Search Results (220)

Mental health inequities affecting migrant populations stem from structural determinants that hierarchize access to resources, recognition, and social protection. Among these determinants, structural racism plays a central role in the experiences of racialised Brazilian immigrant women in Portugal, producing vulnerabilities at the intersection of race, gender, nationality, and migration status. Grounded in intersectional feminist and decolonial epistemology, this study analyses how structural racism operates as a health determinant through specific mechanisms traversing material conditions of life, distress trajectories, and experiences of psychological care, and it examines how these women navigate the limitations of mental health services, identifying conditions for a practice committed to racial equity. Fifteen semi-structured interviews were conducted with racialised Brazilian immigrant women and analyzed through Reflexive Thematic Analysis. The findings indicate that racism is manifested through professional devaluation, labour precarity, documentation instability, and linguistic racialisation, impacting access to rights and the production of psychological distress. Mental health inequities are not limited to barriers to access, as institutional and clinical dynamics tend to individualize distress and disregard its historical and social bases, operating as epistemic violence. The community-based strategies mobilized by participants challenge models centred on individual intervention. This study underscores the need for structurally competent approaches and for institutional reforms oriented toward equity and racial justice within mental health systems. Full article

While the association between food insecurity and adolescent obesity is well-established, the mechanisms through which these co-occurring public health crises are linked remain inadequately understood. Using the Social Ecological Model as a theoretical framework, this study examines how individual (physical activity), interpersonal (household food security), community (poverty level, residence), and societal (race/ethnicity) factors interact to influence adolescent weight outcomes. Cross-sectional data from 37,425 adolescents aged 12–17 years in the 2022–2023 National Survey of Children’s Health using weighted multinomial logistic regression with interaction terms were used. Adolescents experiencing nutrition insecurity (adequate quantity but poor-quality food) had 41% higher odds of obesity (adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 1.41; 95% CI: 1.20–1.65), while those with food insecurity (insufficient quantity) had 48% higher odds (aOR = 1.48; 95% CI: 1.08–2.02) compared to food-secure peers. Significant effect modification emerged across ecological levels: poverty below the 200% federal poverty level (FPL) significantly amplified the food insecurity–obesity relationship (interaction p < 0.001), Hispanic and Black adolescents demonstrated 49% and 78% higher obesity odds, respectively, independent of household food and nutrition security status, and physical activity showed protective effects that varied by food security context (interaction p = 0.003). These findings underscore the necessity of multi-level interventions addressing structural inequities alongside individual behaviors to combat adolescent obesity in food-insecure populations effectively. Full article

Structural racism and discrimination (SRD) is a fundamental cause of health inequities that emerge during adolescence and persist throughout adulthood. This scoping review systematically synthesizes the evidence on policy and community-level interventions designed to disrupt SRD exposure among Black adolescents and mitigate its impact on their health behaviors and outcomes. Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, we searched five databases for peer-reviewed intervention studies published through October 2025. Of 3417 abstracts screened, 9 studies met inclusion criteria. We examined the study characteristics, theoretical frameworks, implementation strategies, and effectiveness of interventions targeting three primary mechanisms of SRD exposure for adolescents. The majority focused on neighborhood and social integration interventions, with limited representation of resource-based and school-based approaches. Culturally grounded, community-engaged interventions buffered SRD’s negative effects on mental health, empowered youth as change agents, and removed structural barriers to health-promotive resources. The review identified several gaps in the research, including methodological and theoretical rigor, geographic contexts, and follow-up. Findings underscore the potential of culturally grounded, multilevel interventions to reduce inequities across mental health, physical health, and social outcomes for Black youth. This review highlights the need to expand systems-level interventions that address the root causes of the persistent racial health inequities experienced by Black youth. Full article

Social media is an integral part of everyday life for women from migrant and refugee backgrounds and is sometimes recognised as a ‘critical lifeline’ enabling access to essential support during settlement. Despite this, Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) women in Australia often have limited and uneven access to critical social media literacy education opportunities, and there remains a lack of in-depth research exploring what CALD women want to learn and how they wish to participate in such educational interventions. Adopting an education justice approach, this article advances a framework for social media literacy education developed with women from refugee backgrounds. The study employed semi-structured interviews and co-design workshops with women from refugee backgrounds, alongside staff from local public libraries and refugee support organisations. The study demonstrates that women from refugee backgrounds primarily use social media for communication and connection, but are also interested in learning how to use these platforms to navigate sexism, racism, and other systemic barriers to settlement. The proposed framework—which can be adopted by public libraries and other grassroots organisations—responds directly to women’s calls for peer-led, value-driven, context-specific, and culturally responsive social media literacy interventions. Full article

Respiratory Syncytial Virus infection is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in infants. Maternal vaccination with the bivalent vaccine Abrysvo^® in the third trimester (24–36 weeks) is an effective strategy to prevent severe respiratory illnesses in newborns. However, the introduction of this new technology faces structural obstacles that amplify inequalities. This rapid literature review sought to map and synthesize evidence on inequalities and inequities in adherence and accessibility to maternal vaccination among Black pregnant women. A rapid literature review was conducted using a mixed-methods approach (narrative synthesis and thematic analysis), following guidelines adapted from the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses and the Cochrane Handbook. The research question was structured using the acronym Population/Problem, Exposure, Comparison, and Outcome, focusing on Black pregnant women, maternal vaccination, comparison with other groups, and barriers/determinants. The search was conducted in databases such as PubMed (via Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online), Scopus and Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde, covering studies published between 2022 and 2025 that presented disaggregated analysis by race. The analysis and interpretation of the findings were guided by Critical Race Theory. The analysis of the twelve included studies (mainly from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Brazil) revealed systematic and robust disparities. Black pregnant women had lower vaccination coverage and were less likely to receive timely recommendations compared to White pregnant women. The barriers identified include: institutional distrust (resulting from structural racism), poor access to prenatal care, inadequate communication, and socioeconomic factors. Inequities are structural and multifactorial phenomena. To ensure that the benefits of the vaccine are distributed equitably, strategies such as anti-racist training for healthcare teams, active vaccination outreach, and continuous monitoring of data disaggregated by race are essential. Full article

Grounded in a Critical Race Theory framework, this study explores the racial microaggressions experienced by Faculty of Color at one four-year university in California during what Bell would call a “peak of progress” for racial justice—where equity and inclusivity took center stage in the institutional agenda. We engaged a Critical Race Feminista Methodology, using group pláticas to gather stories of Faculty of Color from diverse racial and generational backgrounds to understand how they experienced everyday racism within the context of racial realism—the acknowledgement of the permanence of racism in U.S. society. Our findings revealed that despite the institutional focus on equity, Faculty of Color experiences with racial microaggressions were connected by threaded histories of imposed racial hierarchies, marginalization, and structural inequities. Faculty of Color across age, gender, and rank described the everyday racism that impacted academic trajectories and personal lives across time, from the late 1990s for the most senior faculty to the present for the most junior. However, we also found that faculty responded to those microaggressions through racial microaffirmations—the everyday ways People of Color affirm each other’s dignity, integrity, and shared humanity that make them feel seen and supported. Indeed, we found that Faculty of Color engaged powerful strategies of racial microaffirmations with each other across generations that supported their well-being and their careers. Full article

Background: Australia’s increasingly multicultural landscape has seen a rise in culturally and linguistically diverse populations, many of whom face subtle and systemic forms of discrimination known as “new racism”. Objective: Underpinned by a person-centred and holistic framework, which recognises individuals as experts in their own lived experiences and emphasises strength-based, culturally situated understandings of well-being, this paper reports on a study that explores how culturally and racially marginalised diverse people in Australia cope with the mental health impacts of new racism. Design: A qualitative descriptive approach was employed in this study. Participants: Thirty participants from ten culturally and linguistically diverse communities participated in eight focus groups, providing rich insights into their lived experiences. Methods: Data were collected through semi-structured focus-group interviews conducted between March and June 2025. Data were analysed using Braun and Clarke’ method of thematic analysis. Results: Thematic analysis revealed four key coping strategies: (1) acceptance of immutable identity traits to foster resilience, (2) emotional ventilation within culturally safe spaces, (3) self-growth and empowerment through reflection and adaptive practices, and (4) assertive responses to racism when necessary. While some participants reported psychological distress, many demonstrated resilience and resourcefulness, challenging deficit-based assumptions often found in the existing literature. Findings underscore the importance of culturally responsive mental healthcare, including peer support, emotional safe spaces, and strength-based interventions. Conclusions: This study offers a holistic understanding of how culturally and racially marginalised people cope with new racism and its mental health impacts. The findings highlight the critical need for person-centred, culturally responsive, and equity-focused mental health support, providing actionable guidance for nursing practice and policy development. Full article

Within the Canadian context, the academic trajectory of Black males is typically discussed in terms of failure or disengagement, with comparatively little attention paid to those who persist and succeed in post-secondary education (PSE). This paper examines the factors that enhance African Canadian males’ pursuit of PSE in Ontario and explores how their understandings of race, racism, and PBRI shape their academic trajectories. Drawing on Critical Race Theory and a Positive Black Racial Identity (PBRI) framework, the study analyzes phone interviews with 18 Black male post-secondary students drawn from a larger qualitative project on Black student success involving 56 participants. Findings highlight how PBRI, culturally grounded mentorship, and community-based support function as protective factors that foster academic persistence, advocacy, and a redefinition of success beyond deficit-based narratives. The paper argues that Black male success in PSE must be understood not as exceptional but as evidence of agency and resistance within structurally inequitable institutions, and it concludes with implications for curriculum, mentorship, and institutional policy in Canadian higher education. Full article

This qualitative study explores the induction experiences of Palestinian Arab novice teachers in Jewish-majority schools in Israel during a period of intense national tension (2023–2025). Amid ongoing teacher shortages in the Jewish sector and a surplus of qualified teachers in the Arab sector, Boundary-Crossing Teaching (BCT) has become a notable phenomenon. Using semi-structured interviews and reflective journals of 23 beginning teachers and eight mentors, the study investigates how minority educators navigate cultural and political divides in a conflict-affected society. The findings reveal that during periods of heightened tension, teachers’ professional identity is often overshadowed by ethnic suspicion, leading to a “dual burden” of professional and national representation. The data shows that teachers navigate national ceremonies through “strategic ambiguity”—performing outward compliance (e.g., standing for the siren) while maintaining internal identity boundaries. Furthermore, the study identifies a paradox in language dynamics: while Palestinian Arabic is often “securitized” and viewed with suspicion in staffrooms, teachers successfully leverage their linguistic background as “intercultural capital” to build empathy with students. The research finds that shared-identity mentors provide an essential “third space” for processing experiences of racism that are otherwise silenced within the school hierarchy. These empirical results demonstrate that teacher retention in conflict zones requires active institutional protection to prevent professional status from collapsing into national categorization. Full article

Muslims are the fastest growing religious minority in Canada. In Ontario, Muslim students account for over 20% of the total student body in some school boards. Research suggests that widespread anti-Muslim racism has been perpetrated by teachers in Ontario schools. Though numerous studies have examined the experiences of Muslim students and educators in public schools across Canada, little research has explored the experiences of students enrolled in teacher education programs (i.e., preservice teachers) and their preparedness for challenging anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian racism in Ontario schools. This study explores challenges, biases, and prejudices that Muslim students, Muslim educators, as well as students and teachers that sympathize with Palestinian solidarity face within Ontario public schools from the perspectives of preservice teachers who are in the process of beginning their careers as educators. Through a critical ethnographic approach, this study engaged in 32 semi-structured interviews with preservice teachers across 5 university teacher training programs in Southern Ontario. Participants in this study discussed Islamophobic experiences centred on archetypal perceptions of Muslim male students being discursively constructed as sexist and misogynistic and the policing and surveillance of Muslim prayer spaces and rituals. Anti-Palestinian racism manifested when students and educators’ solidarity with Palestinian rights were policed and silenced, as well as when students and educators felt compelled to self-censor their sympathies for Palestine. This study provides timely and critical insights related to the challenges faced by Ontario teacher training programs in light of growing religious and ethnic plurality in public schools and suggests approaches and strategies to address these obstacles. Full article

Endemic racism, operationalized through exclusionary discipline practices contributes to the “spirit murdering” of youth of color in schools. While the school-to-prison pipeline frames the funneling of students into the (in)justice system, the school-to-prison nexus expands this understanding by interrogating the reality that schools are prison for many. Thus, education abolitionists call for a systemic account of “schooling” to embrace creative risk and radical possibility in the pursuit of liberation. However, existing literature has not substantively centered the voices of youth directly involved in these carceral systems, nor invited them to dream. This study asks: based on formerly incarcerated students’ experiences in school and prison, what must educational systems do to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline? Guided by qualitative methods, we conducted semi-structured interviews with formerly incarcerated college students (four women, two men; majority Latinx/Hispanic) and conducted member checking. Our reflexive thematic analysis uncovered a troubling truth: schools frequently ignored and misinterpreted trauma, grief, and internalized pain among high school students. Participants described internal battles (i.e., mental health challenges) that often showed up externally as “behaviors” (e.g., fighting, skipping school, substance use) that resulted in exclusionary discipline. Equally important, participants re-imagined schools as homeplaces—sites of care, belonging, and agency. These narratives illuminate the need to dismantle punitive systems, center insights from those at the center of the experiences, and build just, loving, and equitable schools. Full article

Brazilian women’s migration to Portugal has increased in recent years, driven by hopes of safety, improved living conditions, and professional opportunities. Yet these aspirations frequently collide with structural barriers and experiences of discrimination that generate profound psychological distress. Drawing on intersectional feminist epistemology and social constructionism, this qualitative study examines how social markers of difference—gender, class, race, and nationality—intersect to shape the psychological well-being of Brazilian immigrant women in Portugal. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with fifteen women who sought psychological support after migration. Reflexive thematic analysis revealed three interrelated themes: the migration journey, exposing the gap between idealised expectations and the realities of bureaucracy, precarity, and exclusion; inhabiting a new territory, marked by social isolation, racism, xenophobia, and professional devaluation; and the mental-health impacts of migration, showing how structural vulnerabilities and institutional racism underpin depression, anxiety, and, in some cases, suicidal ideation. The findings challenge the individualisation of suffering, showing that psychological distress stems not from personal fragility but from systems of exclusion and enduring colonial legacies. This study underscores the need for culturally responsive and rights-based mental health care and public policies that recognise migration as a human experience demanding dignity, ethical commitment, and social justice. Full article

Background: Immigrant and racialized families raising children on the autism spectrum in Canada navigate intersecting inequities shaped by racism, language barriers, immigration status, and fragmented health and education systems. Yet their perspectives remain underrepresented in autism and health policy research. Methods: Guided by the socioecological and critical social science lens, this community-based participatory study employed a PhotoVoice approach in partnership with SMILE Canada–Support Services. Ten immigrant and/or racialized family caregivers from the Greater Toronto area participated in four in-person sessions involving ethical training, guided photo-taking, group-based reflections, and collaborative theme refinement. The data included 38 participant-generated photographs, narratives, and an audio-recorded final group discussion. Results: Seven interrelated themes were identified: (1) family support and child needs; (2) physical and emotional burden on caregivers; (3) school support or its missingness; (4) stigma and discrimination; (5) overall journey with barriers; (6) transitions and uncertainty; and (7) two sides of a coin: isolation and strength, loneliness and hope. Caregivers highlighted extensive invisible labor, exclusionary schooling, financial and systemic barriers, and cumulative stress. Simultaneously, they articulated resilience, mutual support, and a strong sense of collective responsibility. The PhotoVoice process itself was experienced as validating, unifying, and empowering, with participants expressing readiness to disseminate findings through exhibitions, school boards, universities, and policy-engagement initiatives. Conclusions: Caregiving among immigrant and racialized families is both a profound act of love and a site of structural injustice. Centering on caregivers as co-researchers and knowledge holders reveals urgent needs for equity-oriented autism policies and culturally responsive, accessible support systems in Canada. Full article

This systematic literature review provides an extensive synthesis of the empirical, theoretical, and policy research on Black students with disabilities in higher education in Canada and the United States. Grounded in the Preferred Reporting Items to Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses approach, this study incorporates the perspectives of critical race theory, Black feminist thought, disability studies in education, and disability critical race theory to examine racism and ableism as mutual, structuralizing forces. The results indicate that Black students with disabilities experience a spectrum of systemic marginalization across the stages of education, including racialized academic tracking, Eurocentric and inaccessible curriculum, unequal accommodation practices and microaggressions. These barriers are intensified by financial precarity, mental health inequities, and a radical absence of representation in faculty and institutional administrations. The results suggest that institutional approaches frequently isolate race and disability, culminating in policies that overlook intersectional harm. This study concludes that transformative changes must extend beyond compliance-driven diversity and access programs to encompass justice-driven intersectional reforms in pedagogy, policy, funding, and institutional culture. The findings underscore the need to prioritize Black students with disabilities when redesigning higher education systems to foster substantive equity and inclusion. Full article

This article draws on my doctoral research, Reconciliation Rescue: An Original Blak Comedy Series and Aboriginal Cultural Perspectives on Humour, to examine how Aboriginal humour operates as a mode of resistance, truth-telling, and cultural continuity. My thesis consists of two components Reconciliation Rescue, an original scripted Blak comedy series, and an accompanying exegesis that situates the work within broader discussions of Aboriginal sovereignty, identity, and the politics of reconciliation. In this article, I extend that research to demonstrate how Aboriginal voices, when centred in comedic storytelling, challenge colonial paradigms and reframe national narratives. Grounded in my lived experience as an Aboriginal woman and my longstanding creative practice, I explore the ways in which Aboriginal humour addresses intergenerational trauma, racism, and stereotypes. I contrast the collectivist values and relational worldviews of Aboriginal cultures with the individualism of Whitestream society, arguing that humour particularly the oration of humorous storytelling has long served as a powerful tool of healing, resilience, and community cohesion. This distinctive form of ‘Blak Humour’ confronts harmful assumptions, empowers our people, and strengthens cultural identity. By reflecting on the development of Reconciliation Rescue and the principles that shape First Nations comedic expression, this article illustrates how Aboriginal comedy can act as an educational and transformative force. It highlights humour’s potential to foster understanding, unsettle entrenched power structures, and contribute meaningfully to more culturally informed and socially just approaches to reconciliation in Australia. Full article