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Purpose Between 2012 and 2016, the Government of Canada modified health insurance for refugees and asylum seekers. In Quebec, this resulted in refusals of care and uncertainties about publicly reimbursed services, despite guaranteed coverage for people with this status under the provincial plan. The Chronic Viral Illness Service (CVIS) at the McGill University Health Centre in Montreal continued to provide care to refugees and asylum seekers living with HIV. The purpose of this paper is to explain how and why challenges brought by this policy change could be overcome.Design/methodology/approach A qualitative case study was conducted using interviews with patients and staff members, observation sessions and a review of media, documents and articles. A discussion group validated the interpretation of preliminary results.Findings The CVIS provides patient-centered care through a multidisciplinary team. It collectively responds to medical, social and legal issues specific to refugees. Its organizational culture and expertise explain the sustained provision of care. The team's empathetic view of patients, anchored in the service's history, care for men who have sex with men and commitment to human rights, is key. A culture of care developed over time thanks to the commitment of exemplary figures. Because they countered the team's values, changes in refugee healthcare coverage strengthened the service's culture of care. However, the healthcare system reform launched in 2014 in Quebec is perceived as jeopardizing the culture of care, as it makes, refugee and asylum-seeker patients a non-lucrative venture for providers.Originality/value This research analyzes the origin of sustained provision of care to refugees and asylum seekers living with HIV through the lens of culture of care. It considers the historical and political contexts in which this culture developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Canada and the United Kingdom have pedigrees in offering asylum; however, research in both countries has demonstrated widespread poverty amongst asylum seekers and a high risk of homelessness. Focusing on case examples drawn from 60 in-depth interviews with refugees in Toronto and London, this paper shows how national and local structures shape pathways to homelessness, and how refugees interpret their homlessness in the context of their flight from persecution, reception, and settlement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This review aims to examine the literature on refugees' and asylum seekers' resilience, its historical evolution, key principles, assumptions and recommendations, while focusing on the Canadian context. Design/methodology/approach: A narrative literature review has been applied to this manuscript. This approach allows the integration of a wide scope of literature and perspectives, from academic literature to grey literature (e.g. governmental reports and dissertations). Nevertheless, the limitations of this type of review were also discussed. Findings: In spite of the gaining popularity of the resilience lens, which emphasizes an individual's ability to overcome adversities and stressful events, more work is required for its effective integration into health practice, programs and policies, particularly as it relates to refugees' and asylum seekers' mental health care. Originality/value: Careful consideration of refugees' and asylum seekers' mental health needs and Canadian mental health service delivery and policies is a critical first step in reaching such a goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

LGBTQ+ people experience mental health challenges due to their minoritized status, systemic inequities and structural disparities. For LGBTQ+ asylum seekers, refugee claimants and refugees the impact on their mental health can be compounding. This study, which featured a series of focus groups with LGBTQ+ asylum seekers, refugee claimants and refugees in Toronto, Canada, was part of a larger international study 'Envisioning Global LGBT Human Rights' that looked at colonising effects on LGBTQ people in the Commonwealth. The migration process, – often forced due to persecution in their country of origin based on sexual orientation or gender identity and expression – produced traumatic experiences involving life-changing decisions, accessing information and resources, cultural shifts, conceptualisation of identities, and navigating the refugees claims process. The specialised experiences of LGBTQ+ asylum seekers, refugee claimants and refugees can have a deleterious effect on their mental health that a critical psychology perspective can address clinically by recognising the particularised needs of this population and systemically by addressing the structural inequities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various waves of asylum seekers and resettled refugees arriving in Canada since the 1980s reflect the eruption of war and ethnic conflicts in parts of Africa, Central America, and South East Asia. Contrary to long-established immigrant communities such as the Greeks, Italians, and Portuguese, these newcomers have had to fend for themselves and develop their own support networks, leading to new forms of organizing and to the formation of refugee community organizations ( RCOs). This article discusses the findings of a 2008-2011 study on RCOs in Canada, specifically in Montréal and Winnipeg. The objective of the study was to understand the context in which RCOs have developed, the populations they serve, and the role they play in their ethnic communities. Working within the RCO paradigm, we analyze the creation of these organizations, contrast findings with research done in the UK, and raise issues for social work practice. Key Practitioner Message: ● Innovative research in Canada documenting refugee community organizations gives fresh insight regarding community organizing practice; ● Documents the situation of asylum seekers and refugees on an individual and a collective basis in terms of needs; ● Focuses on the necessity of building bridges with refugee organizations to bring them into the mainstream. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]