Identifying the effects of COVID-19 on the mental health of the visible minority essential workers and their coping strategies

Nashit Chowdhury

Impact

  • The study sheds light on the lived experiences of racialized essential workers during the pandemic and informs service providers about the need for more inclusive and accessible mental health supports.

  • Findings from this study were disseminated to Alberta International Medical Graduates Association (AIMGA) to improve community mental health service, promote mental health literacy through various educational activities and provide social support to ones in need.

  • To enhance the mental health of these workers, support strategies (e.g. development of programs and interventions) were developed and were extended to HealthHub for Newcomers.

  • Alberta

  • Studentship

  • University of Calgary

  • Alberta International Medical Graduates Association (AIMGA)

  • Mitacs

  • 2021-2022

  • COVID-19

  • People at Work, Racialized Communities

About the Project

During the COVID-19 pandemic, front-line workers experienced more negative health and economic impacts coping with the pandemic. The research project’s objective was to identify mental health problems faced by visible minority essential workers (including immigrants and refugees), employed in the critical infrastructure sector such as healthcare, law enforcement, retail food, transportation and others, during the COVID-19 pandemic. It also examined these workers’ coping strategies in face of issues such as suffering from COVID-19, loss of loved ones and/or loss of income, amongst others.

Methodology

To understand how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the mental health of visible minority essential workers in Canada, the researcher applied a mixed-methods approach. First, the researcher analyzed national poll data from Mental Health Research Canada’s 6th to 11th surveys, focused exclusively on essential workers (5,845 participants). These polls provided insight into rates of anxiety, depression, suicidal thoughts, and coping among essential workers across the country, with a focus on visible minority communities. Second, 14 visible minority essential workers in Calgary who were working in non-health essential sectors—such as grocery stores, transport, and warehouses—were interviewed. Through in-depth interviews, the researcher explored their personal experiences during the pandemic, including the challenges they faced and how they tried to cope.

Findings

  • Moderate anxiety affected 17.49% of visible minority essential workers, higher than the 14.52% among non-visible minority workers.

  • Moderately severe depression was also more common among visible minorities (10.65%) compared to non-visible minority workers (8.42%).

  • Rates of severe anxiety and severe depression were similar between groups, with 4.71% and 5.27% among visible minority workers, and 5.65% and 5.25% among non-visible minority workers, respectively.

  • Suicidal thoughts or attempts in the past year were reported by 34.3% of visible minority essential workers, compared to 28.25% of their non-visible minority counterparts.

  • Despite these mental health challenges, 77.87% of visible minority essential workers said they were coping, although this was slightly lower than the 81.59% among non-visible minority workers. They drew strength from family cohesion, cultural and religious networks, and personal resilience, enabling them to cope despite intense stress and uncertainty.

  • They faced compounding vulnerabilities across personal, household, community, and workplace levels—including fear of infection, financial precarity, social isolation, and lack of access to culturally responsive mental health support.

Project Outreach

This project’s findings was used within the province Alberta.

Resources Created