The network of health: How autonomy-supportive relationships influence linguistic barriers and vaccine hesitancy among English-speaking minorities in Québec

Objectives: The proposed three-wave prospective, retrospective, longitudinal research will examine linguistic and motivational factors that may influence vaccine hesitancy in English- and French-speaking visible and non-visible minorities living in Québec. Following a Self-determination theory framework, the main aim will be to examine whether autonomy support from social networks (comparing family and peers) interacts with motivational and linguistic barriers, and how this, in turn, interacts with vaccine hesitancy. Exploratory aims will examine and compare the variables of interest among the different groups.

The Role of Language and Cultural Background on Young Adults’ Covid-19 Vaccination Plans in Quebec

*Lay abstract currently unavailable.

The first vaccination effort against Covid-19 started in December 2020, and as of June 2021 over 2 billion doses of the Covid-19 vaccine have been administered worldwide. However, posing a problem to vaccination efforts is the concept of vaccine hesitancy which refers to a delay or refusal of vaccine services. Data prior to Covid-19 demonstrates that vaccine hesitancy was an issue in Quebec, Canada where 32.2% of respondents in a study revealed being vaccine-hesitant in general. Currently, as of June 2021, 30% of the Quebec population have not yet received their first dose of the vaccine against Covid-19. Elsewhere, a large study conducted in the UK reveals that ethnic minorities may be more reluctant to vaccinate with 72% of Blacks reporting being unlikely to get vaccinated for Covid-19. Barriers such as culture, religion, and language influence immunization decisions.

Key causes of vaccine hesitancy include misinformation through platforms such as social media and lack of health literacy in regards to knowledge about vaccines. Social media outlets such as Facebook allow individuals to connect in healthy ways. However, it also allows misinformation to spread rapidly across social networks leading to over-exposure of health-related misinformation such as anti-vaccine campaigns. A possible solution is to create policies that target the promotion of critical thinking skills in health and internet literacy especially among youth because they are heavy consumers of social media. Health literacy is defined as a set of competencies that allow individuals to make decisions concerning their quality of life and influences various health behaviours such as vaccine uptake. Health literacy has been linked to hepatitis B vaccination in men, and contributes to vaccine safety confidence as well. Thus, understanding the role of social media misinformation and health and vaccine literacy among vulnerable groups is a priority to control the spread of Covid-19.

Objectives:

1. To elucidate the language needs of at-risk vulnerable groups for vaccination services in Quebec.

2. To understand risk factors for under immunization in Quebec and promote more inclusion.

3. To gain insights on communication strategies for vaccination campaigns in a technological era

A Qualitative Study on Narratives of South Asian Women with First Episode Psychosis

Research Objectives. This study will seek to explore the cultural and linguistic factors that should be considered when providing services to South Asian (SA) women with First Episode Psychosis (FEP). As we consider this question, we will focus on the real-life needs associated with SA women, as well as the challenges and barriers they face when seeking care for FEP. Careful linguistic records will be kept for the SA women identified as eligible for the study: What is their mother tongue? How well do they speak English? How does their level of English impact their lived FEP experience and the treatment that they receive? Do they express an interest to learn English? Are they given opportunities to attend school by their families to improve their linguistic skills?

Research Methodology. This qualitative study will be conducted within an ethnographic framework to identify the cultural patterns and meanings that patients ascribe to their experience with FEP, thereby enriching the data by gathering first-person accounts and experiences (Green & Thorogood, 2004).

Do Language and Motivational Barriers Influence COVID-19 Vaccine Beliefs, Intention, and Behavior? A Longitudinal Study among English-speaking Minorities Living in Quebec

Objectives: The proposed 3-wave retrospective and prospective longitudinal study will examine linguistic and motivational factors that may attenuate intention and uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine among young adults belonging to different language (English vs. French) and visible minority status groups living in Quebec. Based on the Self-Determination Theory (SDT; Deci & Ryan, 1985), the primary objective will identify antecedent factors that predict both vaccine intention and vaccine uptake. Exploratory aims will examine potential group differences and will test whether vaccine intention mediates the relation between motivation and vaccine uptake.

Practitioner Perspectives on Linguistic Barriers in Access to Health Care for English-Speaking Minorities in Quebec

I propose to conduct a qualitative systematic review examining barriers that healthcare providers experience in providing services to linguistic minorities. In particular, the present study is designed to determine what kind of support healthcare professionals need to provide service to Anglophones in French-speaking Quebec.

Language barriers are increasingly recognized as a serious concern that creates disparities in access to health and social services (Terui, 2017). These inequalities may be reflected in access to services and healthcare delivery (Woloshin et al., 1997), as well as in low “quality of care and provider-patient relationship” (Terui, 2017, p .215). In addition, recent evidence suggests that linguistic minorities may face communication anxiety while anticipating doctor’s appointments (Zhao et al., 2021) and experience tension during appointments and low confidence in received care during (De Moissac & Bowen, 2019). 

This research project will focus on the language barriers that occur during interactions between healthcare providers and Anglophones (English speakers) in Quebec. The goal of the project is to propose feasible solutions to enhance access to health and social services in Quebec for English minority language speakers.