The Case for School-Based Integration of Services: Changing the Ways Students, Families and Communities Engage with their Schools

P/PV's GroundWork series summarizes available evidence on a variety of social policy topics, providing a solid foundation for future work.This first issue reviews the current literature about the potential benefits of simultaneously providing three services in school -- healthcare, out-of-school-time learning and family supports -- to boost students' educational outcomes. For disadvantaged, low-income youth, research indicates that access to these supports can play a key role in helping them surmount common obstacles to educational attainment. In addition to highlighting how each affects key outcomes such as learning, school connectedness (i.e., positive feelings about school) and access to needed services, this brief summarizes the potential benefits of offering these resources through a highly integrated, school-based model

Group Mentoring: A Study of Mentoring Groups in Three Programs

In an effort to provide more youth with mentors, mentoring programs are implementing several promising new approaches. This report describes the strengths and challenges of group mentoring-an approach that is gaining popularity. Findings suggest that group mentoring is reaching youth and volunteers who are unlikely to participate in traditional one-on-one mentoring, and that the approach may provide youth with important benefits, especially the development of social skills. On the other hand, mentoring groups vary widely in their size, structure and focus, and in the extent to which they foster strong mentoring relationships and benefits for youth. Implications for the mentoring field and for future research are discussed

Policy Brief No. 25 - Are Immigrants in Better Health Than Native Canadians?

A number of studies have shown that immigrants tend to be in better health than their fellow citizens in their host countries, at least during the initial period following their arrival. Our work, a systematic review which brings together the results of 77 empirical research studies on this question, demonstrates that while the “healthy immigrant” effect is usually found in adult immigrants, it is another matter for children and older people. The extent of the healthy immigrant selection effect is also much more significant in terms of mortality than of morbidity. Our analysis suggests that immigrant health policies should not be “one size fits all” in type, but need to take into account both the age of immigrants and also those particular health indicators in terms of which the immigrants are most vulnerable

Birth Outcomes of Latin Americans in Two Countries with Contrasting Immigration Admission Policies: Canada and Spain

Background We delved into the selective migration hypothesis on health by comparing birth outcomes of Latin American immigrants giving birth in two receiving countries with dissimilar immigration admission policies: Canada and Spain. We hypothesized that a stronger immigrant selection in Canada will reflect more favourable outcomes among Latin Americans giving birth in Canada than among their counterparts giving birth in Spain. Materials and Methods We conducted a cross-sectional bi-national comparative study. We analyzed birth data of singleton infants born in Canada (2000–2005) (N = 31,767) and Spain (1998–2007) (N = 150,405) to mothers born in Spanish-speaking Latin American countries. We compared mean birthweight at 37–41 weeks gestation, and low birthweight and preterm birth rates between Latin American immigrants to Canada vs. Spain. Regression analysis for aggregate data was used to obtain Odds Ratios and Mean birthweight differences adjusted for infant sex, maternal age, parity, marital status, and father born in same source country. Results Latin American women in Canada had heavier newborns than their same-country counterparts giving birth in Spain, overall [adjusted mean birthweight difference: 101 grams; 95% confidence interval (CI): 98, 104], and within each maternal country of origin. Latin American women in Canada had fewer low birthweight and preterm infants than those giving birth in Spain [adjusted Odds Ratio: 0.88; 95% CI: 0.82, 0.94 for low birthweight, and 0.88; 95% CI: 0.84, 0.93 for preterm birth, respectively]. Conclusion Latin American immigrant women had better birth outcomes in Canada than in Spain, suggesting a more selective migration in Canada than in Spain

Research Brief No. 24 - (IN)Visible Minorities in Canadian Health Data and Research

This study examines the nature and extent of data and research on the role of race or visible minority status on health in Canada. Visible minorities represent a rapidly growing segment of Canada’s population. Approximately one in five Canadians is a member of a visible minority group. Policy makers and researchers are often unable to answer important questions related to visible minority health such as: Are visible minority Canadians healthier or less healthy than their white counterparts? Do risk factors for health conditions differ for visible minority and white Canadians? And how do different visible minority groups compare with one another on health outcomes and measures? Our review of the existing literature on visible minority health indicates that there is a paucity of data and research on the health of visible minorities in Canada, alone, and in comparison to ‘mainstream’ (white) Canadians. We recommend that there is a need for basic health data for visible minorities. Many current health surveys are severely limited by small sample sizes of visible minorities. We recommend oversampling visible minorities in standard health surveys such as the Canadian Community Health Survey, or conducting targeted health surveys of visible minorities. Surveys should collect information on key sociodemographic characteristics such as nativity, visible minority status, socioeconomic status, and age-at-arrival for immigrants. We also recommend that if data were available, researchers consider an intersectionality approach in their analyses. Intersectionality is a flexible holistic approach that takes into account the multiple factors that may affect a visible minority person’s health, including the role of discrimination based on racial status, immigrant characteristics for foreign-born visible minorities, age and the role of ageism for older adults, socioeconomic status, gender (for visible minority women), and geographic place of residence

(In)Visible Minorities in Canadian Health Data and Research

This synthesis project is motivated by the apparent neglect of visible minorities in Canadian health data and research. The main question is: Are visible minorities invisible in Canadian health data and research? To address this question, we assess the nature, extent, and range of data and research available on the health and health care access of visible minorities in Canada. Specifically, we summarize: (1) mortality and morbidity patterns for visible minorities; (2) determinants of visible minority health; (3) health status and determinants of visible minority older adult (VMOA) health; and (4) promising data sources that may be used to examine visible minority health in future research. While we reviewed a large number of publications, we note that only 5 examined population-­‐level data to specifically compare visible minorities with white Canadians and just 2 distinguished between Canadian-­‐born visible minorities and foreign-­‐born visible minorities. In addition, because of data and methodological limitations, and differences in topics examined, findings are not easily comparable to provide a clear picture of visible minorities’ health

Housing Supply and Residential Segregation in Ireland

The article examines the role of housing supply in ethnic diversity and the residential segregation of Asian, African and eastern European immigrants from Irish nationals in Ireland. Housing supply is defined as the proportions of new housing, private rental accommodation and social housing among all housing units in an electoral district. Multivariate regressions reveal that, among all three housing supply variables, the proportion of private rentals had the largest effect on ethnic diversity and immigrant-Irish segregation. Areas with higher proportions of private rental units were more ethnically diverse, had greater presences of Africans, Asians and eastern Europeans (as opposed to high concentrations of Irish nationals) and exhibited greater integration between each of the three immigrant groups and Irish nationals. The article concludes with a discussion of immigrant assimilation and questions whether the patterns of residential integration observed would further facilitate other forms of social inclusion for immigrants in Irish society.

Dossier de politique No. 25 - Les Immigrants Sont-Ils en Meilleure Santé que les Natifs du Canada?

Plusieurs études montrent que les immigrants sont en meilleure santé que leurs concitoyens du pays d’accueil, du moins dans les premiers temps suivant leur arrivée. Le présent travail de synthèse (prenant en considération 77 travaux empiriques sur la question) démontre que si l’effet de « l’immigrant en bonne santé » est souvent avéré chez les immigrants adultes, il en va tout autrement chez les enfants ou les personnes âgées. L’ampleur de l’effet de sélection est aussi nettement plus significative pour les indicateurs de mortalité que de morbidité. Notre analyse suggère que les politiques en matière de santé des immigrants ne peuvent être de type « taille unique » et qu’ils doivent prendre en compte l’âge des immigrants et les indicateurs de santé pour lesquels les immigrants sont vulnérables