With refugees fleeing war in many parts of the world, and Canada accepting a “surge” of 25,000-plus refugees from Syria, the complex issue of refugee mental health has become a priority.
To keep this issue in front of decision-makers, CAMH Education, Sherbourne Health Centre and Thorncliffe Neighborhood Office (TNO) hosted a forum this spring for service providers, researchers and program planners working with refugee communities.
The forum was spearheaded by leaders working with Canada’s Tamil mental health community: Dr. Pushpa Kanagaratnam, Dr. Nalini Pandalangat, and Mr. Ravi Subramaniam.
“The goal is to build on a refugee mental health approach developed by the Tamil community so that it can be used broadly across refugee communities,” said Asha Maharaj, CAMH Director of Community and Continuing Education.
The Canadian Tamil Medical Association and the Psychological Recovery Clinic sponsored the forum.
Tamil community uniquely positioned
“Different refugee communities are at different points in their journey in Canada,” she noted. A refugee mental health framework can inform work in all refugee communities and foster advocacy at the federal and provincial levels.
She and her colleagues Dr. Kanagaratnam, Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto and CAMH Research Scientist and Psychologist, and Mr. Subramaniam, TNO Partnership and Organizational Development Lead, covered key themes including resettlement, the conceptualization of health, help-seeking, social dimensions of support and challenges with the current system, such as siloed services.
John Trainor of the Open Society Foundation addressed challenges and opportunities of a refugee mental health framework, and two community members, Arularasy Singam and Ajith Ravichandran, shared their lived experiences.
Understanding refugee community values, experience
- starts from a fundamental understanding of the community values and characteristics, its experience through migration and settlement
- considers these different aspects at all levels of service provision, research, program, policy and system design
- incorporates factors such as context, time, resources and continuous learning.
“What I see foremost among refugee communities is the struggle to be accepted, and to find adequate resources and services,” said participant Parvathy Kanthasamy, Director of the Vasantham-Tamil Wellness Centre in Scarborough, who came to Canada in the late 1980s from Sri Lanka. The biggest challenge is to influence policymakers for services that support refugees, she added.
A post-conference advisory committee, led by Dr. Kanagaratnam, Dr. Pandalangat, and Mr. Subramaniam, will identify next steps to refine and share the framework.
Dr. Ivan Silver, CAMH Vice President of Education, said: “It made so much sense to work together today to refine a mental health framework designed by the Tamil community and then apply our learning to enable and benefit other communities.”
“We plan to offer the CAMH Portico webportal (porticonetwork.ca) to help disseminate the conference findings -- and as a place for refugee communities to host their mental health websites,” said Dr. Silver. “Clinicians, clients, patients and their families from these communities will gather online to share experiences, teach, learn and foster best mental health practices.”