To address immigrant health disparities, timely evidence-informed, equity-based, and community-engaged policy solutions are urgently needed. In this project we will be using population-based analyses and mixed methods contextual analyses to explicate preventable health inequities experienced by immigrant communities in Canada. Our consultation with BC, AB, and ON migrant community partners, the national CIHR Youth Health Advisory, and other groups have identified two main priority areas: mental health (all ages) and sexual health (youth), along with food insecurity, discrimination, and other social determinants of health that can influence these priority health issues. Large-scale, regularly repeating health surveys in Canada create the opportunity to identify trends in health disparities among migrant populations. We will be conducting 20 years trends in sexual and mental health outcomes among migrant youth in Western Canada. We will work on identifying correlates and social determinants that help explain health inequities in sexual and mental health for migrant youth populations, especially for LGBTQ+ migrant youth, racialized migrant youth, and refugee youth in particular. Additionally, we will identify health disparities among homestay student compared to their migrant peers.
Leads: Elizabeth Saewyc (University of British Columbia), and Josephine Wong (Toronto Metropolitan University)
Co-Investigator: Abdul-Fatawu Abdulai, Assistant Professor, School of Nursing
Project Manager: Monica Rana
SARAVYC Team: Mauricio Coronel Villalobos, Helen Okoye, Marie Louise Umwangange, Daniel Ji, Yeshvi Mehta
Funded by: Canada First Research Excellence Fund
