The intersecting impacts of racism and language barriers on the wellbeing and sense of belonging of English-speaking Black young adults in Quebec

Full title: Whether I belong, depends on whether my group belongs: The intersecting impacts of racism and language barriers on the wellbeing and sense of belonging of English-speaking Black young adults in Quebec 

The proposed three-wave longitudinal research will examine the perception of multiple forms of discrimination (i.e., racism, language barriers) experienced by English-speaking Black individuals in Quebec, a racialized and official language minority population. Following a Self-Determination Theory framework, the primary objective is to examine perception of barriers to healthcare and the basic psychological needs of collective autonomy for English-speaking Black individuals in response to racism and language barriers in every-day life. Furthermore, we will also examine whether greater barriers to healthcare and deprivation of collective autonomy will decrease psychological well-being and increase intentions to leave Quebec for English-speaking Black Quebecers, respectively. With a focus on intersecting and context-dependent forms of discrimination within the healthcare system, the current study will further our understanding on how well-being and intention to migrate are affected among racialized and official language minority populations, in the hope of informing health and social policies and developing interventions collaboratively with community partners.

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

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.

How Healthcare Professionals’ Communication Style Influences Black Language Minority Health Service Users’ Perceived Acceptability and Satisfaction with Healthcare Access in Quebec and Ontario

Official language minorities face language barriers when it comes to accessing health services but many of them also face racial/cultural barriers.

The healthcare system strives to ensure the health of all people equally regardless of race or language. Health-care workers communicate directly with patients and these interactions play a role in how the patients view the health care system. How the patients view the healthcare system will have implications for how they use it (Penchansky & Thomas, 1981).

The project plans to explore and highlight the importance of patient and healthcare workers communication interactions on perceptions of healthcare access from a self-determination theory perspective. The research could help protect more vulnerable groups by participating in investigations on how to reduce inequalities in healthcare access for visible and language minorities. Do health care workers’ level of language proficiency impact perceived autonomy support and perceived access to health? How do previous experiences with healthcare workers impact subsequent perceived access to health care for black linguistic minorities in Quebec and Ontario? How do race and language combine to make interactions with healthcare workers affect perceptions of autonomy support for black linguistic minorities?

Is the Frustration of Basic Psychological Needs Interacting with Language Barriers in Worsening Health Care Access for Black Young Adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic?

The present 3-wave prospective longitudinal study will examine linguistic and motivational factors that may undermine the readiness of Black young adults to seek access to mental health care during the COVID-19 pandemic year. We will also examine whether the motivational factors interact with linguistic minority status in determining how young adults adapt to the challenges of living through the worst pandemic in a century. More precisely, the main objective is to examine whether double minorities (i.e., Black Quebec Anglophones and Black Ontarian Francophones) experiencing need frustration are less likely to seek help for mental health concerns than are Black Quebec Francophones or Black Ontarian Anglophones.