Cultural Encounters: A Research-Intervention Approach for Working with Immigrants in the Community

Abstract

This chapter explores a research-intervention model for working with immigrant populations in the community selected by the Research and Training Centre of CSSS de la Montagne, a front-line health and social service institution located in a multiethnic neighbourhood in Montreal (Canada). Inspired by earlier work on clinical sociology in Quebec, this model encourages innovative forms of intervention practices based on the co-production of knowledge between researchers, health and social service practitioners and newly arrived immigrants. Three project case-studies will serve to illustrate this model. The first project involves a clinical resource specialised in interdisciplinary perinatal care adapted to the needs of women living in difficult situations. The project has integrated research findings and clinical observations to serve the needs of a largely new immigrant population. The second project was undertaken directly with recent immigrant families and involved the use of life narratives as a means of valorising family pasts and constructing meaning around the migratory project. Agency and empowerment are at the core of this project which places emphasis on family strengths and the way in which a family can be mobilised in order to facilitate the process of establishment in a new country. The second project involves the development of a series of training seminars for health and social service practitioners who work with immigrant populations in the community. Based on an intercultural training model, the seminars adopt a reflexive and critical approach to understanding the complexity of service provision in a multiethnic context and provide tools which reinforce the problem-solving capacity of practitioners. These projects will provide the basis for a discussion of the potential of a research-intervention model for improving resources and life conditions of immigrant populations.