Home › Research ›

Glossary of Terms

Determinants of Immigrant and Refugee Health

Access
Access is having the right, opportunity and ability to reach, enter and/or use a facility, program, service or materials, and to receive, understand and use information and knowledge provided. Access to buildings, programs, services and opportunities may be limited or restricted by physical barriers, communications, signage, attitudes or values.

Consumer/Survivor
People who have a mental health problem and/or have used mental health services or programs sometimes describe themselves as consumer/survivors. The Consumer/Survivor/Ex-Patient Movement refers to a diverse association of individuals (and organizations representing them) who are currently "consumers" (clients) of mental health services, or who consider themselves "survivors" of mental health services, or who simply identify as "ex-patients". The movement is associated with campaigning for improved mental health services, and particularly for greater empowerment and choice.

Government Assisted Refugees
The Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA) of 2002 defines Government Assisted Refugees (GARs) as “permanent residents in the refugee category who are selected for resettlement in the Convention refugees abroad class or source country class and who are eligible for government assistance.”

  • Of the roughly 7,500 GARs that come to Canada annually (representing less than 5% of all persons immigrating to Canada), the city of Toronto receives 13% of all GARs and Ontario receives 43% (Citizenship and Immigration Canada, 2006).
  • Selected primarily on humanitarian grounds (and not subjected to rigorous screenings for high education, experience, and good health like other immigrants), GARs represent a unique cohort of immigrants to Canada (for eg, GARs have higher rates of illiteracy).
  • Service providers estimate 75% of GARs to be special needs cases with high rates of clinical depression and chronic health conditions, exacerbated by prolonged stays in refugee camps. Canadian literature on GARs mental health is sparse.

Mental Health
Mental health is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a state of well-being in which the individual:

  • realizes his or her own abilities
  • can cope with the normal stresses of life
  • can work productively and fruitfully
  • is able to make a contribution to his or her community.

Mental Health Promotion
Mental health promotion is the process of enhancing the ability of individuals and communities to take control over their lives and improve their mental health. Mental health promotion shifts the focus of mental health to the positive and is asset-based rather than negative or deficit-based.

Non status
Non-status immigrants are individuals who have made their home in Canada but lack legal immigration status, including failed refugee claimants, immigrants who have experienced sponsorship breakdowns and people whose temporary worker, student or visitor visas have expired. They could be documented or undocumented. Although many non-status immigrants make contributions to Canadian society, these residents face considerable barriers to accessing vital services such as health care, education and other community services due to their lack of immigration status. See also: STATUS campaign definitions.

Racialized Groups
Racialization is the process through which racial categories are constructed as different and unequal in ways that lead to regressive social, economic and political impacts (Galabuzi, 2001). By “racialized groups” we refer to non-dominant ethno-racial communities who, through the process of racialization, experience race as a key factor in their identity (Galabuzi, 2001).

Racialization of Poverty
A recent profile of ethno-racial groups in Toronto found that “income difference between members of European and non-European groups has grown steadily since 1970” and that “[a]ll twenty of the poorest ethno-racial groups in the Toronto CMA are non-European” (Ornstein, 2006:v-vi). Census data and other research clearly highlight the growing inequality between racialized and non-racialized groups in terms of job placement rate, promotions, wage, income security, and working conditions. Although they have comparable or higher levels of education, racialized individuals are over-represented in low paid, low end occupations, especially in the service sector and in precarious and unregulated temporary or contingent work (Galabuzi, 2006, Ornstein, 2006). Even among recent immigrants, the unemployment rate for racialized groups is double that of European immigrants (Galabuzi, 2001).

Regularization
A regularization program allows non-status immigrants to apply for official legal status. Since 1960, several regularization programs have been introduced in Canada.

Social Exclusion
Social exclusion describes the structures and dynamic processes of inequality among groups in society. Social exclusion refers to the inability of certain groups or individuals to participate fully in Canadian life due to structural inequalities in access to social, economic, political and cultural resources. These inequalities arise out of oppression related to race, class, gender, disability, sexual orientation, immigrant status and religion. Refer also to: http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/ph-sp/oi-ar/03_inclusion-eng.php

Systemic Racism
Systemic racism occurs when established policies, procedures and practices in institutions result in the exclusion or promotion of particular groups of individuals on the basis of skin colour and/or ancestry. It differs from individual or overt racism in that it is not based on individual intent, but it may affect entire groups of people.

Research and Evaluation Terms

Advocacy
The act of arguing on behalf of a particular issue, idea or person. The purpose of advocacy is usually to convince an organization or government to change their policy in some area. Different ways of doing advocacy include writing letters, contacting political representatives, organizing community meetings or press conferences, distributing public education materials, or participating in a public protest.

Case Study
A research strategy focusing on the study of single cases. The case can be an individual person, an organization, a situation, etc.

Community-Based Researchi (CBR)
CBR is research conducted by, for and with communities on issues that are relevant to the communities, usually with the goal of creating positive social change. The CBR approach enables community members to participate not as “research subjects” but as research collaborators and agents of change. In CBR, research is not an end to itself but rather a means to empower communities through the participating in the research process and to bring about social change by mobilizing action and advocacy based on research evidence.

Community Capacity
The ability of a group or community to organize itself to identify and solve its own problems. Building community capacity may involve training in areas such as: shared power, leveraging resources, communication and advocacy.

Dissemination
This is the stage of the research where you share your findings with others who may be interested in the results. Results may be disseminated through a variety of ways including written and on-line reports, community meetings, forums and conference presentations.

Environmental Scan
A way of developing an understanding of your organization’s or community’s current environment. This is done by identifying and gathering information from key informants (experts), community members, published literature and/or other sources. The goal is to identify trends, gaps and issues to help you plan future projects or activities.

Evidence
Evidence refers to research or evaluation data that has been collected and analyzed in a systematic and rigorous way that can be used to support decisions about social/health programs, services or policies. (see Evidence-based practice)

Evidence based practice
An approach which tries to specify the way in which professionals or other decision-makers should make decisions. It uses various methods (e.g. carefully summarizing research, putting out accessible research summaries, educating professionals in how to understand and apply research findings) to encourage professionals and other decision-makers to pay more attention to research evidence that can inform their decision-making.

Focus Group
A type of interview that is conducted with a small group of people to explore their ideas on a particular topic. They are often used to gain a deeper understanding of respondents' attitudes and opinions. Focus groups typically involve 6-10 people, and last for 1-2 hours. A key feature is that participants are to able interact with, and react to, each other.

Indicators
An indicator is something that can be measured and that represents or tells you something about a variable of interest. For example, blood pressure is an indicator of a person’s physical health. Rate of employment and access to affordable housing are indicators of a community’s health.

Informed Consent
The process of obtaining voluntary participation of individuals in research based on a full understanding of the possible benefits and risks involved.

Interview
A way to collect data involving an interviewer asking questions of another person (respondent) either face-to-face or by telephone. Interviews may be:

  • structured in which the interviewer asks all respondents the same questions using an a formal interview guide that specifies the precise wording and order of the questions; or
  • unstructured which is more like a conversation because questions are open-ended and the person is able to talk more freely on the topic and to influence the direction of the interview.

Key Informants
People who are known to have knowledge, experience, expertise and/or opinions specific to the subject of the research, and who are selected as data sources for this reason

Literature Review
A way to bring together individual journal articles, reports, books etc. It should weave together the individual items into a broad overview of the subject. The aim is to inform the audience of the current state of knowledge about a particular subject. It is commonly used to set the scene for introducing new research or a new perspective.

Needs Assessment
A needs assessment is a way of asking members of a group or community what they see as their most important needs (e.g., using a survey, focus group or community forum). The results of the needs assessment are used guide future action. Ideally, the needs that are rated most important are the ones that get addressed.

Peer Researchers
Peer Researchers are members of the research team who identify with and can reasonably represent a community or group of interest for the research project. In most cases, they are not directly affiliated with an academic institution or community organization. After taking part in training, Peer Researchers become active members of the research team, participating in many or all phases of the research project.

Photovoice
A strategy that combines photography with grassroots social action. Participants in a Photovoice project are asked to represent their community or point of view by taking photographs. It is used to give insight into how people see and understand their own circumstances.

Program Evaluation
Gathering, analysis and reporting of information about a program in a systematic way to assist in decision-making.

Qualitative Data
Information gathered from interviews, observations, or documents - usually in the form of words. May include detailed descriptions of situations, events, people, interactions, observed behaviors, and people’s own thoughts about their experiences, attitudes, and beliefs.

Quantitative Data
Information collected from questionnaires, tests, standardized (fixed, unchanging) observation instruments, and program records. Focuses on things that can be counted (numbers), categorized, and analyzed using statistical procedures.

Research Ethics
Principles and systems relating to what is right and wrong. In research involving people, there are standards and codes of conduct that are followed to ensure that the benefits for participants are greater than the harms and that the privacy and confidentiality of participants is protected.

Sampling
The process by which you reduce the total number of possible respondents for a research project (the research population) to a number which is practically feasible and theoretically acceptable (the sample).

Survey
A tool for collecting information from a sample of individuals. Individuals who are given the survey are asked questions as a way to gain information about their background, opinions, behaviors, or other topics. Surveys can take a number of forms, including oral, written, and electronic.

Stakeholders
Stakeholders are people who care about what will be learned from the research or evaluation project and about what will be done with the knowledge gained.

Glossary References: