An interpretive description qualitative approach was utilized in this study. The main aim to was to understand the South Asian (SA) Punjabi community’s experience of having accessed mental health services for depression within Ontario, Canada. A sub-aim was to capture the participants’ conceptualizations and experiences of having depression, which provided context about this ethnic community and deepened insights into their accessibility experience. Six Punjabi persons living with depression (PLDs) and six family members were interviewed in Punjabi and/or English. Data analysis was guided by Thorne’s strategy for interpretive description. Twelve major themes detailed the challenges of PLDs and their family members regarding i) identification and understanding of depression and ii) accessing mental health support. Major themes revealing the community’s conceptualizations of depression are: i) most of us didn’t know what depression is, ii) we realized it was depression after getting help, iii) we keep depression a secret, iv) my family didn’t understand my depression, v) my family helped, vi) my family didn’t help- some made me sick, and vii) my family also became “sick”. These themes supported a better understanding of the major themes discussing the community’s access to mental health service for depression, which are: viii) we didn’t know where to get help, ix) my health providers’ lack of familiarity with my culture caused stress, x) I waited to get help, xi) treating my depression cost me, and xii) knowing my culture will help you treat me better. Findings of this qualitative study provide details of how these participants had their own unique cultural conceptualizations of depression and continue to experience difficulty with accessibility of mental health services while receiving care. Results suggest culturally tailored improvements of mental health service accessibility are required to support this population as they navigate the mental health system for their depression. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc)
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:mcmaster.ca/oai:macsphere.mcmaster.ca:11375/23999 |
| Date | 06 1900 |
| Creators | Chahal, Maneet Kaur |
| Contributors | Landeen, Janet, Nursing |
| Source Sets | McMaster University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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