The Red Deer Local Immigration Partnership highlighted key findings from recent research into the mental health care experiences of newcomers to the community this week.
An event was held at the Red Deer Public Library's downtown branch on Thursday, May 29 to showcase the Mental Health Community Report, which was a collaborative effort of Alberta Health Research, University of Calgary, AbSPORU (Alberta Strategy for Patient Oriented Research SUPPORT Unit), Care for Newcomers, Catholic Social Services and RDLIP.
The research, conducted by the ABSPORU team through a "World Cafe" session in June 2024, focused on the unique challenges newcomers face when accessing mental health support.
"Our main interest is to elevate Alberta's voices in health research. Their voices matter. It's not just about scientific research, it's about lived experiences," explained Tiffany Barbosa, provincial lead of Equity Diversity and Inclusion World Cafes in Rural Alberta.
"We believe that meaningful collaboration and partnership are essential to advancing mental health equity. By working together, we can better understand local needs, align efforts and avoid duplication. This approach ensures that our collective work is responsive, informed, and impactful."
The report suggests Red Deerians believe mental health care can be more inclusive by focusing on improving patient experiences; improving equality and diversity in health care; and reducing barriers in health care.
At May 29's event, the results were presented, alongside a strategic action plan aimed at improving access and outcomes for newcomers navigating the mental health system. This plan provides the following answers to three questions:
1) How can we improve diversity and recognize different languages, cultures and values in our medical health care systems?
— Bring awareness to currently available resources, such as interpreters and translated written materials.
— Inclusion of community cultural events, such as mother language days, multicultural days and observation of cultural celebrations.
— Have health service delivery be more inclusive of cultural and religious practices.
2) What can we do to help newcomers navigate the system?
— Advertise free and underutilized services, such as the mental health phone lines and online platforms.
— Collaborate with and advertise local support groups that create supportive and social environments where people can be open.
3) Can the system provide cultural training for medical staff?
— Provide improved and continuous training for medical staff to refresh them on how to support people from specific cultures.
— Increase diversity in the workplace.
— Government support for mental health care.
Dieulita Datus-Hall, RDLIP manager, said it was important to showcase this plan and the research results to the community.
"We wanted to report the findings back to the community," said Datus-Hall.
"Often, when research is done, the data is extracted and there is no feedback to the community. This is an opportunity for us to report back on the findings so they can see it visually.
"We appreciated the way this report was done and the methodology that was used. It allowed people to participate in two or three rounds of conversation. From there, the priorities were identified."
Datus-Hall said this report is the result of a true collaborative effort.
"We've had different agencies within the city collaborating on this. We recognize that there are some language barriers. We had translators from various languages at the (World Cafe) event in June and we have translators again here today to ensure the information is being shared correctly. We're prioritizing the community," she said.
