Taking culture seriously: ethnolinguistic community perspectives on mental health

Abstract

Objective: Ethnolinguistic communities are underserved by mental health systems in immigrant-receiving, multicultural societies, but their perspectives are seldom elicited in mental health research or reform planning. This article helps fill this gap by presenting community perspectives on concepts of mental health, mental illness and mental health experiences with five ethnocultural communities (Latin American, Mandarin-speaking Chinese, Polish, Punjabi Sikh and Somali) in Ontario, Canada.

Methods: Data were collected from 21 focus groups as part of a large-scale, participatory action research project called Taking Culture Seriously in Community Mental Health.

Results: The analysis focuses on how mental health and mental illnesses are described, how mental health care is experienced and what recommendations community members provide to improve the mental health system.

Conclusions: Study findings illustrate the importance of the social context of immigration and settlement in conceptualizing mental health and mental distress. We conclude that systemic changes are needed to formulate collaborative, community-based strategies for mental health promotion and interventions.