Mental health: Discrimination, Stigmaand Cultural Safety

• What is discrimination? (please see diagram on next slide and handout)– Biased information leading to a stereotype (fixed image)– Prejudice (a way of thinking based on a stereotype)– Discrimination (action or inaction, based on prejudice)

• What is stigma?– Refers to negative attitudes (prejudice) and negative behaviour

(discrimination) (Canadian Mental Health Association, 2011)

1. Biased information leads to stereotyping Stereotyping: An often negative exaggerated belief, fixed image, or distorted idea held by persons, groups, political/economicdecision makers

2. Prejudice A way of thinking based on stereotypes

3. Discrimination

Action or inaction based on prejudice

Source: Adapted from: McGibbon, E., Etowa, J. & McPherson (2008). Health care access as a social determinant of health. Canadian Nurse Journal, 104 (7), 22-27

The Cycle of Oppression

4. Oppression

Discrimination backed up bysystemic power (e.g. government, education, legal, and health system policies;

What is cultural safety?

• Was developed by Indigenous Maori nurses in New Zealand, originally meaning ‘no assault on a person’s identity’

• Cultural safety moves beyond the traditional concept of cultural sensitivity (being accepting of difference) to analyzing power imbalances, institutional discrimination, and colonization.

• Current concepts of cultural safety are based on the Maori definition, and have been expanded to include a broad range of peoples and groups who experience discrimination and hence unsafe care…who are some of these groups?

Discrimination, stigma, cultural safety and the CNA Code of Ethics

1. Providing safe, compassionate, competent and ethical care

2. Promoting health and well being3. Promoting and respecting informed decision-

making4. Preserving dignity5. Maintaining privacy and confidentiality6. Promoting justice7. Being accountable

Something to think about:How are stigma, discrimination and cultural safety all connected?

Colonialism happens in many different ways

Colonizers are groups of people, or countries, who create ‘colonies’ by taking over the lands of Indigenous inhabitants. Examples are the Spanish takeover of Cuba, the British (ultimately) takeover of Canada, the British takeover of India…

The vast majority of colonizers were European (British, French, Dutch, Spanish…)

• Colonization involves: Colonizers expropriating (stealing) natural resources from captured lands, such as copper (Chile), precious metals and gems (many countries on the African continent), spices and silk (India)…

• Colonizers forcing Indigenous inhabitants to help them develop industries such as mining and farming for cash crops, usually with brutal and inhumane methods (cotton plantations in the US)

Colonization involves (cont’d)

Colonizers developing a set of laws and public processes which were (are) designed to violate the human rights of Indigenous inhabitants, and in some cases to completely annihilate the indigenous inhabitants (Beothucks of Newfoundland).

Colonizers attempting cultural genocide (as in Residential Schools)…resulting loss of language and centuries-old lifeways

Examples of Indigenous peoples around the globe include the Maori in New Zealand, the Zulus in South Africa, the Mi’kmaq in Eastern Canada, and the Cree in Western Canada.

All of these peoples have a long and disturbingly destructive history at the hands of white colonial oppressors. The colonial experiences of Indigenous people around the globe have rendered them strangers in their own country.

The harshness and repression by which the colonizer’s conquest was accomplished have been hidden from popular accounts of mainstream history in Canada. This is part of the reason why many Canadians still hold racist views about Aboriginal peoples.

MORE LATER…

Native Canadian speaks of Residential School abuse• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYKWhxDXoq8&feature=related• Gary Waseykeyzick

Hidden from history: 50,000+ kids murdered by Churches in Canada - The Canadian Genocide

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qf1aYQEnOpA&feature=related (to 5:11)

• Kevin Annett who has written 2 books which provide irrefutable evidence of mass murder of native children committed by church and state in Canada.

References:Anderson, J (2009). Postcolonial feminism.

Nursing Inquiry…Battiste, M. & Henderson, S.Y. (2012, In Press).

Oppression and the health of Indigenous peoples.

McGibbon, E. & Etowa, J. (2009). Anti-racist health care practice.

Introduction to the Mental Status Exam

• Clinical Purpose• Components (Text p. 138); Clinical documents

for Addictions and Dementia

Introduction to the Mental Status Exam

• Appearance, attitude, behaviour• Speech• Affect• Thought form• Thought content• Perceptions• Cognitive function• Judgment and insight

MSE: A beautiful mind

Introduction to Intersectionality

• What is it?• Bringing together:– The social determinants of health– The ‘isms’ (e.g. racism, sexism, ageism,

heterosexism...)– Geography (rural, urban, northern…)

• early childhood development• employment and working conditions• income and its equitable distribution• food security• health care services• housing shortages• education• social exclusion• social safety nets

SOCIAL DETERMINANTS

OF HEALTH (SDH)

• early childhood development• employment and working conditions• income and its equitable distribution• food security• health care services• housing shortages• education• social exclusion• social safety nets

INTERSECTIONS of

SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF HEALTH (SDH)

•immigrant status • social class• gender• race• ethnicity• culture

• age• (dis)ability• sexual orientation• spirituality• . . .

IDENTITY as a SDH (the “isms”)

•immigrant status • social class• gender• race• ethnicity• culture

• age• (dis)ability• sexual orientation• spirituality• . . .

INTERSECTIONS of IDENTITY as a SDH (the “isms”)

• rural, urban, remote, fly-in • East, West, North, South• segregation and ghettoization• unfair geographic access to

public services • lack of public transportation (or funds) • environmental patterns: weather, pollution dispersion, toxin location...

GEOGRAPHY as a SDH

• rural, urban, remote, fly-in • East, West, North, South• segregation and ghettoization• unfair geographic access to

public services • lack of public transportation (or funds) • environmental patterns: weather, pollution dispersion, toxin location...

INTERSECTIONS ofGEOGRAPHY as a SDH

• early childhood development• employment and working conditions• income and its equitable distribution• food security• health care services• housing SECURITY• education• social exclusion• social safety nets

Intersections of SOCIAL DETERMINANTS

OF HEALTH (SDH)

• immigrant status • social class• gender• race• ethnicity• culture

• age• (dis)ability• sexual orientation• spirituality• . . .

Intersections of IDENTITY as a SDH (the “isms”)

Intersections ofGEOGRAPHY as a SDH

• rural, remote, fly-in • East, West, North, South• segregation and ghettoization• unfair geographic access to public services • lack of public transportation (or funds) • environmental patterns: weather, pollution dispersion, toxin location . . .

TAKEN ALL TOGETHER, INEQUITIES ALWAYS INTERSECT…

SOURCE: McGibbon, E. McPherson, C. (2011). Applying intersectionality theory and complexity theory to address the social determinants of women’s health. Women’s Health and Urban Life: An International Journal, (10)1, 59-86. Univ. of Toronto Press..

Interectionality Example: The Social Determinants of Mental Health

Employment and working conditions, i.e., meaningful employment, work safety, dependable, consistent work. Women with disabilities are twice as likely to be unemployed (Statistics Canada, 2005). Immigrant women face numerous stressors such as finding employment/ establishing income, which can have a serious health impact (Meadows, Thurston, & Melton, 2001).

• Income and its equitable distribution,

i.e., adequate annual income and a family’s capacity to meet basic needs. Overall income of most Canadian families has steadily decreased since 1986 (Curry-Stevens, 2001). In some provinces, almost 30% of children in minority families live in poverty (Canadian Council on Social Development, 2000).

• Food security, i.e., a family’s capacity to provide minimum nutritious food.

Food bank use doubled between 1989-2004. 41% of food bank users are children under 18 years (Toronto Charter, 2003). Child hunger is an extreme example of family food insecurity (McIntyre, 2004). If you experience food insecurity, you are significantly more likely to have Type II diabetes (Seligman, Bindman, Vittinghoff, Kanaya & Kushel, 2007).

• Housing i.e., safe shelter, and green space for play. As more Canadians

spend more of their income on shelter, housing security is threatened. Canada’s renter households have average incomes that are half that of home owners (Shapcott, 2004). Damp housing further exacerbates health problems such as childhood asthma (Bryant, 2002).

•

• Early childhood development, education, and care, i.e., nurturing and abuse free environments; access to

appropriate child care supports and early childhood education. Early childhood development is threatened due to continuing levels of family poverty (Raphael, 2004). There is a notable mismatch between known early childhood educational opportunities and public investment (McPherson, 2006).

• Education,

i.e., opportunity for post secondary education. Average yearly university tuition has tripled since 1991 (Statistics Canada, 2007). Health literacy is strongly related to level of formal education, health outcomes, and access to care. Except for Nova Scotia, Atlantic provinces have lower literacy rates than the national average (Murray, Rudd, Kirsch, Yamamoto, & Grenier, 2007).

• Social exclusion, i.e., access to social supports and community participation. Groups

experiencing social exclusion tend to sustain higher health risks and lower health status. These include Indigenous peoples; immigrants; refugees; persons of color; persons with disabilities; lone parents; children, youth in disadvantaged circumstances; women; the elderly; unpaid caregivers; gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgendered people (Galabuzi, 2004).

• Social safety nets,

i.e., access to income supplements and publicly funded home care support. Maritime provinces have the lowest per-person spending on home care in Canada (Coyte & McKeever, 2001). Home care has been left out of the national policy agenda, which has grave consequences for the health of many vulnerable populations, including elders, and chronically ill children (Shamian, 2007).

•

• Health services, i.e., access to specialist and multi-disciplinary services. Rural people

have less access to health services and have poorer health than urban people. Women living in the most rural areas are most likely to report fair/poor health (CIHI, 2006). Racism in health care is an important barrier in access to health services (Etowa, Weins, Bernard, & Clow, 2007).

• Identity, i.e., gender, race, ethnicity, culture, age, social class, (dis)ability, sexual

orientation, and age, to name a few, all determine health care access and health outcomes. Gender and race have recently been added to earlier definitions of the SDH. These definitions have been expanded to include the broader notion of identity as a SDH (McGibbon, McPherson, & Etowa, 2008).

Handout: Racism as a Social Determinant

of Mental Health