Culturally Responsive Approaches to Health Research with Black Canadians: Challenges and Strategies.

Introduction: Canada's Black population has more than doubled over the last two decades, with the fastest growth occurring in the Prairie provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. Despite a growing interest in Black health research in Canada, there is still limited knowledge on culturally responsive approaches to collecting, analyzing, and reporting health data on Black Canadians. This review presents a synthesis of challenges and strategies for conducting culturally responsive health research in Black communities.

Scoping review on mental health standards for Black youth: identifying gaps and promoting equity in community, primary care, and educational settings.

Background: Youth mental health is a growing concern in research, practice, and policy. Practice standards, guidelines, or strategies provide an invisible infrastructure that fosters equity, quality, and safety, potentially addressing inconsistencies and more effectively attending to the mental wellness of Black youth as a particular population of concern. This scoping review aimed to address the following question: What standards exist for the delivery of mental health services to Black youth in community, primary care, and educational settings? Due to a limited initial search yield on publications about standards for the delivery of mental health services for Black youth population, our goal was then to identify and map mental health standards, recommendations, or guidelines for the delivery of mental health services using the same settings to all youth.

COVID-19 among Black people in Canada: a scoping review.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated health inequities worldwide. Research conducted in Canada shows that Black populations were disproportionately exposed to COVID-19 and more likely than other ethnoracial groups to be infected and hospitalized. This scoping review sought to map out the nature and extent of current research on COVID-19 among Black people in Canada.

Black Health in Canada: Protocol for a Scoping Review.

Background: Black Canadians experience poor health care, poor health outcomes, and a greater burden of health inequalities, much of which is rooted in the unequal distribution of social determinants of health. Despite Canada's emphasis on social inclusion, Canada's Black population faces substantial social inequities that affect their health and well-being. These disparities may specifically be attributed to racial discrimination, immigration status, precarious housing, underemployment, and increased poverty among Black Canadians.

What contributes to COVID-19 online disinformation among Black Canadians: a qualitative study.

Background: Black Canadians are disproportionately affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the literature suggests that online disinformation and misinformation contribute to higher rates of SARS-CoV-2 infection and vaccine hesitancy in Black communities in Canada. Through stakeholder interviews, we sought to describe the nature of COVID-19 online disinformation among Black Canadians and identify the factors contributing to this phenomenon.

Methods: We conducted purposive sampling followed by snowball sampling and completed in-depth qualitative interviews with Black stakeholders with insights into the nature and impact of COVID-19 online disinformation and misinformation in Black communities.

Factors that contribute to the mental health of Black youth.

Background: Black people are a growing population in Canada, but limited data are available on the factors that contribute to the mental health of Black youth in Canada. We sought to explore the factors that contribute to the mental health of Black youth in Alberta, Canada.

Methods: Using a youth-led participatory action research approach and an intersectional feminist theoretical perspective, we collected data from a diverse sample of Black youth (aged 16-30 yr) in Alberta.

Improving COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake among Black Populations: A Systematic Review of Strategies.

Given the growing body of evidence on COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among Black populations, the aim of this systematic review was to identify the interventions and strategies used to improve COVID-19 vaccine confidence and uptake among Black populations globally. To identify relevant studies, we conducted a systematic review of the literature based on a systematic search of 10 electronic databases: MEDLINE, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Scopus, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Sociological Abstracts, Dissertations and Theses Global, and SocINDEX. We screened a total of 1728 records and included 14 peer-reviewed interventional studies that were conducted to address COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among Black populations.

ADaPTS "(AD)olescents (P)ath through (T)ransplant (S)ickle cell disease".

Background: Sickle cell disease is an inherited chronic hematological disorder with an average lifespan of fifty years. The human cost of sickle cell disease includes missed school days, occupational opportunities, social isolation, stigmatization, and psychological sequelae. Hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is the only curative therapy available but comes with potential morbidity and mortality.

A scoping review of COVID-19 online mis/disinformation in Black communities.

Background: Mis/disinformation has reached an epidemic level with the COVID-19 virus and can be largely attributed to the growing digitalization of information and its rapid transmission via social media. Approximately 96% of Canadians and 80% of Americans report encountering COVID-19 dis/misinformation on at least one social media site/app. COVID-19 dis/misinformation promotes scepticism and a lack of confidence in COVID-19 interventions.

Health Insurance Exemptions for Older Ghanaians: Stakeholder Perspectives on Challenges Confronting an Ambitious Policy.

The health and wellbeing of older adults have taken center-stage in global policy agendas in recent times. In 2003, Ghana introduced an insurance exemption policy to eliminate financial barriers to healthcare for older adults and other vulnerable population groups. Embedded within the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), this policy ostensibly guarantees free healthcare for older adults at publicly-funded facilities across the country.

"Our Home Is a Muddy Structure": Perceptions of Housing and Health Risks Among Older Adults in Contrasting Neighborhoods in Ghana.

Aging occurs in a variety of social and physical environmental settings that affect health. However, despite their rapidly growing populations, public health research in sub-Saharan Africa has yet to address the role of residential environments in the health and well-being of older adults. In this study, we utilized an ethnographic research methodology to explore barriers and facilitators to health among older adults residing in two contrasting neighborhoods in Accra, Ghana.

Quality of life of older adults in two contrasting neighbourhoods in Accra, Ghana.

As is the case elsewhere in sub-Saharan Africa, Ghana is experiencing a rapid increase in the population of older adults. Despite their rising numbers, the living conditions and wellbeing of older Ghanaians remain woefully understudied. This paper presents the results of a study exploring the quality of life (QoL) of older adults in two contrasting neighbourhoods in Accra, Ghana.

Health, quality of life, and wellbeing of older slum dwellers in sub-Saharan Africa: A scoping review.

A growing population of older adults resides in sub-Saharan Africa's urban slums. Although environmental conditions in slums are adversarial, there is limited knowledge on the wellbeing of older adults residing in these settings. This review sought to understand the scope, extent, and nature of current research on the health and wellbeing of older slum dwellers in sub-Saharan Africa.

Understanding the slum-health conundrum in sub-Saharan Africa: a proposal for a rights-based approach to health promotion in slums.

Sub-Saharan Africa is the world's least urbanized region but is ironically also the region with the largest proportion of urban slum dwellers. However, there exists limited understanding of the impact of slums on health in the region. To address this knowledge gap, we conducted a systematic search in PubMed, Google, and Google Scholar to identify and review studies examining the slum-health relationship in sub-Saharan African cities.

Transnationalism, parenting, and child disciplinary practices of African immigrants in Alberta, Canada.

Child discipline remains a topic of public health interest across the globe. Despite this enduring interest, very little is known about the child disciplinary practices of African immigrants in Canada. This paper explores the disciplinary practices of African immigrant parents in Alberta, a Canadian province with a recent surge in the population of African immigrants.

Therapeutic landscapes of home: Exploring Indigenous peoples' experiences of a Housing First intervention in Winnipeg.

In this paper, we explore Indigenous perspectives of culture, place, and health among participants in a landmark Canadian Housing First initiative: At Home/Chez Soi (AHCS) project. Implemented from 2009 to 2013 in Winnipeg and four other Canadian cities, AHCS was a multi-city randomized control trial that sought to test the effectiveness of Housing First as a model for addressing chronic homelessness among people living with mental illnesses. As Winnipeg's homeless population is over 70% Indigenous, significant efforts were made to accommodate the culturally specific health, spiritual, and lifestyle preferences of the project's Indigenous participants.