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Culture, Community and
Health Studies
Head: Dr. Morton Beiser
Culture, Community and Health Studies (CCHS) is an integrated research,
training and consultation program. It focuses on resettlement and the
health of immigrants and refugees across the life course; the health of
First Nations peoples; cultural influences on the expression and course
of illness and on the response to care; and development of models of care
that are sensitive and responsive to the needs of Canada's multicultural
society.
The team includes scholars from a variety of academic disciplines, including
psychiatry, sociology, clinical and developmental psychology, social epidemiology,
anthropology, demography, medicine, nursing and public health. CCHS underwent
its first external review in 1997/1998 (external reviewers: Dr. Lawrence
Kirmayer at McGill University, Dr. William Sack at Oregon Health Sciences
University, Dr. Joan Anderson at the University of British Columbia).
The reviewers were unanimous in their enthusiasm for the accomplishments
of CCHS and made recommendations for its further expansion.
Research
CCHS has attracted approximately $10 million in external funding in support
of its research programs, which include a national longitudinal study
of the health and development of immigrant and refugee children; the role
of resettlement stress in accounting for the elevated risk of tuberculosis
among immigrants and refugees; epidemiological studies of mental health
in Toronto's Ethiopian and Tamil communities; the long-term effects of
exposure to warfare; the mental health effects of poverty among immigrant
and non-immigrant children; youth acquisition of ethnocultural identity
and the implications for mental health; the mental health effects of discrimination;
and cultural influences on the experience and consequences of life-threatening
illnesses. CCHS research funding sources include the Canadian Institutes
of Health Research, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council,
Citizenship and Immigration Canada, Health Canada, Human Resources and
Development Canada, Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and
Settlement, and Canadian Heritage. Detailed project and staff information
may be found at http://www.utpsychiatry.com/noframes/cchs.html.
Education and Training
CCHS is dedicated to educating and training future generations of health
researchers and health care workers, to help provide the scholarly underpinnings
for appropriate policy and practice responses to the challenges of diversity
and equity. Under the leadership of Dr. Samuel Noh, the Baeck Fellowship,
for Asian scholars training in mental health, was established at CAMH.
In addition, at least two residents in psychiatry receive training each
year through CCHS.
During the 2000/2001 academic year, Dr. Lisa Anderman worked with Dr.
Morton Beiser on a study of cross-cultural perceptions of mental health,
and Dr. Kenneth Fung worked with Dr. Beiser on a study of alexithymia
among Chinese people; both will continue to work in CCHS as post-doctoral
fellows during the 2001/2002 academic year. Rani Srivastava, a PhD candidate
in the Institute of Medical Sciences Program and Director of Clinical
Resources in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Toronto, is working
under the supervision of Dr. Beiser (cultural competence from an organizational
perspective). Graduate students (IMS) working under the supervision of
Dr. Gerald Devins include Monica Bettazzonni (enhancing quality of life
in schizophrenia through day-hospital programs to reduce illness intrusiveness),
Sonia Sarkissian (illness intrusiveness, self-concept and quality of life
in epilepsy), and Kirsten Woodend (gender differences in illness intrusiveness
and quality of life after the first myocardial infarction). Kenneth Mah
holds a CIHR post-doctoral fellowship for his research on cognitive-behavioural
intervention in hematologic cancer patients treated by blood and marrow
transplantation; two undergraduate summer students, Halleh Shiriyou and
Alya Rahim, are working on a project on cross-cultural coping with cancer.
Distinguished Visiting
Clinicians and Scholars
In 1996, CCHS introduced the Distinguished Visiting Clinician Series,
an initiative that has brought to Toronto recognized experts in culture
and mental health to give lectures, lead seminars and provide clinical
teaching. Participants have included Dr. Spero Manson, Professor of Anthropology
in Psychiatry and Director, Research Program on Native and Alaska Native
Mental Health, University of Denver; Dr. William Sack, Professor of Child
Psychiatry, Oregon Health Sciences University; Dr. Jewelle Taylor-Gibbs,
Zellerbach Family Fund Professor in Social Policy, Community Change and
Practice, Berkeley; Dr. David Kinzie, Oregon Health Sciences University;
and Dr. Evelyn Lee, Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, University
of California, San Francisco, and an expert in cultural competence training
models. Dr. James Waldram, head of the Native Studies Department of the
University of Saskatchewan, spent this past year with the CCHS pursuing
his research on traditional healing in native communities.
International Initiatives
CCHS took the lead in developing a memo of understanding between the
University of Port Harcourt, the University of Toronto and the Centre
for Addiction and Mental Health. This initiative resulted in the establishment
of a Centre for Stress and Health in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria.
Another research initiative involves collaboration between the University
of Toronto and the American University of Beirut for a study of the mental
health of Lebanese youth in Canada and Lebanon. Finally, the CCHS has
attracted a visiting scholar from the UK and Pakistan (Dr. Nusrat Husain)
and a visiting research fellow from Korea (Dr. Dae Ho Kim). These scholars,
each of whom has expertise in psychiatric research and practice, are participating
in the research and teaching activities of the CCHS. Dr. Husain's research
examines depression and suicide in the UK and Pakistan. Dr. Kim's research
examines the role of early sexual and physical abuse in the etiology of
schizophrenia.
CCHS as a Resource for
the Wider Community
Research institutions and universities have an obligation to provide
information about their scholarship and its implications to improve societal
policies and practices outside the "ivory tower."
Consistent with this vision, Dr. Beiser, in collaboration with the Toronto
Centre of Excellence for Research on Immigration and Citizenship (CERIS)
and Classroom Connections, developed two resource kits under the collective
title Strangers Becoming Us. These educational curricula distill
current research on the social, cultural and economic impacts of immigration
on Canada, and the effects of resettlement on immigrants and refugees.
The two kits, which include CDs, lesson plans and student activity sheets,
were designed to be incorporated into elementary and high school curricula.
They have been distributed to all publicly funded schools across Canada.
A community education initiative, Alone in Canada, is a self-help
guide, developed under the leadership of Drs. Laura Simich and Beiser.
Designed as a mental health resource for newcomers to Canada, the book
provides information to help in adjusting to life in a new country or
culture. Development of the book was a CAMH and Immigration Canada collaborative
effort. The book can be downloaded by visiting www.camh.net. Since its
launch in May 2001, more than 8,000 copies have been downloaded.
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1-800-463-6273
