Research Library

Children with disabilities are among the most at-risk groups for marginalization due to compounded disadvantages from the intersection of risk factors such as refugee status and disability status. Despite this high risk, there is no systematic data collected on this group and scant literature on the topic contributing to a feeling of invisibility. We conducted a narrative inquiry on the experiences of two Syrian refugee families with children living with disabilities. Narrative inquiry is a way to understand experience as a storied phenomenon. In order to understand the complexities of the experience as a refugee with a child living with disabilities, attending to the lived and told stories is essential. In hearing the narration of these experiences across time, place, and social contexts various narrative threads emerged. The narrative threads that resonated across the experiences of two families included waiting and a struggle for agency, as well as disruption and continuity. Children with disabilities are among the most at-risk groups for marginalization due to compounded disadvantages from the intersection of risk factors such as refugee status and disability status. Despite this high risk, there is no systematic data collected on this group and scant literature on the topic contributing to a feeling of invisibility. We conducted a narrative inquiry on the experiences of two Syrian refugee families with children living with disabilities. Narrative inquiry is a way to understand experience as a storied phenomenon. In order to understand the complexities of the experience as a refugee with a child living with disabilities, attending to the lived and told stories is essential. In hearing the narration of these experiences across time, place, and social contexts various narrative threads emerged. The narrative threads that resonated across the experiences of two families included waiting and a struggle for agency, as well as disruption and continuity.
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The entire healthcare system, including primary healthcare (PHC) services, has been disrupted since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the crisis threatens all citizens significantly, further barriers to accessing care exist for those who are most vulnerable, experience marginalization, and have pre-existing challenges. We aimed to explore immigrants’ lived experiences in accessing and receiving PHC services during the pandemic. A multiphase mixed-methods study using a sequential explanatory design was employed. The first study includes a systematic review that synthesizes the evidence on the experiences that immigrant patients have receiving PHC. Study two provides insights from a recently employed “COVID-19 Experiences and Impacts Survey” data and compares the experiences of Albertans that were born in and outside Canada. Descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression were performed, using STATA. The third study is a qualitative inquiry that aims to gain a deeper understanding of the newcomers’ (living in Canada ≤5 years) and providers’ experiences in PHC during the pandemic. A thematic analysis was applied, using NVivo software. Immigrants reported many challenges in accessing and receiving PHC, and these challenges have been increased since the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of this thesis yielded six recommendations that can inform PHC quality improvement initiatives and PHC policy. The entire healthcare system, including primary healthcare (PHC) services, has been disrupted since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the crisis threatens all citizens significantly, further barriers to accessing care exist for those who are most vulnerable, experience marginalization, and have pre-existing challenges. We aimed to explore immigrants’ lived experiences in accessing and receiving PHC services during the pandemic. A multiphase mixed-methods study using a sequential explanatory design was employed. The first study includes a systematic review that synthesizes the evidence on the experiences that immigrant patients have receiving PHC. Study two provides insights from a recently employed “COVID-19 Experiences and Impacts Survey” data and compares the experiences of Albertans that were born in and outside Canada. Descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression were performed, using STATA. The third study is a qualitative inquiry that aims to gain a deeper understanding of the newcomers’ (living in Canada ≤5 years) and providers’ experiences in PHC during the pandemic. A thematic analysis was applied, using NVivo software. Immigrants reported many challenges in accessing and receiving PHC, and these challenges have been increased since the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of this thesis yielded six recommendations that can inform PHC quality improvement initiatives and PHC policy.
This publication has no Abstract to dispaly

This qualitative study aimed to explore the perception of skilled Black immigrants’ workplace experiences and diversity strategies to mitigate discriminatory practices. Thematic analysis indicated that increased diversity was perceived as a solution to inequality. The findings identified a perceived need for a paradigm shift from understanding diversity as a standalone concept to seeing these workplace issues as a polarity dilemma—to better balance the diversity/equality polarity. The shift in thinking could address the ubiquitous challenge of paradoxes in diversity outcomes, which may have a positive social change implication for increased diversity in policy formulation and implementation. This qualitative study aimed to explore the perception of skilled Black immigrants’ workplace experiences and diversity strategies to mitigate discriminatory practices. Thematic analysis indicated that increased diversity was perceived as a solution to inequality. The findings identified a perceived need for a paradigm shift from understanding diversity as a standalone concept to seeing these workplace issues as a polarity dilemma—to better balance the diversity/equality polarity. The shift in thinking could address the ubiquitous challenge of paradoxes in diversity outcomes, which may have a positive social change implication for increased diversity in policy formulation and implementation.
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Evidence suggests that despite growing numbers of refugees entering Alberta each year, there may not be enough counsellors equipped to provide helping services. Within the counselling context, refugees are identified as at risk for developing complex psychological challenges, requiring culturally sensitive counselling that incorporates diverse culture and language differences. This case study explored how three Alberta-based mental health professionals provide helpful counselling services to refugees and how they prepared to attain competencies and relevant experiences required for providing appropriate, culturally sensitive interventions to refugees. Evidence suggests that despite growing numbers of refugees entering Alberta each year, there may not be enough counsellors equipped to provide helping services. Within the counselling context, refugees are identified as at risk for developing complex psychological challenges, requiring culturally sensitive counselling that incorporates diverse culture and language differences. This case study explored how three Alberta-based mental health professionals provide helpful counselling services to refugees and how they prepared to attain competencies and relevant experiences required for providing appropriate, culturally sensitive interventions to refugees.
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Comprehensive sexual education (CSE) is defined by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization as “a curriculum-based process of teaching and learning about the cognitive, emotional, physical and social aspects of sexuality” (2018, p. 16). Given the social and cultural aspects of sexual education, my research posits that newcomer access to comprehensive sexual education could be crucial to settlement and inclusion processes in Canada. Thus, my research asks: where does immigration and settlement policy intersect with sexual education policy in Canada? How does newcomer and immigrant community access to sexual education impact immigration and settlement processes? To investigate the ways in which the policy areas of immigration and settlement and sexual education overlap, I examine how sexual education is delivered in Edmonton, Alberta, a city that has one of the most robust and multifaceted settlement frameworks in Canada. A key data source for this research includes interviews with settlement workers and others who administer social integration programming, to assess whether or not they think sexual education is integral to settlement and integration, what barriers might exist in providing these services, and relationships between organizations who work in these fields. Before engaging with interview findings, however, this thesis will first provide several contextual chapters. This includes discussion of how access to sexual education and sexual health for newcomers and immigrant communities are part of the landscapes of biopolitics and sexual citizenship in Canada, the multijurisdictional nature of immigration and settlement policy, the terrain of sexual education policy in Canada, and the capacity of comprehensive sexual education to engage in anti-racist approaches. This thesis establishes that sexual education does in fact overlap with immigration and settlement policy, as norms around sex and gender are woven into the immigration process. Although issues related to sexual education do arise in a settlement context, there are both structural and cultural barriers that hinder a more fulsome engagement with sexual education in the services and programs provided by settlement agencies. However, these barriers have been challenged by service providers with strategies that emphasize integrative and relational approaches to sexual education with clients, as well as framing sexual educational content around individual and family wellness. These strategies relate to approaches outlined by UNESCO for effective implementation of CSE, suggesting that settlement work can be conducive to CSE. This thesis also identifies key service gaps in the provision of settlement services at large, and thus sexual education in this context. The research also highlights service gaps from organizations invested in the implementation of CSE in serving newcomer and immigrant communities. The research culminates in recommendations to address these gaps and further areas of research to be pursued. Comprehensive sexual education (CSE) is defined by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization as “a curriculum-based process of teaching and learning about the cognitive, emotional, physical and social aspects of sexuality” (2018, p. 16). Given the social and cultural aspects of sexual education, my research posits that newcomer access to comprehensive sexual education could be crucial to settlement and inclusion processes in Canada. Thus, my research asks: where does immigration and settlement policy intersect with sexual education policy in Canada? How does newcomer and immigrant community access to sexual education impact immigration and settlement processes? To investigate the ways in which the policy areas of immigration and settlement and sexual education overlap, I examine how sexual education is delivered in Edmonton, Alberta, a city that has one of the most robust and multifaceted settlement frameworks in Canada. A key data source for this research includes interviews with settlement workers and others who administer social integration programming, to assess whether or not they think sexual education is integral to settlement and integration, what barriers might exist in providing these services, and relationships between organizations who work in these fields. Before engaging with interview findings, however, this thesis will first provide several contextual chapters. This includes discussion of how access to sexual education and sexual health for newcomers and immigrant communities are part of the landscapes of biopolitics and sexual citizenship in Canada, the multijurisdictional nature of immigration and settlement policy, the terrain of sexual education policy in Canada, and the capacity of comprehensive sexual education to engage in anti-racist approaches. This thesis establishes that sexual education does in fact overlap with immigration and settlement policy, as norms around sex and gender are woven into the immigration process. Although issues related to sexual education do arise in a settlement context, there are both structural and cultural barriers that hinder a more fulsome engagement with sexual education in the services and programs provided by settlement agencies. However, these barriers have been challenged by service providers with strategies that emphasize integrative and relational approaches to sexual education with clients, as well as framing sexual educational content around individual and family wellness. These strategies relate to approaches outlined by UNESCO for effective implementation of CSE, suggesting that settlement work can be conducive to CSE. This thesis also identifies key service gaps in the provision of settlement services at large, and thus sexual education in this context. The research also highlights service gaps from organizations invested in the implementation of CSE in serving newcomer and immigrant communities. The research culminates in recommendations to address these gaps and further areas of research to be pursued.
This publication has no Abstract to dispaly

Since 1978, Canadians have been resettling refugees through Canada’s Private Sponsorship of Refugees (PSR) program. Sustained critical engagement with the PSR Program is important because of its projected growth within Canada and its use in guiding similar policy development in other countries. I conducted 21 semi-structured interviews with sponsors and refugees from the Lethbridge, Alberta area in the summer and fall of 2020. Their stories demonstrate that the sponsorship experience is influenced by refugee, sponsor, and community characteristics, the relationships between these groups, and the broader contextual setting. This project seeks to add to the growing literature on Canada’s PSR Program by exploring the sponsorship experience through the lens of sponsors and refugees who have first-hand experience and build on feminist discussions and conceptualizations of geographical scale. Since 1978, Canadians have been resettling refugees through Canada’s Private Sponsorship of Refugees (PSR) program. Sustained critical engagement with the PSR Program is important because of its projected growth within Canada and its use in guiding similar policy development in other countries. I conducted 21 semi-structured interviews with sponsors and refugees from the Lethbridge, Alberta area in the summer and fall of 2020. Their stories demonstrate that the sponsorship experience is influenced by refugee, sponsor, and community characteristics, the relationships between these groups, and the broader contextual setting. This project seeks to add to the growing literature on Canada’s PSR Program by exploring the sponsorship experience through the lens of sponsors and refugees who have first-hand experience and build on feminist discussions and conceptualizations of geographical scale.
This publication has no Abstract to dispaly

Drawing on in-depth interviews with 13 racialized immigrant women, this research explores experiences of using mental health services in Lethbridge, Alberta. The women’s narratives serve as a thread linking psychiatric, neoliberal, colonial, patriarchal, and other power relations. The treatments focused on the women’s concerns as individualized; the resulting prescription of antidepressants and psychotherapy required self-colonization to relieve their pain, complicating several women’s experiences of using mental health services. Some women found medical interventions beneficial to their wellbeing, while others resisted psychiatric knowledge at various points because of the embodied suffering they faced, and their reliance on conflicting cultural beliefs and healing systems. By analyzing these women’s experiences, I offer a rethinking of the biomedical conceptualization of mental illness as a natural and universally occurring pathology. Ultimately, I argue that current framings of mental illness obscure the intersectional power relations that played an important role in contributing to these women’s distress. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 13 racialized immigrant women, this research explores experiences of using mental health services in Lethbridge, Alberta. The women’s narratives serve as a thread linking psychiatric, neoliberal, colonial, patriarchal, and other power relations. The treatments focused on the women’s concerns as individualized; the resulting prescription of antidepressants and psychotherapy required self-colonization to relieve their pain, complicating several women’s experiences of using mental health services. Some women found medical interventions beneficial to their wellbeing, while others resisted psychiatric knowledge at various points because of the embodied suffering they faced, and their reliance on conflicting cultural beliefs and healing systems. By analyzing these women’s experiences, I offer a rethinking of the biomedical conceptualization of mental illness as a natural and universally occurring pathology. Ultimately, I argue that current framings of mental illness obscure the intersectional power relations that played an important role in contributing to these women’s distress.
This publication has no Abstract to dispaly

People from South Sudan arrived in Edmonton as landed immigrants in the early 1990s from countries that hosted them as refugees from the Second Sudanese Civil War. Today, Edmonton is home to more than 5,000 people from South Sudan. Alberta alone houses almost 30,000, the largest South Sudanese Canadian community in the country. Here, many South Sudanese work in nursing homes and meat-packaging plants. This, alongside high COVID death rates in the community, language barriers, financial strain, and mental health stigma, resulted in Edmonton’s South Sudanese community being disproportionately affected by COVID-19. People from South Sudan arrived in Edmonton as landed immigrants in the early 1990s from countries that hosted them as refugees from the Second Sudanese Civil War. Today, Edmonton is home to more than 5,000 people from South Sudan. Alberta alone houses almost 30,000, the largest South Sudanese Canadian community in the country. Here, many South Sudanese work in nursing homes and meat-packaging plants. This, alongside high COVID death rates in the community, language barriers, financial strain, and mental health stigma, resulted in Edmonton’s South Sudanese community being disproportionately affected by COVID-19.
This publication has no Abstract to dispaly

The civil war in Syria caused an upheaval to all aspects of life for its citizens, resulting in an unprecedented number of Syrians arriving in Canada as refugees. While government and settlement agencies responded by addressing their immediate needs, other aspects of their integration, specifically their social integration, were much less prioritized and minimally resourced. This study drew on Ager & Strang’s (2008) Domains of Integration Framework and their description of social bridging to explore this aspect of social integration of refugees in greater detail. A qualitative descriptive methodology was applied to explore how Syrian refugees describe their experiences of building social bridges in Canada, and how these bridges impact their sense of belonging and overall integration. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve adult members of the Syrian refugee community, and thematic analysis was used to interpret the data. The civil war in Syria caused an upheaval to all aspects of life for its citizens, resulting in an unprecedented number of Syrians arriving in Canada as refugees. While government and settlement agencies responded by addressing their immediate needs, other aspects of their integration, specifically their social integration, were much less prioritized and minimally resourced. This study drew on Ager & Strang’s (2008) Domains of Integration Framework and their description of social bridging to explore this aspect of social integration of refugees in greater detail. A qualitative descriptive methodology was applied to explore how Syrian refugees describe their experiences of building social bridges in Canada, and how these bridges impact their sense of belonging and overall integration. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve adult members of the Syrian refugee community, and thematic analysis was used to interpret the data.
This publication has no Abstract to dispaly

The increasing population of working immigrant women in Canada demands special considerations surrounding their mental health. This exploratory-descriptive qualitative research has investigated the influences on the mental well-being of 14 working immigrant women in Calgary. Participants were interviewed to describe their unique experiences at the intersections of race, gender, religion, work, and social class, and to discuss useful interventions that support their mental wellbeing. The findings demonstrated that migration to Canada had provided participants with high awareness about mental health; however, stigma, religious beliefs, financial concerns, and discriminatory behavior in healthcare services were barriers to pursue mental health care. Racism, microaggressions, intersectional discrimination, language barriers, and employment difficulties had adversely affected their mental well-being. Conversely, freedom, security, and multiculturalism were some of the advantages of living in Canada. Ultimately, working immigrant women’s needs were discussed as individual/micro-, meso-, and macro-level interventions based on ecological model. The increasing population of working immigrant women in Canada demands special considerations surrounding their mental health. This exploratory-descriptive qualitative research has investigated the influences on the mental well-being of 14 working immigrant women in Calgary. Participants were interviewed to describe their unique experiences at the intersections of race, gender, religion, work, and social class, and to discuss useful interventions that support their mental wellbeing. The findings demonstrated that migration to Canada had provided participants with high awareness about mental health; however, stigma, religious beliefs, financial concerns, and discriminatory behavior in healthcare services were barriers to pursue mental health care. Racism, microaggressions, intersectional discrimination, language barriers, and employment difficulties had adversely affected their mental well-being. Conversely, freedom, security, and multiculturalism were some of the advantages of living in Canada. Ultimately, working immigrant women’s needs were discussed as individual/micro-, meso-, and macro-level interventions based on ecological model.
This publication has no Abstract to dispaly