million people who are either stateless or forcibly displaced by the end of 2024. Around half of the world’s refugees and displaced people are children. Permanent resettlement is no solution as less than 1 per cent of the displaced people are ever resettled.

The World Health Organization developed a framework for family and community nursing that identified a role for community health nurses, identifying the needs of their communities and addressing them. Primary health care shifted the focus from a disease model treating illness to a preventative model that focused on population and social health, community development, health promotion, illness prevention and early intervention, including community nurses as part of this movement.

Cultural competence and cultural safety support health professionals to recognise everyone as unique in order to promote optimal health outcomes. This allows for the acknowledgement of diversity that exists within and between individuals and groups in health care. In practice, this represents the broader understanding of culture in health care, and encompasses the dynamic influences of culture on attitudes, values and beliefs. Alongside culture, the understanding of diversity is inclusive of – yet not exclusive to – age and generation, sex and gender identity, socio-economic status, occupation, ethnicity or migrant experience, religion or spirituality, and ability or disability.

Globally, people in prison often come from the most deprived sections of society due to adverse political, economic, environmental, social and lifestyle factors. This group experiences chronic and complex mental and physical health conditions at higher rates than the general population, including mental health conditions, chronic non-communicable and communicable conditions and acquired brain injury. They also have higher rates of tobacco smoking, high-risk alcohol consumption, illicit drug use and injecting drug use. As many as 90 per cent of people in custody have a diagnosis of either a mental health condition or addiction. Often, people in prison have under-utilised health care in the community and, for many, the first interaction with health services occurs during incarceration. Therefore, incarceration may provide an opportunity to access treatment to improve health and for appropriate health care to be initiated.

Mental illness continues to be a leading cause of illness in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. The effects of reduced mental health have significant consequences for individuals, families and the community. Prevention and early intervention are crucial to improve health outcomes. Much of the support and care for individuals and families experiencing mental health illness occurs within the community, and nurses are major providers of that care. This chapter focuses on the role of community mental health nurses in providing recovery-orientated care for individuals living with mental illness and their families.