Activism as a feature of mental health and wellbeing for racialized immigrant women in a Canadian context

ABSTRACT

Although immigrant women bear a disproportionate burden of chronic disease and mental health issues, limited research addresses how to promote their mental wellbeing. The authors first describe grounded theory findings from community-based focus group research with 57 racialized immigrant women in Toronto, Canada that used a critical gender and intersectional lens to explore the links among settlement, wellbeing, and activism. Secondly, a community mobilization strategy is described whereby racialized immigrant women discuss activism as a feature of wellbeing in various language communities while creating meaningful health promotion resources. Implications for creating activism-based initiatives to promote women's wellbeing are discussed.

Acknowledgements

The authors thank all the women who participated in this project as focus group participants and community mobilizers, as well as Raquel Bremmer (Women's Health in Women's Hands) and research assistants, Shaista Durani, Jamie Thomas-Pavanel, and Wairimu Njoroge, for their contributions to the project.

Funding

The authors appreciate funding from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research for this study.

Notes

1. Details of the grounded theory and feminist health promotion methodologies, along with initial findings that focus on “resilience,” have been detailed in MacDonnell et al. (2012).

2. A community event where study findings were shared in 2013 also served as a CM recruitment strategy.