Live Presentation
Speak with Alexa Carroll about her practicum on January 31st from 3:30-4:00pm via this zoom link.
Video Presentation
View Alexa Carroll's poster presentation in this video recording:
Abstract
Older adults who have been subject to forced displacement are often overlooked by service providers and policy makers in countries of resettlement, as well as receive limited attention in research. The objectives of this summer practicum were two-fold. First, we aimed to identify existing programs and services (ideally anchored in evidence-based interventions (EBIs)), in Canada and the United States, that focus on improving the mental health and overall well-being of older adults with a refugee life experience, particularly older ethnic-Nepali Bhutanese. Secondly, we aimed to assess the appropriateness of these services and programs in relation to their cultural and age specificity, and propose methods to improve them in order to most effectively serve this population. To achieve these goals, we worked with a multidisciplinary team of researchers and Bhutanese community members. We obtained formal and informal health care provider perspectives on issues facing older refugees through analyzing new and previously conducted structured interviews. Additional informal interviews with service providers were performed to gather insight on the details of these existing programs and services and in what areas they may be falling short. Through our research we identified existing mental health interventions rooted in EBIs (such as CBT and DBT), namely Calmer Life, Healthy IDEAS, and BREATHE, that were primarily lacking cultural specificity for this particular population, however they also possessed great capacity to be culturally adapted. The main things needed to be addressed in adaptations of interventions include language, cultural safety, utilization of interdisciplinary team to deliver care, psychoeducation to address stigma, augmentation of case management, and improved referral and linkage services. The success of such interventions in the future and their adaptation will hinge on sustainable collaborations between community health agencies and ethnic community-based organizations.