The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has emerged as an unprecedented challenge for healthcare systems across the world. To date, there has been little application

We examined rates of help seeking for intimate partner violence (IPV) among recent (0–9 years in Canada) and nonrecent (10+ years in Canada) immigrant women. Data from a national, cross-sectional, telephone survey were used. Help-seeking variables included disclosure of IPV, reporting IPV to police, use of social services subsequent to IPV, and barriers to social service use. Recent immigrant women, compared with nonrecent immigrant women, were significantly more likely to report IPV to police and less likely to use social services. Findings have important implications for prevention and detection of IPV in immigrant communities and in future research.

In this article we explore Sri Lankan Tamil immigrant women's views on factors contributing to intimate partner violence (IPV). We conducted eight focus groups with young, midlife, and senior women and women who experienced IPV. Three main themes emerged: postmigration sources of stress and conflict, patriarchal social norms that dictated gendered behavior, and individual male attributes and behaviors. Study participants recognized gender inequality and financial dependence as contributing factors and the role of women in promoting marital harmony. Findings suggest that pre- and postmigration factors need to be considered in the prevention of IPV in newcomer communities.

There is growing evidence that the risk and burden of COVID-19 infections are not equally distributed across population subgroups and that racialized communities are experiencing disproportionately higher morbidity and mortality rates. However, due to the absence of large-scale race-based data, it is impossible to measure the extent to which immigrant and racialized communities are experiencing the pandemic and the impact of measures taken (or not) to mitigate these impacts, especially at a local level. To address this issue, the Ottawa Local Immigration Partnership partnered with the Collaborative Critical Research for Equity and Transformation in Health lab at the University of Ottawa and the Canadians of African Descent Health Organization to implement a project to build local organizational capacities to understand, monitor, and mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on immigrant and racialized populations. This research note describes the working framework used for this project, proposed indicators for measuring the determinants of health among immigrant and racialized populations, and the data gaps we encountered. Recommendations are made to policymakers, and community and health stakeholders at all levels on how to collect and use data to address COVID-19 health inequities, including data collection strategies aimed at community engagement in the collection of disaggregated data, improving methods for collecting and analyzing data on immigrants and racialized groups and policies to enable and enhance data disaggregation.RésuméDes plus en plus d’études montrent que le risque et le fardeau des infections à la COVID-19 ne sont pas également répartis dans la population et que les communautés racialisées connaissent des taux de morbidité et de mortalité disproportionnellement plus élevés. Cependant, en raison de l’absence de données ventilés selon le statut ethnique, il est impossible de mesurer comment les communautés immigrantes et racialisées vivent la pandémie et quel est l’impact des mesures prises (ou non) pour atténuer ces effets, surtout à un niveau local. Pour résoudre ce problème, le Partenariat local pour l’immigration d’Ottawa (PLIO) s’est associé au Laboratoire de recherche critique collaborative pour l’équité et la transformation en santé (CO-CREATH) de l’Université d’Ottawa et l’Organisation de la santé des Canadiens d’ascendance africaine (CADHO) aux fins de mettre en œuvre un projet visant à renforcer les capacités organisationnelles locales pour comprendre, surveiller et atténuer l’impact de la pandémie de la COVID-19 sur les populations immigrantes et racialisées. Cette note de recherche décrit le cadre de travail utilisé pour ce projet, les indicateurs proposés pour mesurer les déterminants de la santé chez les populations immigrantes et racialisées, et les lacunes que nous avons identifiés dans les données existants. Des recommandations sont faites aux décideurs politiques et aux acteurs communautaires et de la santé à tous les niveaux sur comment collecter et utiliser les données pour remédier aux inégalités en matière de santé liées à la COVID-19. Ces recommandations font référence aux stratégies de collecte de données visant à impliquer les communautés, à l’amélioration des méthodes de collecte et d’analyse des données sur les immigrants et les groupes racialisés, et aux politiques nécessaires pour permettre et améliorer la désagrégation des données selon le statut ethnique.

Language barriers, specifically among refugees, pose significant challenges to delivering quality healthcare in Canada. While the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the emergence and development of innovative alternatives such as telephone-based and video-conferencing medical interpreting services and AI tools, access remains uneven across Canada. This comprehensive analysis highlights the absence of a cohesive national strategy, reflected in diverse funding models employed across provinces and territories, with gaps and disparities in access to medical interpreting services. Advocating for medical interpreting, both as a moral imperative and a prudent investment, this article draws from human rights principles and ethical considerations, justified in national and international guidelines, charters, codes and regulations. Substantiated by a cost-benefit analysis, it emphasizes that medical interpreting enhances healthcare quality and preserves patient autonomy. Additionally, this article illuminates decision-making processes for utilizing interpreting services; recognizing the pivotal roles of clinicians, interpreters, patients and caregivers within the care circle; appreciating intersectional considerations such as gender, culture and age, underscoring the importance of a collaborative approach. Finally, it provides recommendations at provider, organizational and system levels to ensure equitable access to this right and to promote the health and well-being of refugees and other individuals facing language barriers within Canada’s healthcare system.