Coping and resilience among ethnoracial individuals experiencing homelessness and mental illness.

Background: The multiple challenges that ethnoracial homeless individuals experiencing mental illness face are well documented. However, little is known about how this homeless subpopulation copes with the compounding stressors of racial discrimination, homelessness and mental illness.

Aims: This study is an in-depth investigation of the personal perceived strengths, attitudes and coping behaviors of homeless adults of diverse ethnoracial backgrounds experiencing homelessness and mental illness in Toronto, Canada.

Differential experiences of discrimination among ethnoracially diverse persons experiencing mental illness and homelessness.

Background: This mixed methods study explored the characteristics of and experiences with perceived discrimination in an ethnically diverse urban sample of adults experiencing homelessness and mental illness.

Methods: Data were collected in Toronto, Ontario, as part of a 4-year national randomized field trial of the Housing First treatment model. Rates of perceived discrimination were captured from survey questions regarding perceived discrimination among 231 ethnoracially diverse participants with moderate mental health needs.

Reducing service and substance use among frequent service users: a brief report from the Toronto Community Addictions Team.

The Toronto Community Addictions Team (TCAT) is an intensive case management intervention designed to serve people with addictions who are frequent service users, thus addressing a health system priority. Questionnaires given to 65 participants at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months and semi-structured interviews of 10 program participants explored participants' outcomes and experiences with the program. Qualitative findings, analyzed using thematic content analysis, suggest that participants value the program's commitment to harm reduction, financial trusteeship, and recovery orientation.

Moving from rhetoric to reality: adapting Housing First for homeless individuals with mental illness from ethno-racial groups.

Background: The literature on interventions addressing the intersection of homelessness, mental illness and race is scant. The At Home/Chez Soi research demonstration project is a pragmatic field trial investigating a Housing First intervention for homeless individuals with mental illness in five cities across Canada. A unique focus at the Toronto site has been the development and implementation of a Housing First Ethno-Racial Intensive Case Management (HF ER-ICM) arm of the trial serving 100 homeless individuals with mental illness from ethno-racial groups.

More than being against it: anti-racism and anti-oppression in mental health services.

Anti-racism and anti-oppression frameworks of practice are being increasingly advocated for in efforts to address racism and oppression embedded in mental health and social services, and to help reduce their impact on mental health and clinical outcomes. This literature review summarizes how these two philosophies of practice are conceptualized and the strategies used within these frameworks as they are applied to service provision toward racialized groups. The strategies identified can be grouped in seven main categories: empowerment, education, alliance building, language, alternative healing strategies, advocacy, social justice/activism, and fostering reflexivity.