Young immigrants and refugees co-designing mental health and well-being solutions

Canada is home to hundreds of thousands of immigrants and refugees, a large portion of which are young people. A successful settlement experience for young immigrants and refugees (YIR) is vital for the future of the country. However, YIR can face many barriers (e.g., school adjustments, social challenges, employment, housing, financial, and linguistic), in addition to racism and discrimination. These barriers can negatively impact mental health (MH) of YIR. The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the issue, with MH challenges increasing for YIR. Without appropriate culturally sensitive services and supports directed at prevention or early-intervention, MH challenges will persist, becoming more severe mental disorders that are harder to treat and have long lasting consequences. It is time to re-imagine what is available for YIR and move beyond a one-size-fits all approach to create culturally sensitive services/supports, inclusive of eMental Health (eMH) options, that focus on prevention and early intervention for YIR MH and well-being. The aim of this 4-year study is to build awareness and enhance the MH and well-being of YIR in Manitoba (MB). YIR will be interviewed about their MH experiences, needs, and ideas for possible culturally sensitive solutions, as well as take part in photovoice, focus groups, and eMH workshops. YIR parents and key stakeholders from community-based organizations will also be interviewed. Short-term, the knowledge gained of YIR MH experiences and needs will be used to promote awareness of YIR MH and well-being. Concrete solutions for community-based services and supports will result for MB but also for sites across the country that can be tailored to specific YIR populations. This project will also result in a culturally sensitive, interactive eMH self-management prototype. Long-term, the culturally sensitive, interactive eMH prototype will be available for scaling up in other sites across Canada.