Usha George

Improving Immigrant Populations’ Access to Mental Health Services in Canada: A Review of Barriers and Recommendations

Abstract This article emerges from a scoping review of over two decades of relevant literature on immigrants’ access to mental health services in Canada. Key online databases were searched to explore the gaps and opportunities for improving access to mental health services using a review framework provided by Arksey and O’Malley (Int J Soc Res Methodol 8:19–32, 2005). Immigrants and refugees came from diverse religious and cultural backgrounds and had complex mental health-related concerns that were not currently being adequately addressed by existing services. The major barriers to the utilization of mental health services included: those related to the uptake of existing health information and services; those that were related to the process of immigrant settlement; and barriers related to availability of appropriate services. A thematic analysis of the range of recommendations that emerge from these studies for improvement of research, practice and policy is provided.

Immigrant Mental Health, A Public Health Issue: Looking Back and Moving Forward

The Mental Health Commission of Canada’s (MHCC) strategy calls for promoting the health and wellbeing of all Canadians and to improve mental health outcomes. Each year, one in every five Canadians experiences one or more mental health problems, creating a significant cost to the health system. Mental health is pivotal to holistic health and wellbeing. This paper presents the key findings of a comprehensive literature review of Canadian research on the relationship between settlement experiences and the mental health and well-being of immigrants and refugees. A scoping review was conducted following a framework provided by Arskey and O’Malley (Int J Soc Res Methodol 8:19–32, 2005). Over two decades of relevant literature on immigrants’ health in Canada was searched. These included English language peer-reviewed publications from relevant online databases Medline, Embase, PsycInfo, Healthstar, ERIC and CINAHL between 1990 and 2015. The findings revealed three important ways in which settlement affects the mental health of immigrants and refugees: through acculturation related stressors, economic uncertainty and ethnic discrimination. The recommendations for public health practice and policy are discussed.

Underemployment and Life Satisfaction: A Study of Internationally Trained Engineers in Canada

This article emerges from a mixed-method study that explored the relationship between underemployment faced by internationally trained engineers and their satisfaction with life in Canada. A survey was conducted with 309 internationally trained engineers. A significantly greater proportion of survey respondents without a job in an engineering field reported being dissatisfied with life in Canada (36% vs. 22%, p < .01); and reported not having plans to settle permanently in Canada (54% vs. 40%, p < .05) compared to those with jobs in the engineering field. The study highlights the human costs and economic costs of underemployment of internationally trained engineers. Qualitative data from 20 in-depth interviews provide insights into the relationship between underemployment and life satisfaction.

Social support, social conflict, and immigrant women's mental health in a Canadian context: a scoping review

ACCESSIBLE SUMMARY Social support has positive and negative dimensions, each of which has been associated with mental health outcomes. Social networks can also serve as sources of distress and conflict. This paper reviews journal articles published during the last 24 years to provide a consolidated summary of the role of social support and social conflict on immigrant womens mental health. The review reveals that social support can help immigrant women adjust to the new country, prevent depression and psychological distress, and access care and services. When social support is lacking or social networks act as a source of conflict, it can have negative effects on immigrant womens mental health. It is crucial that interventions, programmes, and services incorporate strategies to both enhance social support as well as reduce social conflict, in order to improve mental health and well-being of immigrant women. ABSTRACT Researchers have documented the protective role of social support and the harmful consequences of social conflict on physical and mental health. However, consolidated information about social support, social conflict, and mental health of immigrant women in Canada is not available. This scoping review examined literature from the last 24 years to understand how social support and social conflict affect the mental health of immigrant women in Canada. We searched MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Healthstar, and EMBASE for peer-reviewed publications focusing on mental health among immigrant women in Canada. Thirty-four articles that met our inclusion criteria were reviewed, and are summarized under the following four headings: settlement challenges and the need for social support; social support and mental health outcomes; social conflict and reciprocity; and social support, social conflict, and mental health service use. The results revealed that social support can have a positive effect on immigrant womens mental health and well-being, and facilitate social inclusion and the use of health services. When social support is lacking or social networks act as a source of conflict, it can have negative effects on immigrant womens mental health. The results also highlighted the need for health services to be linguistically-appropriate and culturally-safe, and provide appropriate types of care and support in a timely manner in order to be helpful to immigrant women.

Credential Assessment of Internationally Trained Professionals: How Effective is the Process for the Purpose of Securing Employment?

This research note discusses the findings of a mixed method study with 309 internationally trained engineers in Canada on their experiences in relation to the credential assessment process. The findings suggest that internationally trained engineers are not likely to be fully aware of the processes related to credential recognition and licensing prior to arrival in the country, and might be approaching multiple institutions or bodies to get their credentials assessed. The study also found that credential assessments from professional bodies are likely to be more important for the purposes of securing a job than those from educational institution.

Discrimination at Work: Comparing the Experiences of Foreign-trained and Locally-trained Engineers in Canada

This paper reports on the findings of a study of the experiences of discrimination faced by internationally-trained engineers in Canada. Three hundred foreign-trained and two hundred locally-trained engineers were surveyed in order to identify the relationship of race, language proficiency, and location of training in finding work in the engineering field. In addition to measuring whether the applicants found work in the engineering field, this paper also sought to understand the perception of discrimination of internationally-trained engineers. Our findings demonstrate the relationship of race/ethnicity and its related marker—foreign training—with both ability to secure work in the engineering field and perceptions of discrimination. In the case of new immigrants, location of training was found to be a significant predictor of ability to find work in the engineering field, where locally-trained engineers were far more likely to acquire a job in the engineering field than foreign-trained engineers. Race/ethnicity was also found to be significantly associated with getting an engineering job among the locally-trained engineers.

Achieving and Measuring Diversity: An Organizational Change Approach

Immigration from non‐traditional, or non‐European, source countries has resulted in rapid and ongoing increases in the heterogeneity of North American urban populations. In light of these demographic changes, the integration of diversity is a necessity for organizations. It is also especially relevant to faculties of social work, which have a mandate to contribute to achieving social justice, access, and equity for members of non‐dominant, marginalized, and/or oppressed social groups. The integration of diversity within institutions necessitates a systemic organizational change approach, particularly within schools of social work, given their typically exclusionary and Eurocentric histories. Frameworks of organizational change for diversity integration are reviewed, including those specific to postsecondary institutions. The aim of the paper is to describe the process and outcomes of an organizational change initiative to achieve and measure diversity integration through the use of performance indicators at the Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto.

Mexican Migration to Canada: Case Study Report

ABSTRACT This article, based on a study of a small number of Mexican newcomers to Canada, highlights the intersections of macro policy environment and individual intentions and actions. The findings confirm the observations of previous studies about the challenges faced by newcomers to Canada and how the lack of access to information and support services can hamper settlement process.