Refugee movements impose tremendous psychological and physical trauma on survivors, making refugees a high risk group for psychopathology and psychosocial adjustment problems. This paper explores the traditional impediments to developing prevention programs for refugees and describes public mental health strategies that could be used for different refugee mental health problems. It describes and evaluates the following models for prevention programs with refugees: the classic disease prevention model; the stressful life event model; and the prevention equation model. It also reviews the substantial body of knowledge on the refugee experience and its mental health implications. It notes that experience with recent refugee groups indicates that a coordinated nationwide initiative is required for refugee mental health. Accordingly, the paper provides a series of recommendations for prevention of psychosocial adjustment problems first in refugee camps and then during final resettlement. It then provides examples of possible intervention strategies for the most common forms of psychopathology in refugees: depression; anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorders; somatization; paranoid syndromes; addictive disorders; conduct disorders; schizophrenia; psychosis; and organic brain syndromes such as learning disorders and retardation. References are included. (TE)