Browsing by Author "O'Mahony, Joyce Maureen"

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    Exploring immigrant women's mental health care experiences: from a health care provider's perspective
    (2005) O'Mahony, Joyce Maureen; Donnelly, Tam Truong
    Immigrants coming to Canada have increased in the last three decades. Serious mental health problems exist among immigrant women, therefore the primary purpose of this study was to increase awareness and understanding of what would be helpful in meeting their mental health needs. Informed by post-colonial feminist perspective and Kleinman's explanatory model this qualitative exploratory study was conducted with seven health care providers who provided mental health services to immigrant women. In-depth interviews were used to obtain information about the women's mental health care experiences. The study's findings reveal that (a) immigrant women have difficulties accessing mental health care services due to insufficient language skills, unfamiliarity/unawareness of services and low socio economic status; (b) cultural background exerts positive and negative influences; ( c) health care provider-client relationship had profound effects on the immigrant woman seeking help. Strategies are suggested to help provide more culturally appropriate and accessible mental health care for immigrant women.
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    Immigrant and refugee women's voices: exploring postpartum depression help seeking experiences and access to mental health care
    (2011) O'Mahony, Joyce Maureen; Donnelly, Tam Truong
    Recent immigrant and refugee women may be particularly at risk of less than optimal health outcomes following childbirth because of language difficulties, as well as cultural and socioeconomic factors that shape their postpartum experiences. Postpartum depression (PPD), one of the most common complications of pregnancy, can have long lasting traumatic effects on women and their families, but is also treatable. Therefore early detection and treatment of the problem is both valuable and important. While there has been research conducted on immigrant and refugee women's mental health care experiences, there is limited understanding of how these women access multiple levels of health care to deal with mental illness such as PPD, and how contextual factors such as cultural, social, political, historical, and economic influence their mental illness treatment and prevention. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how contextual factors interacted with race, gender, and class to affect and shape the ways in which immigrant and refugee women seek help and manage their PPD. The objectives were to increase understanding of how immigrant and refugee women made decisions about postpartum care; what factors may have influenced their health seeking behaviour and what kind of strategies they would find helpful in PPD prevention and treatment. Informed by Kleinman's explanatory model (1978, 1980) and the postcolonial feminist perspective (2002) a qualitative study was conducted with a purposive sampling of 30 immigrant and refugee women in a western province of Canada. Recruitment of participants was done via health care providers and organizations that provide mental health care services for this population. In-depth interviews using semi-structured questionnaires were used to obtain information about their PPD experiences. The study's findings revealed that (a) more awareness and understanding of PPD is necessary to meet the mental health needs of immigrant and refugee women within the postpartum period; (b) women experience diverse, complex challenges and facilitators in seeking help to manage their PPD treatment and prevention; ( c) women's health care practices are influenced by both cultural background and socioeconomic, historical, and political factors which intersect with race, gender, and class; ( d) immigrant and refugee women' s resilience and coping strategies with PPD need to be recognized. Based on the study' s findings intervention strategies for PPD care and treatment, are suggested to assist with implementing and planning more culturally appropriate and equitable health care services among immigrant and refugee women living in Canada.