Jill Hanley

Background/Objectives: Social participation is important for healthy aging but challenging for older immigrants because of factors such as the loss of cultural community, language and transportation barriers, ageism, and racism. This study aimed to examine (1) the type of social activities in which older immigrants from Arabic (Arab), Mandarin (East Asian), and Punjabi-speaking (South Asian) communities in Canada engage; (2) their desire for more participation in social activities; and (3) factors they perceive as preventing their engagement in more social activities. Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, we collected data, using existing measures, from 476 older immigrants between fall 2022 and winter 2023. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data. Results: More than 75% of participants reported engagement in three solitary activities (having a hobby, going on a day trip; and using the internet and/or email) and more than 85% participated in community-based activities with family inside and outside and with friends outside the household. Most (71%) expressed a desire to participate in more social activities in the community, but they were prevented from doing so due to factors such as language barriers or not wanting to go alone. Conclusions: Interventions are needed to facilitate community-based participation among older immigrants and improve their quality of life.

Background: Migrant workers in Canada work in the most dangerous industries, with documented difficulties with occupational health and safety (OHS) and workers’ compensation (WC). Little is known, however, about migrant workers’ experiences with “return-to-work”, the ultimate objective of WC for those who recover from their illness or injury. Objective: The objective of this study was to understand migrant workers’ “return-to-work” experiences after facing occupational injury/illness for in Québec, Canada. Methods: Part of a broader multi-disciplinary project exploring how Canadian policies can ensure “return-to-work” for injured workers, this article draws on policy analysis and semi-structured interviews with 21 migrant workers in Quebec who experienced workplace illness or injury. Interviews (in Spanish, English, and French) lasted 1–2 h and were transcribed verbatim and thematically coded. Results: The first group of workers with occupational injuries never left their job out of fear of consequences. A second group of workers stopped working, with some receiving WC, while others did not. Most workers in this group never returned to work. Among the reasons provided by migrant workers, the data suggest following as the most common: abandoning the job out of fear of re-injury; repatriation and not being called back; and lasting repercussions of the injury leaving them unable to perform the same work. Others returned but experienced a range of problems: working without being fully recovered; constructive dismissal; or quitting because of ongoing risk or exacerbation of health problems. None were able to access retraining programs. Conclusions: The structural components of Canada's migrant worker programs create conditions of unfree labor that impede the possibility of true “return-to-work”. OHS and WC regimes must implement specific protections for migrant workers to increase their access to protections.

While housing insecurity has been a concern for im/migrant households for decades, it is only relatively recent that im/migrant homelessness has emerged as a growing problem. This article presents the results of a scoping review of 52 published Canadian studies on housing insecurity and homelessness among im/migrants. Findings confirm that im/migrant experiences of housing insecurity must be understood intersectionally, with social location, discrimination, health, cultural and family considerations playing into housing outcomes. In terms of homelessness, economic challenges were unsurprisingly paramount, but family dynamics, health crises and language barriers all played important roles. We conclude with a discussion of how recent shifts in migration patterns, particularly the increase in numbers of im/migrants within a context of housing crisis, have brought the risk of im/migrant homelessness to the fore with underscoring the urgent need for further research on the topic.

Existing literature documents how older refugees are at risk of social exclusion and isolation, yet few researchers have investigated the social inclusion of recently (re)settled older Syrian refugees in Canada. Here we apply the social inclusion model to older migrants to analyze the social inclusion of 360 Syrian refugee older adults (51+ years) in Canada. Results indicate that older Syrian refugees tend to have good health, a strong sense of belonging, regular communication with others, and supportive relationships; therefore, they are likely to experience social inclusion, despite education and language challenges. We conclude by discussing the positive structural elements in their resettlement experiences.

Refugee fathers have been largely ignored by family researchers and service providers. This article presents an interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) of data from semi-structured interviews conducted between November 2020 and March 2021 with 17 Syrian refugee fathers resettled in Canada. The interviews focused on the meanings refugee men gave to fatherhood, their fathering practices, and the sense they made of their experience of being a Syrian refugee father in Canada. This article highlights how Syrian fatherhood is shaped by cultural norms of the home country as well as by religious beliefs. However, participants’ definitions of fatherhood as head of the household, primary breadwinners and decisionmakers in the family, holding unique positions both within their families and in their communities, shifted during the resettlement process. Following resettlement, these meanings were revisited and redefined. Hyper-fatherhood and adjusted fatherhood practices are new types of fatherhood that emerged during resettlement for Syrian refugees.

Community accountability is a model through which to redress anti-Black racism in health care and to create community-based participatory research about the health of Black Canadians. This article provides a case example of a study undertaken by a Black community collective in Quebec made up of researchers, activists, service providers, business leaders and their allies who sought community accountability in making visible the impact of COVID-19 on local Black communities. The principles articulated within the Black emancipatory action research approach (Akom, 2011) are used to ground an analysis of our research-activist process in order to illuminate how knowledge gained through the collection of data can be used to help inform Black communities about the realities, needs and concerns of their members, to advocate for rights and entitlements, and to work towards community accountability in research that empowers Black communities, both in Quebec and elsewhere.

Knowledge about the health impacts of the absence of health insurance for migrants with precarious status (MPS) in Canada is scarce. MPS refer to immigrants with authorized but temporary legal status (i.e. temporary foreign workers, visitors, international students) and/or unauthorized status (out of legal status, i.e. undocumented). This is the first large empirical study that examines the social determinants of self-perceived health of MPS who are uninsured and residing in Montreal. Between June 2016 and September 2017, we performed a cross-sectional survey of uninsured migrants in Montreal, Quebec. Migrants without health insurance (18+) were sampled through venue-based recruitment, snowball strategy and media announcements. A questionnaire focusing on sociodemographic, socioeconomic and psychosocial characteristics, social determinants, health needs and access to health care, and health self-perception was administered to 806 individuals: 54.1% were recruited in urban spaces and 45.9% in a health clinic. 53.9% were categorized as having temporary legal status in Canada and 46% were without authorized status. Regions of birth were: Asia (5.2%), Caribbean (13.8%), Europe (7.3%), Latin America (35.8%), Middle East (21%), Sub-Saharan Africa (15.8%) and the United States (1.1%). The median age was 37 years (range:18–87). The proportion of respondents reporting negative (bad/fair) self-perception of health was 44.8%: 36.1% among migrants with authorized legal status and 54.4% among those with unauthorized status (statistically significant difference; ppp = 0.002); whose family income met their needs not at all/a little (AOR: 6.22 [95% CI 1.62–23.85], p = 0.008) or met their needs fairly (AOR: 4.70 [95% CI 1.21–18.27], p = 0.025); with no one whom they could ask for money (AOR: 1.60 [95% CI 1.05–2.46], p = 0.03); with perception of racism (AOR: 1.58 [95% CI 1.01–2.48], p = 0.045); with a feeling of psychological distress (AOR: 2.17 [95% CI 1.36–3.45], p = 0.001); with unmet health care needs (AOR: 3.45 [95% CI 2.05–5.82], pp<0.001). Some variables that are associated with negative self-perceived health varied according to gender: region of birth, lower formal education, having a family income that does not meet needs perfectly /very well, insalubrious housing, not knowing someone who could be asked for money, and having ever received a medical diagnosis. In our study, almost half of immigrants without health insurance perceived their health as negative, much higher than reports of negative self-perceived health in previous Canadian studies (8.5% among recent immigrants, 19.8% among long-term immigrants, and 10.6% among Canadian-born). Our study also suggests a high rate of unmet health care needs among migrants with precarious status, a situation that is correlated with poor self-perceived health. There is a need to put social policies in place to secure access to resources, health care and social services for all migrants, with or without authorized status.