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Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health
Published in: Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health 6/2015

01-12-2015 | Original Paper

Improving Immigrant Populations’ Access to Mental Health Services in Canada: A Review of Barriers and Recommendations

Authors: Mary Susan Thomson, Ferzana Chaze, Usha George, Sepali Guruge

Published in: Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health | Issue 6/2015

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Abstract

This article emerges from a scoping review of over two decades of relevant literature on immigrants’ access to mental health services in Canada. Key online databases were searched to explore the gaps and opportunities for improving access to mental health services using a review framework provided by Arksey and O’Malley (Int J Soc Res Methodol 8:19–32, 2005). Immigrants and refugees came from diverse religious and cultural backgrounds and had complex mental health-related concerns that were not currently being adequately addressed by existing services. The major barriers to the utilization of mental health services included: those related to the uptake of existing health information and services; those that were related to the process of immigrant settlement; and barriers related to availability of appropriate services. A thematic analysis of the range of recommendations that emerge from these studies for improvement of research, practice and policy is provided.
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Metadata
Title
Improving Immigrant Populations’ Access to Mental Health Services in Canada: A Review of Barriers and Recommendations
Authors
Mary Susan Thomson
Ferzana Chaze
Usha George
Sepali Guruge
Publication date
01-12-2015
Publisher
Springer US
Published in
Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health / Issue 6/2015
Print ISSN: 1557-1912
Electronic ISSN: 1557-1920
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10903-015-0175-3

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