Grant: CIHR REDI Early Career Transition Award - Health Systems

The Government of Canada is committed to creating a barrier-free Canada for all including those with disability. Making services easy to find and obtain is a priority under Canadian law with the Accessible Canada Act. Families raising a child with a disability from underrepresented ethnic or racial groups and those with lower financial resources are called "underserved" as they often experience more difficulty in accessing services due to various barriers (e.g., limited resources, racism, difficulty understanding information about services). Studying these caregivers' experiences of accessing services for their child and themselves is important for identifying what might help these families access and obtain needed services. The goal of the Phase I Project is to explore ethnic minority caregivers' experience of accessing services for their child with a brain-based disability and to document: barriers and facilitators to accessing services, the child's health, the child's service and support needs, and recommendations for making services easier to access. The Phase II Project will study the experience of accessing mental health (MH) services and the support needs of ethnic minority caregivers raising a child with a brain-based disability: barriers and facilitators to access, MH and service needs, and recommendations for improving access. Caregivers will participate as co-researchers in each project. To achieve project goals, caregivers from across the provinces who identify as members of an ethnic minority group will be invited to participate. Data will be collected through surveys, interviews, and photography (those who participate will be asked to take photos representative of their experiences). Collected data will be explored and underlying patterns, trends, and themes will be shared with various audiences (e.g., parents, researchers, community organizations, government).