Exploring Mental Health Issues Faced by Government Assisted Refugees (GARs)
Access Alliance and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health are collaborating on this research initiative focused on exploring mental health issues faced by Government Assisted Refugees (GARs).
The preliminary research involved compiling a literature review on refugee mental health and conducting focus groups and key informant interviews to explore mental health issues related to both pre-migration as well as post-migration experiences for GARs.
The project concentrated on three specific groups Government Assisted Refugees: Afghan, Sudanese and Karen refugees from Burma. We envision this initiative to evolve into a long term research project that will help to deepen our understanding of GARs mental health (and refugee mental health in general) and to promote evidence-based service and policy design to address GARs mental health.
In line with Access Alliance’s commitment to community-based researchi principles, we have recruited people who have come to Canada through the Government Assisted Refugees process to sit on our advisory committee and work as research collaborators in this project. They have taken part in training related to research and advocacy through Access Alliance’s Peer Researcheri Training Program. The following Peer Researchers were involved in the project:
- Nazar Abdlazeez
- Sheila Htoo
- Sayed Maqsud Burhan
- Pah Wah
Key Partners and Collaborators
Access Alliance is collaborating on this project with Dr. Carles Muntaner, Psychiatry and Addiction Nursing Research Chair at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.
Other community partners for this project are:
- Afghan Women’s Organization
- COSTI
- Community Resource Connections of Toronto
- Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture
- Thorncliffe Neighborhood Office
- Southern Sudanese Settlement Services Organization of Canada
- Sudanese Organization of Canada
Funders
To launch this initiative and to conduct preliminary research, we received a grant from the Community Research Capacity Enhancement Program of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).
Project Activities
The research questions were developed collaboratively by Access Alliance staff along with our Peer Researchers, community and academic partners. The research questions for this project are:
- What are the key mental health issues faced by GARs?
- How do different refugee communities understand and address mental health issues?
- How does mental health change over the course of settlement?
- How does immigration/settlement process itself affect refugees’ mental health?
- What are the needs in terms of mental health services for GARs?
Data collection for this project included:
- 3 focus groups with 3 different GARs communities: Karen, Afghan and Sudanese
- 6 interviews with community members from these 3 communities
- 1 focus group with service providers working with GARs
- 6 interviews with mental health service providers
The final report for this study will be released in October 2009.
