Depression and Anxiety among Immigrants

LE CENTRE DE RECHERCHE DE ST. MARY PRÉSENTE : ST. MARY'S RESEARCH CENTRE PRESENTS: Depression and Anxiety among Immigrants:.
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LE CENTRE DE RECHERCHE DE ST. MARY PRÉSENTE : ST. MARY’S RESEARCH CENTRE PRESENTS:

Depression and Anxiety among Immigrants: a Canadian Perspective ~~~

Alessandra Miklavcic, PhD

Senior Qualitative Researcher, St. Mary’s Research Centre

Le mardi 30 avril 2013 / Tuesday April 30, 2013 12:00 à 13:00

Auditorium A Centre hospitalier de St. Mary / St. Mary’s Hospital Center Un léger dîner sera servi / A light lunch will be served

Bienvenue à tous / Everyone is welcome

ABSTRACT Depression and anxiety are highly disabling, and hard to live with, diagnose, and treat. Worldwide, they affect males and females of all ages and count as the largest contributors to adults’ long-term disability, yet also show important local or cultural variations in their manifestation (Sartorius et al. 1993; WHO, 2001; Lloyd 2009). Moreover, only a small percentage of people have access to effective treatment. The under-treatment of anxiety and depression is a major public health issue and is associated with significant personal, social, and economic burdens. This is particularly true for immigrants and newcomers who tend to underutilize mental health services and may receive inappropriate or ineffective care, possibly due to linguistic and cultural barriers. Immigration has also been recognized as a significant risk factor for anxiety and depressive symptomatology. Given this widespread prevalence, there is a pressing need to increase awareness about immigrants’ mental health issues and the available services by providing experiential information and resources. In addition, it is important to inform primary clinicians about cultural variations in the clinical presentation of depression and anxiety. This talk provides a review of the literature on the mental health of Canadian immigrant populations with an emphasis on immigrant access to healthcare and cultural differences in conceptual models of mental illness. This preliminary analysis constitutes the basis for the Health Experiences Project’s development of a new module on depression and anxiety which focuses on the mental health challenges and needs of newcomers to Montreal and Vancouver, as well as their resilience. Cette présentation sera en anglais seulement