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Provider Perspectives on Barriers and Strategies for Achieving Culturally Sensitive Mental Health Services for Immigrants: A Hamilton, Ontario Case Study

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Abstract

As research reveals that the healthy immigrant effect, whereby the health of immigrants at the time of arrival is high but subsequently declines and converges toward that of the native-born population, also extends to mental well-being, this paper aims to examine the barriers to mental health care for immigrants in Hamilton, Ontario. Through the use of face-to-face interviews with eight service providers, barriers to care were revealed to include cultural insensitivity, stigma and shame, and limited resources. Suggestions for improvements to mental health care are also discussed.

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Acknowledgments

This research was funded by a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) No. 86517.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Urban and Regional Planning, Queen’s University, 99 University Avenue, Kingston, ON, Canada, K7L 3N6

    Jennifer Wood

  2. School of Geography and Earth Sciences, McMaster University, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON, Canada, L8S 4L8

    K. Bruce Newbold

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  1. Jennifer Wood
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  2. K. Bruce Newbold
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Correspondence to Jennifer Wood.

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Wood, J., Newbold, K.B. Provider Perspectives on Barriers and Strategies for Achieving Culturally Sensitive Mental Health Services for Immigrants: A Hamilton, Ontario Case Study. Int. Migration & Integration 13, 383–397 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12134-011-0215-3

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