From struggle to strength in African and Middle Eastern newcomers' integration stories to Canada: A participatory health equity research study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Newcomers (immigrants, refugees, and international students) face many personal, gender, cultural, environmental and health system barriers when integrating into a new society. These struggles can affect their health and social care, reducing access to mental health care. This study explores the lived experiences of African and Middle Eastern newcomers to Ontario, Canada. An understanding of newcomer integration challenges, successes and social justice issues is needed to improve health equity and social services. METHODS: In this qualitative study, we used a participatory research approach to collect stories reflecting participants' integration perspectives and experiences. Beginning with our immigrant community network, we used snowball sampling to recruit newcomers, ages 18 to 30, originating from Africa or the Middle East. We used qualitative narrative analysis to interpret stories, identifying context themes, integrating related barriers and facilitators, and resolutions and learnings. We shared our findings and sought final feedback from our participants. FINDINGS: A total of 18 newcomers, 78% female and approximately half post-secondary students, participated in the study. Participants described an unknown and intimidating migration context, with periods of loneliness and isolation aggravated by cold winter conditions and unfamiliar language and culture. Amidst the struggles, the support of friends and family, along with engaging in schoolwork, exploring new learning opportunities, and participating in community services, all facilitated integration and forged new resilience. CONCLUSIONS: Community building, friendships, and local services emerged as key elements for future immigrant service research. Utilizing a participatory health research approach allowed us to respond to the call for social justice-oriented research that helps to generate scientific knowledge for promoting culturally adaptive health care and access for marginalized populations.

Diagnostic test accuracy of screening tools for post-traumatic stress disorder among refugees and asylum seekers: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Refugees and asylum seekers often experience traumatic events resulting in a high prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Undiagnosed PTSD can have detrimental effects on resettlement outcomes. Immigration medical exams provide an opportunity to screen for mental health conditions in refugee and asylum seeker populations and provide links to timely mental health care. Objective: To assess the diagnostic accuracy of screening tools for PTSD in refugee and asylum seeker populations. Methods: We systematically searched Medline, Embase, PsycINFO, CENTRAL and CINAHL up to 29 September 2022. We included cohort-selection or cross-sectional study designs that assessed PTSD screening tools in refugee or asylum seeker populations of all ages. All reference standards were eligible for inclusion, with a clinical interview considered the gold standard. We selected studies and extracted diagnostic test accuracy data in duplicate. Risk of bias and applicability concerns were addressed using QUADAS-2. We meta-analyzed findings using a bivariate random-effects model. We partnered with a patient representative and a clinical psychiatrist to inform review development and conduct. Results: Our review includes 28 studies (4,373 participants) capturing 16 different screening tools. Nine of the 16 tools were developed specifically for refugee populations. Most studies assessed PTSD in adult populations, but three included studies focused on detecting PTSD in children. Nine studies looked at the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ) with diagnostic cut-off points ranging from 1.17 to 2.5. Meta-analyses revealed a summary point sensitivity of 86.6% (95%CI 0.791; 0.917) and specificity of 78.9% (95%CI 0.639; 0.888) for these studies. After evaluation, we found it appropriate to pool other screening tools (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist, the Impact of Event Scale, and the Posttraumatic Diagnostic Scale) with the HTQ. The area under the curve for this model was 79.4%, with a pooled sensitivity of 86.2% (95%CI 0.759; 0.925) and a specificity of 72.2% (95%CI 0.616; 0.808). Conclusions: Our review identified several screening tools that perform well among refugees and asylum seekers, but no single tool was identified as being superior. The Refugee Health Screener holds promise as a practical instrument for use in immigration medical examinations because it supports the identification of PTSD, depression, and anxiety across diverse populations. Future research should consider tool characteristics beyond sensitivity and specificity to facilitate implementation in immigration medical exams. Registration: Open Science Framework: 10.17605/OSF.IO/PHNJV.

Mental Health Screening Approaches for Resettling Refugees and Asylum Seekers: A Scoping Review.

Refugees and asylum seekers often face delayed mental health diagnoses, treatment, and care. COVID-19 has exacerbated these issues. Delays in diagnosis and care can reduce the impact of resettlement services and may lead to poor long-term outcomes. This scoping review aims to characterize studies that report on mental health screening for resettling refugees and asylum seekers pre-departure and post-arrival to a resettlement state. We systematically searched six bibliographic databases for articles published between 1995 and 2020 and conducted a grey literature search. We included publications that evaluated early mental health screening approaches for refugees of all ages. Our search identified 25,862 citations and 70 met the full eligibility criteria. We included 45 publications that described mental health screening programs, 25 screening tool validation studies, and we characterized 85 mental health screening tools. Two grey literature reports described pre-departure mental health screening. Among the included publications, three reported on two programs for women, 11 reported on programs for children and adolescents, and four reported on approaches for survivors of torture. Programs most frequently screened for overall mental health, PTSD, and depression. Important considerations that emerged from the literature include cultural and psychological safety to prevent re-traumatization and digital tools to offer more private and accessible self-assessments.

Mobile interventions targeting common mental disorders among pregnant and postpartum women: An equity-focused systematic review.

INTRODUCTION: Pregnant and postpartum women face major psychological stressors that put them at higher risk of developing common mental disorders, such as depression and anxiety. Yet, their limited access to and uptake of traditional mental health care is inequitable, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Mobile interventions emerged as a potential solution to this discontinued healthcare access, but more knowledge is needed about their effectiveness and impact on health equity. This equity-focused systematic review examined the effectiveness and equity impact of mobile interventions targeting common mental disorders among pregnant and postpartum women. METHODS AND RESULTS: We systematically searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsychINFO and 3 other databases, from date of database inception and until January 2021, for experimental studies on mobile interventions targeting pregnant and postpartum women. We used pooled and narrative synthesis methods to analyze effectiveness and equity data, critically appraised the methodological rigour of included studies using Cochrane tools, and assessed the certainty of evidence using the GRADE approach. Our search identified 6148 records, of which 18 randomized and non-randomized controlled trials were included. Mobile interventions had a clinically important impact on reducing the occurrence of depression (OR = 0.51 [95% CI 0.41 to 0.64]; absolute risk reduction RD: 7.14% [95% CI 4.92 to 9.36]; p<0.001) and preventing its severity perinatally (MD = -3.07; 95% CI -4.68 to -1.46; p<0.001). Mobile cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) was effective in managing postpartum depression (MD = -6.87; 95% CI -7.92 to -5.82; p<0.001), whereas other support-based interventions had no added benefit. Results on anxiety outcomes and utilization of care were limited. Our equity-focused analyses showed that ethnicity, age, education, and being primiparous were characteristics of influence to the effectiveness of mobile interventions. CONCLUSION: As the COVID-19 pandemic has increased the need for virtual mental health care, mobile interventions show promise in preventing and managing common mental disorders among pregnant and postpartum women. Such interventions carry the potential to address health inequity but more rigorous research that examines patients' intersecting social identities is needed.

Protocol for a multi-phase, mixed methods study to develop and evaluate culturally adapted CBT to improve community mental health services for Canadians of south Asian origin.

BACKGROUND: Canadians of South Asian (SA) origin comprise the largest racialized group in Canada, representing 25.6% of what Statistics Canada terms "visible minority populations". South Asian Canadians are disproportionately impacted by the social determinants of health, and this can result in high rates of mood and anxiety disorders. These factors can negatively impact mental health and decrease access to care, thereby increasing mental health inequities. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) in its current form is not suitable for persons from the non-western cultural backgrounds. Culturally adapted Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CaCBT) is an evidence-based practice. CaCBT is more effective than standard CBT and can reduce dropouts from therapy compared with standard CBT. Thus, CaCBT can increase access to mental health services and improve outcomes for immigrant, refugee and ethno-cultural and racialized populations. Adapting CBT for growing SA populations in Canada will ensure equitable access to effective and culturally appropriate interventions. METHODS: The primary aim of the study is to develop and evaluate CaCBT for Canadian South Asian persons with depression and anxiety and to gather data from stakeholders to develop guidelines to culturally adapt CBT. This mixed methods study will use three phases: (1) cultural adaptation of CBT, (2) pilot feasibility of CaCBT and (3) implementation and evaluation of CaCBT. Phase 1 will use purposive sampling to recruit individuals from four different groups: (1) SA patients with depression and anxiety, (b) caregivers and family members of individuals affected by anxiety and depression, (c) mental health professionals and (d) SA community opinion leaders. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted virtually and analysis of interviews will be informed by an ethnographic approach. Phase 2 will pilot test the newly developed CaCBT for feasibility, acceptability and effectiveness via quantitative methodology and a randomized controlled trial, including an economic analysis. Phase 3 will recruit therapists to train and evaluate them in the new CaCBT. DISCUSSION: The outcome of this trial will benefit health services in Canada, in terms of helping to reduce the burden of depression and anxiety and provide better care for South Asians. We expect the results to help guide the development of better services and tailor existing services to the needs of other vulnerable groups. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04010890. Registered on July 8, 2019.

Fostering Refugee and Other Migrant Resilience through Empowerment, Pluralism, and Collaboration in Mental Health.

"Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it [...].

Encounters with the north: psychiatric consultation with Inuit youth.

INTRODUCTION: The Inuit population of Canada experiences high rates of mental health problems. Youth are particularly affected, with rates of youth suicide among the highest in the world. Psychiatric consultation is one model that has been used to address this problem. Is this the most appropriate method to assist Inuit populations with these issues? METHODS: This review addresses this question by examining literature focusing on psychiatric consultation in Canada's north, especially that which pertains to Inuit populations. RESULTS: The traditional model of medical-psychiatric consultation has significant limitations including assumptions about its validity and usefulness, its segmented approach, and its individual focus. CONCLUSION: Openness to other forms of knowledge, cultural competence, and understanding the importance of social factors are crucial in order for psychiatric consultation to be effective.