Linda Ogilvie

Participatory Action Research: Practical Strategies for Actively Engaging and Maintaining Participation in Immigrant and Refugee Communities:

In this research we examined the processes involved in implementing and maintaining a participatory action research (PAR) project by uncovering how theoretical PAR tenets hold up in the reality of a community-based project addressing immigrants’ and refugees’ mental health needs. Qualitative data from focus groups with these newcomers were analyzed for thematic content. Findings reveal that active participation is seen as the gateway into a PAR project, whereas knowledge attainment and empowerment are the stimuli for continued participation. The data also suggest that newcomers’ motivations to participate in a PAR-oriented project might vary across ethno-cultural groups. Practitioners working in community-based initiatives would do well to appeal to the diversity of motivational factors, while endorsing individual and group strengths.

Challenges and Approaches to Newcomer Health Research

Newcomers include immigrants, refugees, or asylum seekers. Approaches to research in newcomer populations include consideration of the insider–outsider status of the researcher(s), sample selection and recruitment strategies, and attention to language barriers. Potential research participants need to be identified, approached, and made to feel safe before, during, and after participation in research. Interpersonal relationships need to be negotiated with awareness of potential power imbalances, institutional discrimination, and trauma associated with premigration, migration, and settlement experiences. Embedded within these approaches should be awareness of the need to ensure the cultural safety of research participants through implementation of culturally competent research strategies.

Perceived Ethnic Discrimination and Social Exclusion: Newcomer Immigrant Children in Canada

This article examines relationships between perceived ethnic discrimination, social exclusion, psychosocial functioning, and academic performance among newcomer immigrant children from the Peoples Republic of China, Hong Kong, and the Philippines using a subsample from the New Canadian Children and Youth Study of children aged 11-13 years (1,053) living in Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver, and the Prairies. Bivariate analysis showed that 25% of children reported being treated unfairly by peers and 14% by teachers because of who they are. Regression analyses revealed that perceived ethnic discrimination by peers and teachers was negatively related to childrens sense of social competence in peer relationships. Childrens self-esteem and sense of academic competence were negatively related to perceived discrimination by teachers. One in 5 children reported feeling like an outsider, with boys revealing higher levels of psychological isolation than girls. More than 1 in 10 were socially isolated and reported never participating in organized activities. This may reflect economic exclusion, as over one third of respondents belonged to families living below the Canadian Income Adequacy Measure. Psychological isolation, social isolation, and economic exclusion were significant predictors of childrens sense of academic competence and actual academic grades. Variations exist across age, sex, ethnicity, family structure, parental education, region of settlement, and length of time since arrival in Canada.

Predictors of emotional problems and physical aggression among children of Hong Kong Chinese, Mainland Chinese and Filipino immigrants to Canada

Background and study aimsData from the New Canadian Children and Youth Study (NCCYS), a national study of immigrant children and youth in Canada, are used to examine the mental health salience of putatively universal determinants, as well as of immigration-specific factors. Universal factors (UF) include age, gender, family and neighbourhood characteristics. Migration-specific (MS) factors include ethnic background, acculturative stress, prejudice, and the impact of region of resettlement within Canada.MethodsIn a sample of children from Hong Kong, the Philippines and Mainland China, the study examined the determinants of emotional problems (EP), and physical aggression (PA). A two-step regression analysis entered UF on step 1, and MS variables on step 2.ResultsUniversal factors accounted for 12.1% of EP variance. Addition of MS variables increased explained variance to 15.6%. Significant UF predictors: parental depression, family dysfunction, and parent’s education. Significant MS variables: country of origin, region of resettlement, resettlement stress, prejudice, and limited linguistic fluency. UF accounted for 6.3% of variance in PA scores. Adding migration-specific variables increased variance explained to 9.1%. UF: age, gender, parent’s depression, family dysfunction. MS: country of origin, region of resettlement, resettlement stress, and parent’s perception of prejudice.ConclusionsNet of the effect of factors affecting the mental health of most, if not all children, migration-specific variables contribute to understanding immigrant children’s mental health.

Linking global citizenship, undergraduate nursing education, and professional nursing: curricular innovation in the 21st century.

As we move into the 21st century, our roles as nurses are becoming more complex. Inequities in health within and across nations demand that nursing students examine the interconnectedness between local and global health challenges and contribute to the development and implementation of solutions to these challenges. In this article, we examine concepts related to global citizenship, globalization, social responsibility, and professionalism and link them to curricular innovation in nursing education. We argue that the development of global citizenship is a fundamental goal for all nursing students and that to achieve this, nurse educators must move beyond the creation of international placement opportunities or the use of global examples within existing courses. Nurse educators must develop strategies and design innovative curricula to provide opportunities for all students to become engaged with the concept of global citizenship and the role of nurses in a global world.

“You Need to Know Where We’re Coming From”: Canadian Aboriginal Women's Perspectives on Culturally Appropriate HIV Counseling and Testing

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to determine Canadian Aboriginal womens perspectives on culturally appropriate HIV counseling and testing. Data were collected through semistructured individual interviews with 7 Aboriginal women, and one focus group, in a western Canadian city. Four major categories were elucidated through thematic content analysis: Aboriginal womens life experiences that may influence their risk of HIV infection and their response to testing; barriers to HIV testing; guiding principles of the ideal HIV testing situation; and characteristics of culturally appropriate HIV testing. The fear of being judged by both the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities and the need for sensitivity to the historical and current context of Aboriginal womens life experiences were pervasive themes throughout the findings.

A study of Iranian immigrants’ experiences of accessing Canadian health care services: a grounded theory

BackgroundImmigration is not a new phenomenon but, rather, has deep roots in human history. Documents from every era detail individuals who left their homelands and struggled to reestablish their lives in other countries. The aim of this study was to explore and understand the experience of Iranian immigrants who accessed Canadian health care services. Research with immigrants is useful for learning about strategies that newcomers develop to access health care services.MethodsThe research question guiding this study was, “What are the processes by which Iranian immigrants learn to access health care services in Canada?” To answer the question, a constructivist grounded theory approach was applied. Initially, unstructured interviews were conducted with 17 participants (11 women and six men) who were adults (at least 18 years old) and had immigrated to Canada within the past 15 years. Eight participants took part in a second interview, and four participants took part in a third interview.ResultsUsing a constructivist grounded theory approach, “tackling the stumbling blocks of access” emerged as the core category. The basic social process (BSP), becoming self-sufficient, was a transitional process and had five stages: becoming a stranger; feeling helpless; navigating/seeking information; employing strategies; and becoming integrated and self-sufficient. We found that “tackling the stumbling blocks of access” was the main struggle throughout this journey. Some of the immigrants were able to overcome these challenges and became proficient in accessing health care services, but others were unable to make the necessary changes and thus stayed in earlier stages/phases of transition, and sometimes returned to their country of origin.ConclusionDuring the course of this journey a substantive grounded theory was developed that revealed the challenges and issues confronted by this particular group of immigrants. This process explains why some Iranian immigrants are able to access Canadian health care effectively while others cannot. Many elements, including language proficiency, cultural differences, education, previous experiences, financial status, age, knowledge of the host country’s health care services, and insider and outsider resources work synergistically in helping immigrants to access health care services effectively and appropriately.

Ethical Decision Making in International Nursing Research

Researchers in international settings must continually examine cross-cultural ethical issues to ensure that their work is ethically sound. In this article, the authors discuss the process of ethical decision making in international nursing research. They draw on research in Ghana during 1999 involving HIV seropositive women to document this process. Referring to this experience, they argue that international research involving human beings must meet two related but distinct ethical tests: It must meet international ethical standards for the protection of human participants but, at the same time, acknowledge the ethical standards related to the institutional setting and cultural environment in which the research takes place.

International dimensions of higher education in nursing in Canada: Tapping the wisdom of the 20th century while embracing possibilities for the 21st century

New focus on the internationalization of universities occurred in the late 20th century and higher education in nursing has been quick to embrace the opportunities. In this manuscript, writers provide a brief overview of the nursing and more general literature from the late 20th century relating to key dimensions of internationalization, as well as present data from a survey conducted in 1995-96 of the international activities and dimensions at Canadian faculties/schools of nursing. While it is clear that nurses in Canadian universities were engaged in significant international endeavours in the 20th century, the literature and our experience suggest that the extent of such activity has increased substantially in recent years. Discussion centres on examination of how knowledge generated in the 20th century can inform current internationalization initiatives and on identification of key questions that merit consideration as we move forward in the 21st century.

Issues in Nursing Education in Nepal.

Research in Nepal, conducted in 1991-1992, yielded interesting information on issues confronting nurse educators in that country. What this author found particularly interesting is that, while the specific problems were different, the underlying nursing education issues were remarkably similar to those encountered by nurse educators in her home country of Canada. Data from questionnaires, interviews, and government and other documents have been synthesized in this discussion of issues in nursing education in Nepal. Categories for discussion include students, faculty, curriculum and institutional constraints.