Shankar Janki, Chen Shu-Ping, Lai Daniel W L, Joseph Shawn, Narayanan Rhea, Suleman Zabin, Ali H M Ashraf, Kharat Priyadarshini
Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada.
Front Psychiatry. 2024 Sep 3;15:1428276. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1428276. eCollection 2024.
Recent immigrants from racialized minority backgrounds and those who are not proficient in the local language are some of the most vulnerable members of society. Despite having postsecondary educational qualifications and permanent residency status, many are engaged in precarious employment. There is a scarcity of research that has explicitly focused on the work experiences and mental health challenges faced by these immigrants.
Using a grounded theory approach and semi-structured face-to-face interviews, this study examined the work experiences and mental health challenges of 42 recent immigrant employees from two cities in Canada who were working in various industries and engaged in precarious employment.
Eighty-one percent of the employee participants were overqualified for their jobs. Findings highlighted several ongoing mental problems that participants experienced, stemming from challenging physical and psychological workplace conditions, negative mindsets associated with their recent immigrant status, and other contextual factors and barriers. However, various coping strategies, both constructive and unconstructive, were used to address this mental distress.
The study proposes a multidimensional approach to address workplace conditions to promote good mental health for these employees. This includes preventative programs for raising awareness among employers about the importance of recent immigrant employees' mental health and well-being and policy and legislation changes to ensure the employer's commitment to creating a safe and culturally friendly workplace. The approach also recommends that recent immigrant employees receive occupational health and safety training, learn about Canadian workplace norms and culture, and have access to professional healthcare services.
来自少数族裔背景的新移民以及那些不精通当地语言的人是社会中最脆弱的群体之一。尽管他们拥有高等教育学历和永久居民身份，但许多人从事的是不稳定工作。目前明确关注这些移民所面临的工作经历和心理健康挑战的研究非常匮乏。
本研究采用扎根理论方法和半结构化面对面访谈，调查了加拿大两个城市的42名新移民雇员的工作经历和心理健康挑战，这些雇员在不同行业工作且从事不稳定工作。
81%的参与雇员的学历高于其工作所需。研究结果突出了参与者经历的几个持续存在的心理问题，这些问题源于具有挑战性的工作场所身体和心理状况、与他们新移民身份相关的消极心态以及其他背景因素和障碍。然而，他们采用了各种应对策略，既有建设性的，也有非建设性的，来应对这种心理困扰。
该研究提出了一种多维方法来改善工作场所条件，以促进这些雇员的心理健康。这包括开展预防项目，提高雇主对新移民雇员心理健康和福祉重要性的认识，以及进行政策和立法改革，以确保雇主致力于营造一个安全且文化友好的工作场所。该方法还建议新移民雇员接受职业健康和安全培训，了解加拿大工作场所规范和文化，并能够获得专业医疗服务。
