This learning note adopts an intersectional social determinants of health framework to examine immigrant women’s health in Canada. Intersectionality highlights how overlapping systems of inequality, such as gender, race, socio-economic position, and immigration status, interact to produce distinct health outcomes. Immi...
Key findings:
1) Thematic analysis of semi-structured interviews with six participants reveals that West African women define domestic violence as extreme, life-threatening incidents, with most non-physical violence under-recognized.
2) Culturally influenced coping strategies and informal support services commonly pref...
Community organizations: n/a
Future research / gaps identified:
1) Conduct future research on specific groups within IMO women, e.g. newly arrived older immigrants, those with lower socioeconomic status, those experiencing language and cultural barriers, etc.
2) Understanding the perspectives of the family and socia...
Key populations: immigrant women from the MENA region (Middle East and North Africa)
Open access: No
Location: Edmonton, AB
Key findings:
Themes included:
1) Limited knowledge about breast health, cancer risk, and screening services in Canada.
2) Barriers to maintaining breast health and to screening included: l...
Integration timeline: not defined
Open access: Yes
Location: Calgary, AB
Community organizations: Calgary Immigrant Women’s Association (CIWA)
Key populations: refugee mothers in the Multicultural Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) program in Calgary
Key findings:
1) Mothers emphasiz...
Integration timeline: not defined
Key findings:
1) Participants had differing past experiences in Canada and before their arrival that influenced how they used information in their vaccination decisions.
2) Increased likelihood of vaccine uptake and trust in Canadian healthcare was fostered through clear vaccination...
Community organizations: New Canadian Health Centre (NCHC)
Future research / gaps identified:
Continue exploring the healthcare experiences of Afghan refugee women in order to build evidence-based interventions and policies.
Open access: Yes
Location: Edmonton, AB
Key populations: Afghan refugee women living in...
Key findings:
1) The overarching theme of the interviews was “The necessity of finding ways to survive in the face of intersecting challenges.”
2) The subtheme “struggles in Canada” discussed structural barriers to economic success, compounded discrimination across intersectional identities, and the burden of the doubl...
Integration timeline: newcomers not defined
Community organizations
Sagesse (Calgary)
Canadian Pakistani Support Group Association (Calgary)
The Today Centre (Edmonton)
Indo Canadian Women’s Association (Edmonton)
Future research / gaps identified:
The women themselves were not interviewed (only seconda...
Gaps identified
Cause-and-effect relationships cannot be determined by this research. Additionally, certain factors were not accounted for (e.g. immigration class, ethnicity).
Key recommendations
Initiatives for community belonging and increased social support may improve maternal depression and/or anxiety of A...