Experiences of Immigrant/Refugee Caregiver-Employees in Canada
This research project examines the role strain and associated health outcomes experienced by immigrant/refugee caregiver-employees in the context of informal caregiving and paid work in Grand Erie, Canada. Using a qualitative approach with intensive interviews, the study delves into the challenges faced by caregiver-employees and their demographic characteristics. Findings reveal insights into the struggles and complexities of balancing caregiving responsibilities with paid employment among immigrant and refugee populations in urban-rural settings.
Download Presentation
Please find below an Image/Link to download the presentation.
The content on the website is provided AS IS for your information and personal use only. It may not be sold, licensed, or shared on other websites without obtaining consent from the author. Download presentation by click this link. If you encounter any issues during the download, it is possible that the publisher has removed the file from their server.
E N D
Presentation Transcript
Working Multiple Shifts: Experiences of Immigrant/Refugee Caregiver- Employees in Urban-Rural Canada Bharati Sethi, Kings College, Western University Allison Williams, School of Geography & Earth Sciences, McMaster University This project has been funded by a CIHR-IGH Research Chair in Gender, Work and Health, titled Chair in Gender, Health and Caregiver Chair in Gender, Health and Caregiver- -Friendly Workplaces Workplaces (Award Reference Number CIHR-P 60484). Friendly
Caregiver-Employees Caregiver-employees (CEs) are defined as family members and other significant people who provide unpaid care & assistance to individuals living with debilitating physical, mental or cognitive conditions, while also working in paid employment Often results in role strain, psychological distress, mental & physical health issues
Research Question How do immigrant/refugee caregiver- employees (CE s) experience role strain and associated health outcomes in the context of informal caregiving and paid work in Grand Erie?
Methods Qualitative approach Intensive conversational style interviews (n=13) Charmaz s Constructivist theory & Intersectionality theory (2005, 2006, 2012)
Data Analysis Interviews Transcribe Code
Table 1: CE Characteristics (n=13) Characteristics Age 35-44 45-54 55-64 Ethnicity Black/African Asian Caucasian (white) Mixed ethnic origin Jamaican Immigration Status Canadian Citizen Landed Immigrant or Permanent Citizen Work Visa Number of years living in Canada Less than 5 years 10-15 years More than 15 years Country of Birth Africa Serbia Portugal India Philippines Singapore Jamaica England Yugoslavia Puerto Rico Level of Education Registered apprenticeship or trade certificate College, GCEP, or non-university diploma/certificate University degree-Bachelors University degree-Masters Lives with the care recipient Yes No Number of dependents1 One Two Three Four Five or more Zero n 4 6 3 4 3 3 2 1 10 2 1 1 5 7 3 1 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 5 5 1 2 8 5 2 4 2 1 2 2
Table 1: CE Characteristics (n=13) Sector of work Home Care (including PSWs) Aesthetics Social Services Nursing Public Health Pharmacy Human Resources in Health Sector Location of Occupation City of Brantford Haldimand County Brant County Years in Employment Less than 5 years 5 to 10 years 10-15 years More than 15 years Employment Status Full-time Part-time Contract More than one job Self-Employed Relationship to care recipient Spouse Parent Son/daughter Friend Aunt Time in caregiving role Less than 1 year 1 to 5 years 5 to 10 years 10 to 15 years Greater than 15 years Number of hours spent providing care, per week < 5 hours 5-10 hours 10-15 hours 15-20 hours 20-25 hours Help with caregiving Yes No 4 1 3 1 1 2 1 10 1 2 5 5 1 2 5 2 3 2 1 4 3 4 1 1 1 3 5 1 3 2 3 1 2 5 10 3
Table 1: CE Characteristics (n=13) Currently practicing religion Yes No Income $30,000 - $39,000 $50,000 - $59,000 $70,000 or more Prefer not to answer Finances meet needs Very well Adequately With some difficulty Not very well Totally inadequately Marital Status Married Divorced or separated 11 2 6 4 1 2 1 2 7 1 2 8 5
Study Themes o 1: Immigrants Meaning of Caregiving o 2: Intersecting Realities in Managing Multiple Shifts o A) Caregiving &Health o B) Caregiving & Career o C) Caregiving & Family Relationships o 3: Deskilling & Racism o 4: Resilience & Coping
Theme 1: Immigrants Meaning of Theme 1: Immigrants Meaning of Caregiving Caregiving o Gender & other axis of diversity o Responsibility & obligation
Gender & Culture (Patriarchal) In my culture, its the wife. We call her the light of the home or the uh, [Silence] yeah light of the home and like uh, the foundation of the home because we keep the family together and the needs of the family are looked after by the wife. (Isha) I am from Zimbabwe. In our culture mostly women provide care if someone is sick. We are the ones who are responsible to provide care. (Tonderai)
Gender & Culture My niece s father is a financial provider. He works, he brings home his money, he contributes to the family financially. In terms of physical help with her, or even emotional support to his wife , because she is the one providing care to her daughter, uh that essentially it was not existent. So he never lifted a finger to help with my niece, never. (Mary)
Gender, Culture, Age, & Sexual Orientation So in terms of the cultural piece it s a moving target sometimes. It means that culturally, I am aware of shifting, conflicting feelings about who am I as a caregiver and as a mother in this young man s life? Uh, so that is culturally. In terms of gender, as a woman and as a woman whose background is East-Indian, I feel the tug and pool of what that looks like from my heritage. Uh, I am living in a Western culture and as a lesbian it also means that my ability at 48 to be an individual adult woman that shares parenting and has a young man as a son, means that the shift in that needs to be me pulling back more.. (Sam)
Culture & Community (Collectivist vs. Individualist Societies) Even if it s a neighbour and they can t help themselves, then you assist them the best way you can. Other people will come and help, if they re your neighbours or if they re your family.... (Ena) She, (my neighbour) is Canadian and first of all when I offered to help she didn t take me as somebody who was intellectual . She just thought Oh! What can she know? How can she provide care? Until she saw me doing the care that s when she built the trust. (Sophie)
Theme 2: Intersecting Realities in Theme 2: Intersecting Realities in Managing Multiple Shifts Managing Multiple Shifts o Multiple Shifts time/space tension o Carrying out unpaid caregiving at home or transnationally to someone who was ill; o Taking care of other dependents (i.e. children &/or spouse) who were not ill o Having one or more paid jobs in the health sector
Working all the time I work night shift from 11 to 7, I ll be at work. When I come home in the morning, I get children ready for school. Then I ll get, like 4 hours during the day to sleep. Then when my children come, I have to help the little one with homework. If I finish, then I have to go again and sleep for another 2 hours. Then I have to go to work again. (Dealer)
Time/Space Tension Everything was scheduled down to the minute. So much, so that if I want to pick up prescriptions for my mother, uhm....I get some delivered but sometimes you have to go to the pharmacy and talk to the pharmacist. I'd be in a panic. Well what if I see someone I know and then want to stop and talk. I just don't have time for that and the same thing racing around getting the groceries. Everything's timed to the minute, what if the check-out it takes longer and I'm gonna be late for when I start my shift up my mom's? (Carmen)
Minimal Support But when my sister became incapacitated, immediately we didn't have anyone. So it's my aunt, that is 75 years old, and my best friend, who is, has a heart condition, and she is 54, and the reason she is not working is because she has a heart condition. So we are calling upon, and we are accepting help from who is offering it, in whatever way that would help us. (Mary)
A) Caregiving & Health o Being chronically sleep deprived o Being tired o Caregiving impacted emotional health o Caregiving impacted physical health o Not eating healthy
Sometimes I think I continue like this I am going to be the one who will land in the wheel chair....my age and physical demand of work....its too much but I cannot leave (my) job. (Tonderai) Okay. My health, I can say it has deteriorated.. Because if you are not getting enough sleep, you always get headaches, and your heart always pumps so fast. So, those are some of the health issues which I m starting, because I m not getting enough sleep. (Dealer)
Well, caregiving impacted my health because I wasnt taking care of myself. I wasn t even considering how much exercise I was getting. I used to walk. I wasn t taking care of what I was eating. I probably drank more wine than I should have ...So I gained weight. And its taken a long time to even think about myself again ( Gardiner) Emotionally, you just feel like you are trapped.. (laughter) (Susan)
B) Caregiving & Career o Not having time to think about career goals o Putting career on hold
Career on Hold I wanted to go ahead with doing the nursing program, but now, because of my mom getting sick and everything is too...Like, I have too much on my plate, I can t balance it, and it s kind of like stressed out. I finished my prerequisites for my nursing, but to go into the nursing, I m just afraid that if I start, then that means I m not going to take care of my mom. That s my fear. (Dealer)
No Time to Think about Career Goals Yeah, yeah, I don't even know that I.... I have put everything on hold. I haven't even cleaned my house in five weeks [Laughter] I haven't even had my dog at home in five weeks. So my career goals at this point in time . I sort of live moment to moment, day to day . (Mary)
C) Caregiving & Family Relationships o Caregiving impacting family social gatherings o Not being able to pay attention to other relationships/feeling guilt o Not being able to support other family members transnational caregiving o Caregiving strengthening relationships
Transnational Caregiving back home I am looking after my brother s son my nephew. And I am sending him to school. But I have delayed paying school fees. He said, Aunty I need the money for the university.. I know that I have to send money. It really affected because I am paying for my daughter. I had to phone my younger sister I told her that I am having financial problems and if she would help me with financing my nephew s tuition because I cannot. I just cannot do that right now. It s very difficult . (Tonderai)
Theme 3: Deskilling & Racism o Deskilling o Racism
Deskilling I now have my human resources certification in Canada. I have my immigration certification in Canada. I have got my human resources license in Canada. I have had this for the past eight years. I have not been able to get an HR job in Brantford. I have not been able to get an HR job in any of the close cities nearby. (Janavi)
Racism It s very subtle and you don t want to jump into conclusions that it is because of my skin colour . But you know it is because maybe its your colour, because you are immigrant, or maybe because your English is not good. But because they don't say why they want someone else, you cannot really report to the unit manager. (Susan)
Geography Uh, I think so because Brantford didn t used to have multicultural, it is more white. (Susan) GTA has a more diverse environment. The employers there are more diverse.. (Javani)
Managements Response Well, most times they said that there is always a partner. Like, we always work as a team, so there are other PSWs or nurses there that hear the comment, but nobody has ever done anything.. (Ena) When I m supported, I feel so good, because that means these people will know that we are also human and we have feelings too. (Dealer)
Theme 4: Resilience & Coping o Food & Friendship o Prayer
Food & Friendship Sometimes, like, when we have time with my friends, some of the people who come from my country, we plan to do the small party. Then we do potlucks and we try to cook our meals like back home, and then we put together and we eat and we dance. (Dealer)
Prayer Oh for me, faith is everything. If I don t go to church on Sunday, I have a hard week because I know I have to have one day for God to keep my spirit life healthy. And if my spirit is not healthy, then everything else will fail. (Iza)
Conclusions Implications for: Employers Government
Message to Employers o Consider implementing & increase knowledge about caregiver-friendly policies (CFWPs) o Address HR/Managers/Supervisors: o Approachability o Involvement in addressing racism
Message to Government o Regulating/legislating CFWPs o Provide additional community supports
Questions/Comments? Thank you!
