Black youth in Canada, especially those from the Afro-Caribbean community, are marginalized in research, says Dr. Fiona Edwards-Akunesiobike.
“We hardly hear their perspective about mental health and their experiences,” the assistant professor of social work told the Office of Research Services’ Research Recast(ed) podcast. “My research asks about the mental health experiences of Afro-Caribbean Canadian youth and how these experiences shape their utilization of mental health services.”
Dr. Edwards-Akunesiobike’s data focuses on youth ages 16 to 18 in Southern Ontario urban areas who were accessing mental health services, and religious and spiritual support. One of the significant findings of her work is that the youth participants experienced an invalidation of their knowledge; experience, feelings and emotions; and their identity as Black youth.
“This invalidation takes place within the mental health system, the school system and the criminal justice system,” says the assistant professor, who recently moved to Alberta.
Those last two systems are significant, says Dr. Edwards-Akunesiobike, because while some of the young people in her study accessed mental health services through walk-in counselling, self-referral or a referral through their parents, friends or other family, they are more likely to enter mental health services through the criminal justice system or a referral from their school system.
“In my own experience working in mental health, I have witnessed and seen the disparity in the mental health care and also diagnosis – Black youth are diagnosed at a higher rate with ADHD and conduct disorder,” she says. “Also, because Black youth are marginalized in research, we don't have an understanding of how they conceptualize mental health, well-being, mental illness and what their mental health experiences are.”
When these youth find themselves engaging in what she describes as a Eurocentric mental health system, they do not receive culturally appropriate and affirming mental health services.
“The mental health experiences of Black youth are about feelings, it's about emotion, it's about knowledge, and it's about who they are as Black youth. But that is not represented in the mental health services.”
The answer? Restructuring the mental health system and responding to the mental health needs of Afro-Caribbean Canadian youth in a way that provides opportunity and space to express themselves and be listened to.
“There is a lack of race in mental health services, a lack of Black mental health providers, especially male providers, and a lack of funding for Black-specific mental health services,” she says. “We need to restructure the mental health system to make sure that it is equitable. That youth are validated and seen as part of the solution rather than the problem. We have to provide the space where they can be listened to and, most importantly, heard.”
Dr. Edwards-Akunesiobike hopes to eventually do a comparative analysis of the experiences of Afro-Caribbean Canadian youth in Southern Ontario and Alberta. In the meantime, she is bringing her research focus to her new home province by working with her social work, nursing and economics colleagues at MacEwan to propose a Black Community Research and Innovation Group focused on mental health, socio-economic and health issues.
“We recognize that there are different ways of knowing and being and that Black communities tend to be marginalized in research,” she says. She hopes a new research hub will bring scholars, collaborators, community partners and students together to amplify voices. “We would also incorporate our findings into our teaching to make sure that we honour MacEwan University's strategic vision and its commitment to teaching excellence, research, community engagement and building healthy partnerships.”