Toronto North

Local Immigration Partnership

Attendance*
Lucetta Lam (Hong Fook)
Cindy Himelstein (CAS)
Michelle Ashem (TPH)
Jeribelle Quicho (Madison Community Services)
Mandana Attarzadah (ANC, UNISON CHC)
Maleda Mulu (UNISON CHC)
Oleg Morgunov (Welcome House)
Nancy Blades (COTA)
Rebil Brown (TCHC Seniors)
Linda Verzosa (Thorncliffe Filipino Canadian Seniors Club)

Welcome & Introductions. Minutes & Agenda Review

- Participant introduction;

- Minutes review and approval;

Report on city-wide, inter-LIP and other quadrant LIP initiatives related to the issues identified by the group

Update on Central LHIN group

  • Draft newcomer plan will be sent to the group members (including TNLIP) prior to the next meeting of October 11, 2012. We hope to be able to review the plan and provide recommendations.

Refugee health coverage issues

  • Workshops on Bill C-31 organized by various networks (BFN, Systemic Issues workgroup) to educate frontline workers
  • Campaigns by “Health for All” ( and other advocacy groups (Please see the list of advocacy campaign)
  • Priority (healthcare for the uninsured) identified by the Systemic Issues committee: access to healthcare for the uninsured; access to culturally appropriate healthcare

Navigating the health system (also identified by the city-wide advisory group on health)

Maternal health (also identified by the city-wide advisory group on health)

  • Newcomer health forum by city-wide LIP on October 1, 2012 will include the session on health system navigation. Other topics include: health of newcomer parents and children and mental health and wellbeing

Supports and services for LGBTQ community (e.g. positive space training by OCASI)

  • Toronto North LIP and OCASI are organizing a workshop on LGBTQ newcomer community for service providers on September 25th.

Advocacy and newcomer self-advocacy and use of social media

  • Toronto West LIP Health Workgroup is discussing a possibility of initiating a media campaign to portray newcomers’ positive image and raise awareness about newcomer health issues. Last year our LIP in partnership with two other LIPs ran a media campaign through SNAP on newcomer needs and services available. This experience was shared with the group. This project might be implemented on the city-wide level. If the health group is interested in joining the initiative, TN LIP might contribute some $ towards the project.

Mental Health:

  • A course series on refugee mental health developed by CCVT (handouts)
  • North-West Community Mental Health Workgroup is developing training materials for front-line staff (first training is on November 30)
  • CAMH has a number of online trainings
  • Training for settlement staff on how to identify mental health issues and how to support clients (Toronto West LIP)

Quadrant activities related to newcomer health

  • Supporting initiatives of the Right to Healthcare Coalition
  • Develop pathways to health services for newcomers
  • Media campaign (newcomer health stories)
  • Knowledge sharing among service providers (e.g. TN LIP have a partnership agreement with a francophone organization that plans to hold service providers’ fairs at the malls and other public facilities)

Identifying mental health priority actions, resources needed & stakeholder involvement

The workgroup members reviewed Toronto North LIPs’ cross-cutting analysis and draft strategic plan section on health and provided the following feedback:

General comments:

  • When considering priority actions it is important to collaborate with other groups that are working on the same action item and have resources for doing so (e.g. joining existing campaigns to promote health equity instead of initiating own campaigns)
  • Social determinants of health should be taken into account when developing any action/activity
  • Information fairs could be strategic and helpful in getting people out and making connections
  • It is important to understand that there are many aspects of newcomer mental health and it is instrumental to focus on something more specific (e.g. mental health promotion vs. treatment)
  • When selecting action areas and developing activities it is necessary to consider the workgroup’s capacity

Develop partnerships between settlement service providers and the healthcare sector to build awareness about diverse ethno cultural norms, expectations, beliefs and values surrounding mental health &

More effectively disseminate mental healthcare information to newcomers

  • Explore existing initiatives, including information resources and workshops on cultural competency. For example, Unison CHC will be launching a new initiative “Unison Links” that would involve information dissemination and referral to various services by Unison workers. This service will be available at two locations: Lawrence Heights and Keele/Rogers.

Service provider’s capacity building in mental health:

  • Trainings/workshops should be organized for all service providers, not just settlement workers
  • First possible step may be a needs assessment to determine service providers’ training needs
  • There are a number of organizations that offer training on mental health promotion and system navigation for service providers. For example, Hong Fook has a mental health promotion guidebook and offers trainings on mental health to service providers. Thus, it is necessary to identify which trainings are available and how they match service providers’ demand (based on the needs assessment results).
  • It is important for service providers to understand how to promote newcomer mental health, how to navigate the existing mental health support system and how to access culturally and linguistically appropriate resources.
  • Workshops on cultural competency should consider the demographics of Toronto North region
  • There is a need for appropriate language use when discussing mental health with newcomers (e.g. definitions of mental health promotion, emotional health, etc.).
  • Service providers, including family physicians, should be able to inform newcomers about various options available to newcomers experiencing migration stress, anxiety, depression and other emotional health issues. In order to educate medical personnel about existing supports, it might be necessary to connect with hospital funders (e.g. Central LHIN).

Action Items

The workgroup decided to focus on three priority areas this year, namely:

- Effective dissemination of culturally appropriate and linguistically accessible information on mental health supports for newcomers

- Building capacity of service providers on provision of appropriate mental health information and referrals to adequate services

- Encouraging diversity, inter-cultural exchange, inter-generational exchange and newcomer social integration

The following action items were identified by the group in preparation for the next workgroup meeting:

  • Identify mental health training needs of service providers (e.g. via survey monkey)

- LIP staff will create and disseminate the survey.

- Workgroup members to approve the survey, ensure their respective organizations complete the survey, and assist in dissemination.

  • Create a list of scheduled mental health and cultural competency workshops already underway

- LIP staff to create a draft list, workgroup members to review and make additions.

  • Explore cross-sector information exchange opportunities, such as fairs, networking events, Unison Links

- Maleda Mulu will provide the group with more information on Unison Links project

  • Create a list of organizations that should be invited to workshops (target smaller agencies as they usually do not have personnel development resources)

- LIP staff to create a draft list, workgroup members to review and make additions.

  • Explore a possibility of engaging newcomer mental health professionals (ITIs) via PINs or other groups, such as a group of newcomer psychologists facilitated by the Mennonite New Life Centre. These professional are in need of support as they have difficulty accessing the Canadian market.

- LIP staff to research existing networks and bridging programs (e.g. Ryerson, York University) that assist newcomer mental health professionals, and explore possibilities for cooperation.

  • Review the draft Work-plan and Terms of Reference and approve prior to the next meeting

- LIP staff to send the draft documents together with the meeting minutes to all workgroup members.

- Workgroup members to review and approve the documents.

  • Invite representatives of organizations working in the new TNLIP neighbourhoods to join the workgroup

- LIP staff to coordinate this issue with the consultants conducting research.

  • The next two meetings are on the following dates:
  • November 8, 2012; 9:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. at COTA Health 2901 Dufferin Street (corner of Glencairn Ave. West)
  • January 17th, 2013; 9:30 a.m. – 12 p.m. location TBD

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