NURS1132 Mental Health Nursing Editing and Proof Reading Services

Introduction

The prevalence of mental health disorders, coupled with a sense of complete absence of belonging due to the barriers of linguistic and business ethic platforms, is high amongst refugees and immigrant families in Canada (Durbin et al., 2015).

The following paragraphs of the report highlight the salient features regarding the prevalence of mental health issues amongst immigrant families of Canada, followed by a discussion of the possible strategies and the availability of organizational solutions for the resolution of the same.

Discussion

The following paragraphs outline the background and solutions pertaining to mental health issues prevalent amongst immigrant families in Canada.

Current Canadian Statistics and Demographics

There has been a recent surge concerning the population of children prevalent in the United States and Canada, with at least one child possessing immigrant roots, amongst a total of four children. Such emerging trends pose significant difficulties in the establishment of policy frameworks pertaining to early child-care and development, due to the presence of varied ethnicities and cultures (Yao & Sbihi, 2016). As stated by the census report in Canada during the year 2016, a total of 3.5% of the Canadian population comprised of immigrant or refugee families, amounting to a total of almost 1 million. The countries of origin, as prevalent in most of the emerging immigrant families, were reported to be primarily Europe, followed by Africa and Asia. The concentration of such refugees and migrants were observed to be highest in the states of Montreal, Vancouver and Toronto, following the settlement of a significant portion in the Prairies and Atlantic regions. An absence of English speaking individuals, followed by a presence of over 200 varied ethnical cultures, further present an emerging presence of mental health issues and difficulties in formulation of solutions (Sanou et al., 2014).

Mental Health issues

Due to the presence of unique cultural diversity and linguistic identities, the children and youth existing amongst the immigrant families are encountered with considerable shortcomings which exhibit significant detrimental impact on their mental health, further posing as a difficulty in overcoming the implementation of principles pertaining to early childhood educations, care and development (Guruge & Butt, 2015). Upon setting foot in a country vastly different from their own, refugee and immigrant children and youth are burdened with an immediate responsibility to adapt to the languages and cultures of their respective surroundings. Children and adolescents from migrant families are further pressurized by their friends and neighbors to adopt the native Canadian identity, while they struggle to uphold their own individualistic indigenous principles. This further results in stress and tensions, severely disrupting sound mental health and their ongoing performance in the early childhood and care scenarios (Beiser & Hou, 2016).

Additional issues amongst immigrant children and their families, include racial distortion, where they encounter discrimination and distrust due to their skin color being associated with a prevalence of inhabiting antisocial or criminal backgrounds (Vigod et al., 2016).

Possible Response Strategies

There is a need for the adoption of salient strategies and modifications in the early childhood education scenario. Early childhood leaders and advocates should recognize the presence of differential expectations from children and families of migrants, hence emerging the need to engage in empathetic conversation with the parents of the concerned children regarding the difficulties they are facing in their child’s educational and behavioral backgrounds (Majumder et al., 2015). The concerned school can further establish centers or programs aiming to encourage immigrant parents and their children to participate in community service activities or educational workshops, which would further enhance their familiarity regarding the Canadian culture (Betancourt et al., 2015). The formulation of immigration care or welcome centers amongst schools would further pose to be a beneficial strategy in early childhood education, with the help of which, immigrant children and youth can acquire aid and considerable advocacy from their parents, further helping them to establish healthy adaptive relationships. Further advocacy programs may also be conducted in the early childhood education premises in order to encourage awareness and acceptance regarding migrant values and principles (Annan et al., 2017).

Organizations

With respect to the ongoing emergence of refugee and immigrant families in Canada, there is a need for organizational behaviour support concerning the varied mental health issues encountered by the same, due to the variations in cultural and ethnic principles prevalent. Hence, a number of non-governmental and non-profit organizations have been formulated, to serve as a voice for the children and their families, belonging to various refugee and migrant families (Evans & Shields, 2014).

The Centre for Immigrant and Community Services, situated in Toronto, Canada, is a key organization with a rich fifty-year-old history, formulated for providing aid to various refugee and immigrant families new to the land of Canada. The organization employs a diverse workforce, hailing from varied cultural backgrounds, and numerous linguistic principles. The organization presents a vast array of services for the betterment of children and youth belonging to refugee and immigrant families. These include various academic-oriented programs and facilities, which will aid in the academic improvement of migrant children. There is also the provision of enrichment programs concerning leadership and life skills for the holistic development of the concerned child in early child education, followed by the conductance of various recreational summer camps for fun and leisure purposes (Ruiz-Casares et al., 2015).

The Mathew House Toronto is an additional non-profit organization dedicated for the provision of shelter and care towards refugee families and their children, spanning over the state with four homes. The organization extends their services through the availability of shelter for homeless migrants, care services for children and their parents, as well as orientation programs to aid immigrant families to adjust to the new life in Canada (Flynn & Bauder, 2015).

Conclusion

Hence, it can be concluded that the emerging trends of immigrant families in Canada, can pose to be a serious problem with respect to the various mental health issues encountered by children in youth in early childcare settings. However, with adequate advocacy and aid, along with considerable sensitivity, the possibility of a better life for migrant families is not bleak.

References

1. Annan, J., Sim, A., Puffer, E. S., Salhi, C., & Betancourt, T. S. (2017). Improving mental health outcomes of Burmese migrant and displaced children in Thailand: A community-based randomized controlled trial of a parenting and family skills intervention. Prevention Science, 18(7), 793-803.
2. Beiser, M., & Hou, F. (2016). Mental health effects of premigration trauma and postmigration discrimination on refugee youth in Canada. The Journal of nervous and mental disease, 204(6), 464-470.
3. Durbin, A., Moineddin, R., Lin, E., Steele, L. S., & Glazier, R. H. (2015). Mental health service use by recent immigrants from different world regions and by non-immigrants in Ontario, Canada: a cross-sectional study. BMC health services research, 15(1), 336.
4. Evans, B., & Shields, J. (2014). Nonprofit engagement with provincial policy officials: The case of NGO policy voice in Canadian immigrant settlement services. Policy and Society, 33(2), 117-127.
5. Flynn, E., & Bauder, H. (2015). The private sector, institutions of higher education, and immigrant settlement in Canada. Journal of International Migration and Integration, 16(3), 539-556.
6. Guruge, S., & Butt, H. (2015). A scoping review of mental health issues and concerns among immigrant and refugee youth in Canada: Looking back, moving forward. Can J Public Health, 106(2), 72-78.
7. Majumder, P., O’Reilly, M., Karim, K., & Vostanis, P. (2015). ‘This doctor, I not trust him, I’m not safe’: The perceptions of mental health and services by unaccompanied refugee adolescents. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 61(2), 129-136.
8. Ruiz-Casares, M., Kolyn, L., Sullivan, R., & Rousseau, C. (2015). Parenting adolescents from ethnic social-cultural backgrounds: A scan of community-based programs in Canada for the promotion of adolescent mental health. Children and Youth Services Review, 53, 10-16.
9. Sanou, D., O’Reilly, E., Ngnie-Teta, I., Batal, M., Mondain, N., Andrew, C., ... & Bourgeault, I. L. (2014). Acculturation and nutritional health of immigrants in Canada: a scoping review. Journal of Immigrant and Minority Health, 16(1), 24-34.
10. Vigod, S., Sultana, A., Fung, K., Hussain-Shamsy, N., & Dennis, C. L. (2016). A population-based study of postpartum mental health service use by immigrant women in Ontario, Canada. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 61(11), 705-713.
11. Yao, J., & Sbihi, H. (2016). Prevalence of non-food allergies among non-immigrants, long-time immigrants and recent immigrants in Canada. Can J Public Health, 107(4-5), 461-466