PhenSar1

docx

School

University of Toronto, Scarborough *

*We aren’t endorsed by this school

Course

HLTA03

Subject

Health Science

Date

Feb 20, 2024

Type

docx

Pages

Uploaded by SargentGalaxyTurkey34

1 MENTAL HEALTH CARE UTILIZATION AMONG IMMIGRANTS IN CANADA Mental Health Care Utilization Among Immigrants in Canada Sarah Phen University of Toronto Scarborough HLTA03H3 Foundations in Health Studies II Dr. Ghazal Fazli July 9, 2018

2 MENTAL HEALTH CARE UTILIZATION AMONG IMMIGRANTS IN CANADA Introduction Lack of utilization of mental health care is currently an ongoing problem across Canada, especially for immigrants. For example, one study found that new and old immigrants were not eager to see professionals to aid them with mental health issues (Kwak 2018). Youth often lack support from immigrant parents and they face stigma surrounding mental health that discourages them from seeking assistance. Meanwhile, low-income families may lack the funds to access treatments for mental illnesses and immigrants have language barriers on top of lack of knowledge of services available (Ruiz-Casares, Kolyn, Sullivan & Rousseau, 2015). Mental health care in Canada is underutilized by immigrants due to various political, economic, and social factors, but most significantly because of low socioeconomic status and stigma. Furthermore, the issue should be addressed through initiatives such as mental health promotion, more employment services and increased accessibility to education. Population Health Issue The primary issue is centred on the lack of use of mental health services among immigrants who need them. Immigrants are also among the most vulnerable to lack of access to health care in Canada. Within the age group of people 15-24 years old and the group with low income, immigrants have the greatest risk of moderate or high mental distress (Ruiz-Casares et al., 2015). This shows that among the immigrant population, youth and low-income families are particularly underutilizing the mental health care services available. In addition, there is a social gradient in mental health care in Canada in which better health outcomes correlate with higher social class (Gillet, Andrews, & Savelli, 2016). Those who are of a higher socioeconomic status are 1.6 times more likely to utilize psychiatric care, as found by a study on a region of Toronto (Steele, Glazier, & Lin, 2006). Among youth, the programs for mental health issues are

3 MENTAL HEALTH CARE UTILIZATION AMONG IMMIGRANTS IN CANADA presently limited (Ronis, Slaunwhite, & Malcom, 2017). Children of immigrants also face stigma, so they do not receive much support in seeking treatment for mental health problems. As a result, accessing these limited services must be even more difficult for them than other Canadian youth. Clearly, immigrants in Canada face greater obstacles to accessing mental health care than much of the rest of the Canadian population and in order to address the problem, population health researchers must take imperative action to identify the factors at play. Explanations and Root Causes for Health Issue Social factors, of which include socioeconomic status and culture, play an important role in determining access and usage of mental health care for immigrants. Mental health care can be a challenge for them to access because the services may not be provided in their native language and being new to the country, they may not be knowledgeable about the resources available to support their mental health (Ruiz-Casares et al., 2015). For instance, if the government has posted signs promoting mental health services, immigrants may not even be able to read or clearly understand those messages. Another problem is the stigma surrounding mental health services among immigrants that can result in feeling discouraged to seek help. Raising children in a culture that stigmatizes mental illnesses can stem from the way the parents were raised and these values are passed on to their children. Parents can influence help-seeking behaviours of youth by reducing stigma surrounding mental health issues, making their children more inclined to seek professional help for their mental disorders or problems. Parents can also provide support while their children are undergoing treatments. Moving on, there can be lack of social cohesion in migrant families because the parents find it challenging to talk to schools, they lack extended family members, and prejudice against immigrants exists (Nadeau, Lecompte, Johnson- Lafleur, Pontbriand, Rousseau, 2016). This relates to the concept of bonding social capital,

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

4 MENTAL HEALTH CARE UTILIZATION AMONG IMMIGRANTS IN CANADA which refers to the close relationships that people have obligations to, including families (Warwick-Booth, Cross, & Lowcock, 2012). Having little social cohesion can be detrimental to children’s mental health as they need the support of their families to fall back on. The social factors introduce a multitude of barriers to mental health care for immigrants living in Canada, while economic factors pose financial difficulties. Economic factors affect immigrants’ ability to use mental health services as people of higher socioeconomic status evidently utilize these resources more than their counterparts of lower socioeconomic status (Steele et al., 2006). A significant observation from a study of mental health care in Toronto is that people living in higher socioeconomic status areas who reported signs of mental illness had considerably more psychiatric claims compared to those who live in areas with the lowest socioeconomic status (Steele et al., 2006). Even more, people of lower socioeconomic status often cannot afford mental health services since they can be very costly. However, the root cause of low socioeconomic status is lack of education as completing higher studies provides more high-paying, stable job opportunities. This is proved by the finding that more years of schooling is correlated with having a longer life as people who earned a college degree live approximately five years longer than those who only have a high school diploma (Braveman, Egerter, & Mockenhaupt, 2011). For immigrants, this can be a problem as they are settling in a new country and that may involve taking continuing education or working a low-paying job. As a result, socioeconomic status has a strong impact on immigrants’ ability to afford mental health services, which can be further limited by political aspects. Policies that restrict immigrants’ ability to find work in their field are among the political factors that prevent immigrants from obtaining the mental health care they need. There are laws in place that do not accept the education and credentials of foreign trained workers (Hilario,

5 MENTAL HEALTH CARE UTILIZATION AMONG IMMIGRANTS IN CANADA Oliffe, Wong, 2017). This can be viewed as a form of structural racism that discriminates against people from other countries by putting them at a disadvantage, while people educated in Canada are favoured. In turn, this contributes to the lower socioeconomic status of immigrants and with low income, it is harder to access costly mental health care services. Overall, laws continue to hinder affordability of mental health care and undermine the qualifications of immigrants, so it is vital for the Canadian government to re-evaluate and change its policies. Social Determinants of Health in Government Policies Canada has certain policies in place that operate on the social determinants of health, while many social determinants remain ignored. Education is addressed through government policies such as financial aid programs (e.g. OSAP) that can make education more affordable for low-income families of immigrants. Providing an education can increase their socioeconomic status by opening doors to various job opportunities and additional wealth can improve health while decreasing stress from financial troubles (Gillet et al., 2016). On the other hand, policies need to be formed to work on the social determinants of health of employment and income. Immigrants do not earn as much as their Canadian-born counterparts and this is even more typical of immigrants from non-European countries (Lightman & Gingrich, 2018). This could be a result of a combination of factors that could include racism and difficulty using foreign credentials in Canada. The Canadian government also needs to form policies that address culture and immigrant status as determinants of health. In particular, these policies need to increase awareness of how to maintain mental health among immigrants and this may reduce the healthy immigrant effect. The healthy immigrant effect occurs when immigrants’ health is better than that of the people native to the country, but the immigrants’ health worsens over time (Kwak, 2018). In general, Canada has policies in place that work on some of the social determinants of

6 MENTAL HEALTH CARE UTILIZATION AMONG IMMIGRANTS IN CANADA health that affect immigrants, though there are still initiatives that could potentially enhance immigrants’ mental health across the country. Potential Policies and Solutions To effectively make mental health care more widely used and accessible in Canada, politicians, workers in the health care field and people of various other sectors must come together to form policies and initiatives that tackle the social, political and economic factors. The Canadian government should operate on the macro-level factors, as action taken to address them would help to maximize the amount of people aided. As well, the Canadian government could adopt a socialist ideology because this perspective values equality and it involves action from the state to provide services (Warwick-Booth et al., 2012). This ideology would serve immigrants by promoting equality since they are currently not earning as much as those who were born in Canada and they are disproportionately affected by mental health conditions. It is important for the government to educate immigrants about what mental disorders are and how to seek treatment to empower them to work towards improving mental health in their communities. Family doctors could be the professionals who help convey this information because 57.89% of immigrants discussed mental health with family practitioners, indicating that they are the primary health care providers who immigrants turn to for help with mental health issues (Islam, Khanlou, Macpherson, & Tamim, 2018). Education about mental health would reduce stigma surrounding mental disorders and persuade parents to be more supportive about seeking professional help. In turn, children may become more inclined to use mental health services. Canada also needs more employment programs to aid immigrants in finding employment suitable for their qualifications. Additionally, these programs need to be promoted in different languages so that immigrants may be aware of them. Last of all, the disparities caused by

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

7 MENTAL HEALTH CARE UTILIZATION AMONG IMMIGRANTS IN CANADA differences in socioeconomic status need to be addressed by making education even more affordable, especially for immigrants who come from low-income families. For instance, government financial aid programs need to give additional grants to students who are paying for their education entirely with their own money. Making education more easily obtainable will expand immigrant’s job opportunities and that will increase their socioeconomic status to a level that will make mental health care more affordable. This is particularly important because people with lower income in Canada are more likely to drop out of mental health treatments (Edmund et al., 2002). All in all, immigrants’ access to mental health care in Canada is not a simple issue and the solutions must operate on the various social, economic and political factors at play. Conclusion In Canada, immigrants have low rates of mental health care utilization. The barriers to treatment consist of stigma, lack of knowledge of services, and socioeconomic status. Canadian policies do take into account education, which is a social determinant of health, but effort is needed to address employment, income, and immigrant status to make mental health care more attainable for immigrants. This comprehensive look at the low usage of mental health care offers an understanding of how the social determinants of health, including education, laws, and economic status, intertwine and shape immigrants’ access to these services. Knowledge of these determinants also brings important figures, such as policy makers and health care professionals, to expand their ideas on how to approach mental health care beyond the biomedical approach that Western countries are accustomed to. In this way, they can attempt to remove the structural and social barriers to usage of mental health care services among immigrants.

8 MENTAL HEALTH CARE UTILIZATION AMONG IMMIGRANTS IN CANADA References Braveman, P. A., Egerter, S. A., & Mockenhaupt, R. E. (2011). Broadening the Focus The Need to Address the Social Determinants of Health. American Journal of Preventative Medicine, 40 , 4-18. Retrieved from https://portal.utoronto.ca/bbcswebdav/pid-6703646- dt-content-rid-45124473_2/courses/Summer-2018-HLTA03H3-Y-LEC01/Braveman %202011.pdf Edlund, M. J., Wang, P. S., Bergland, P. A., Katz, S. J., Lin, E., & Kessler, R. C. (2002). Dropping out of mental health treatment: Patterns and predictors among epidemiological survey respondents in the United States and Ontario. American Journal of Psychiatry, 159 (5). Retrieved from https://www.scopus.com/record/display.uri?eid=2-s2.0- 0036242726&origin=resultslist&sort=plf- f&src=s&st1=Dropping+Out+of+Mental+Health+Treatment %3a+Patterns+and+Predictors+Among+Epidemiological+Survey+Respondents+in+the+ United+States+and+Ontario&st2=&sid=1e0251d4f1ffc2d12007c4b84a7888b2&sot=b&s dt=b&sl=153&s=TITLE-ABS-KEY%28Dropping+Out+of+Mental+Health+Treatment %3a+Patterns+and+Predictors+Among+Epidemiological+Survey+Respondents+in+the+ United+States+and+Ontario%29&relpos=0&citeCnt=191&searchTerm Gillet, G., Andrews, G.J., & Savelli, M. (Eds.). (2016). Health & Society Critical Perspectives. Don Mills, Ontario: Oxford University Press. Hilario, C. T., Oliffe, J. L., Wong, J. P., Browne, A. J., & Johnson, J. L. (2017). “Just as Canadian as Anyone Else”? Experiences of Second-Class Citizenship and the Mental

9 MENTAL HEALTH CARE UTILIZATION AMONG IMMIGRANTS IN CANADA Health of Young Immigrant and Refugee Men in Canada. American Journal of Men’s Health, 12 (2). Retrieved from http://journals.sagepub.com.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/doi/10.1177/155798831774338 4 Islam, F., Khanlou, M., Macpherson, A., & Tamim, H. (2018). Mental Health Consultation Among Ontario’s Immigrant Populations. Community Mental Health Journal , 54 (5), 579- 589. Retrieved from https://link-springer-com.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/article/10.1007%2Fs10597-017- 0210-z Kwak, K. (2018). Age and Gender Variations in Healthy Immigrant Effect: a Population Study of Immigrant Well-Being in Canada. Journal of International Migration and Integration, 19 (2), 413-437. Retrieved from https://link-springer-com.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/article/10.1007%2Fs12134-018- 0546-4 Lightman, N., & Gingrich, L. G. (2018). Measuring economic exclusion for racialized minorities, immigrants and women in Canada: results from 2000 and 2010. Journal of Poverty . Retrieved from https://www-tandfonline-com.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/doi/full/ 10.1080/10875549.2018.1460736 Nadeau, L., Lecompte, V., Johnson-Lafleur, J., Pontbriand, A., & Rousseau, C. (2016). Collaborative youth mental health service users, immigration, poverty, and family environment. Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 23 (2), 92-98). Retrieved from

Your preview ends here

Eager to read complete document? Join bartleby learn and gain access to the full version

Access to all documents
Unlimited textbook solutions
24/7 expert homework help

10 MENTAL HEALTH CARE UTILIZATION AMONG IMMIGRANTS IN CANADA https://onlinelibrary-wiley-com.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/doi/full/10.1111/ camh.12196 Ronis, S. T., Slaunwhite, A. K., & Malcom, K. E. (2017). Comparing Strategies for Providing Child and Youth Mental Health Care Services in Canada, the United States, and The Netherlands. Administration and Policy in Mental Health and Mental Health Services Research, 44 (6). Retrieved from https://link-springer-com.myaccess.library.utoronto.ca/article/10.1007%2Fs10488-017- 0808-z Ruiz-Casares, M., Kolyn, L., Sullivan, R., & Rousseau, C. (2015). Parenting adolescents from ethno-cultural backgrounds: A scan of community-based programs in Canada for the promotion of adolescent mental health. Children and Youth Services Review, 53 , 10-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.03.021 Steele, L. S., Glazier, R. H., & Lin, E. (2006). Inequity in Mental Health Care Under Canadian Universal Health Coverage. Psychiatric Services , 57 (3), 317-324. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.57.3.317 Warwick-Booth, L., Cross, R., & Lowcock, D. (2012). Contemporary Health Studies An Introduction . Malden, MA: Polity Press.

PhenSar1

Related Documents