Nashit Chowdhury
Identifying the effects of COVID-19 on the mental health of the visible minority essential workers and their coping strategies
Essential workers helped maintain critical services during COVID-19, often while facing elevated exposure to health risks and economic uncertainty. The project examined mental health challenges among essential workers who identified as visible minorities, including immigrants and refugees, in sectors such as food retail, transportation and other critical infrastructure.
The research also considered how workers coped with illness, bereavement, income loss and related pressures during the pandemic.
Methodology
The study used mixed methods. First, it analyzed data for 5,845 essential workers from Mental Health Research Canada’s national polls 6 through 11, examining anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts and coping across participant groups.
Second, the researcher conducted in-depth interviews with 14 racialized essential workers in Calgary working outside the health-care sector, including food retail, transport and warehousing. The interviews examined workers’ experiences and coping strategies.
Findings
Moderate anxiety was reported by 17.49% of visible minority essential workers, compared with 14.52% of other essential workers.
Moderately severe depression was reported by 10.65% of visible minority essential workers, compared with 8.42% of other workers.
Severe anxiety and severe depression were reported by 4.71% and 5.27% of visible minority workers respectively, compared with 5.65% and 5.25% of other workers.
Suicidal thoughts or attempts over the preceding year were reported by 34.3% of visible minority essential workers, compared with 28.25% of other essential workers, according to the original impact page.
Despite these pressures, 77.87% of visible minority essential workers said they were coping, compared with 81.59% of other workers. Family cohesion, cultural and religious networks and personal resilience provided support.
Interviewees described overlapping personal, household, community and work-related vulnerabilities, including infection concerns, financial precarity, isolation and barriers to culturally responsive mental health support.
Impact
The study documented lived experiences of racialized essential workers and the need for more accessible, inclusive mental health supports.
Findings were shared with AIMGA to inform community mental health services, health-literacy activities and social support.
The original profile reports that support strategies and interventions were developed and extended to HealthHub for Newcomers.
Project outreach
The original impact profile identifies Alberta as the province where results were used. This project-level outreach is distinct from the national scope of the polling data.
Resources created
The original profile lists two conference proceedings.
Two manuscripts were being prepared at the time of the profile.
Two peer-reviewed articles are reported, but only one URL is supplied: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/10/5961.
A presentation is linked at https://www.ucalgary.ca/sites/default/files/teams/445/Mental%20health%20non-health%20essential%20worker%20review%20PPT.pdf.
About the researcher
At the time of this MHRC-supported project, Nashit Chowdhury was conducting research with the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Calgary. The researcher’s published work has examined immigrants’ and refugees’ health needs, equitable access to care and community engagement in health research.
This background informed a project focused on the mental health of racialized essential workers and their experiences during the pandemic, undertaken with the Alberta International Medical Graduates Association (AIMGA).
