A narrative exploration of the experience of racialized youth who receive mental healthcare in Victoria, BC
Date
2025
Authors
Song-Choi, Pauline
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Abstract
Background: IBPOC (Indigenous, Black, and people of colour) communities have faced and continue to face interpersonal and systemic racism across Canada, which in turn affects their mental health and their willingness to access mental healthcare. There is a well-established literature on barriers to accessing mental healthcare for IBPOC communities in Canada. However, much of the research to date does not centre on the voices of IBPOC consumers of mental healthcare, who may have experiences of racial and intergenerational trauma which impact their wellbeing and experience of receiving mental health services. This project highlights the voices of IBPOC youth who received public mental healthcare services between approximately 2010 to 2024 in Victoria, BC, as there is limited research exploring the narratives of this population in Canada. Method: The Collaborative Narrative Method (CNM; Arvay, 2003) was used in order to explore the lived experience of IBPOC youth (between the ages of 17 and 25) who received public mental healthcare in Victoria, BC, which included a period of time when they were mature minors (i.e. between the ages of 13 to 18). The aim of this study is to understand and co-construct their stories, centered around their voices. Individual interviews were conducted with five IBPOC youth, who henceforth will be referred to as the Co-Investigators. Both the researcher and Co-Investigators conducted two readings of the transcripts (the first reading for the accuracy of content, the second reading with the research questions in mind). The narratives were written collaboratively between the researcher and Co-Investigator, with the Co-Investigator having final editorial power. Results: The five narratives explored each youth’s mental health story, including their needs and preferences for supportive mental healthcare, while taking into account the complex intergenerational dynamics that set the context for their lives. Discussion: The researcher identified themes across the stories and discussed them with all the Co-Investigators together at a joint meeting. The identified themes have been organized into five Acts. [Act I] reflected the importance of understanding the complex and nuanced context of each Co-Investigator’s life. [Act II] explored the experience of living through the discrepancy between how the Co-Investigators perceived themselves compared to how they were perceived by mental health professionals. [Act III] identified the meaning that Co-Investigators have made of their experiences including how they exercise their agency, how isolated they are, and their belief that collaborative care between an IBPOC youth and their mental health providers is possible. [Act IV] is composed of the recommendations that the Co-Investigators suggest for service providers in the community based on what they would have wanted from their mental healthcare experiences. Finally, [Act V] is an exploration of the researcher’s observations about the study. Impact: The CNM approach facilitated the intentional attempt to level power dynamics and for IBPOC youth participants to have their stories heard and documented the way they wanted them to be shared. Importantly, the results of this study can inform local policymakers and contribute to creating a culturally-attuned mental healthcare experience for IBPOC youth in Victoria, with the ultimate goal of dismantling systemic racism in mental healthcare.
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Keywords
Racialized youth, Mental healthcare, Collaborative Narrative Method