ΒιΆΉΙη

News

As racial and linguistic minorities, English-speaking Black Quebecers face more barriers to receiving mental healthcareΒ 

Story ideas from ΒιΆΉΙη.
Published: 8 May 2023

Black anglophones in Quebec experience more discrimination and report more barriers to mental healthcare – and overall lower mental health – than their French-speaking counterparts, according to a new study from ΒιΆΉΙη researchers in the Department of Psychology.

The researchers, who were curious about the experience of being both a racial and linguistic minority in the province collaborated with the Black Community Resource Centre (BCRC) to survey Black Quebecers from across the province about the experience of being both a racial and linguistic minority. They found that close to 60% of both the English- and French-speaking Black participants reported experiencing racial discrimination. On top of that, more than 25% of English-speaking Black participants reported experiencing language-based discrimination, compared to about 7% of francophones surveyed.

The English-speaking Black participants also reported facing more barriers to mental health services and lower mental health status compared to their francophone counterparts. β€œThe results of this research project helped us get an understanding of how these multiplied minoritized identities affected the health of English-speaking Black community,” said lead author and PhD student in the Department of Psychology, Nmesoma Umenwofor-Nweze. β€œIt is imperative to understand this relationship to build better services for communities that are marginalized on multiple fronts.” 

by Nmesoma Umenwofor-Nweze et al., was published in the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities.

Back to top