Thursday, February 10, 2011

Hunting for Treasure

Last month, a conversation with a friend revealed that she was experiencing mental trauma. My first instinct was to advise her to pay a visit to her doctor’s office and explain the condition which had clearly started to affect her physical health. My fellow Nutrition students would know that this recommendation was based on 3 years of studying the professional practice of health sciences. Our professor have relentlessly placed great emphasis on the responsibility that the health practitioners hold (or should hold) to redirect their patients into the right direction in order to seek the appropriate health services.


My friend (let’s call her X), followed my advice and told me that her doctor (who is of similar culture and religion as X) referred her to the Shaw Clinic at York Central hospital, which specializes in psychiatric treatment. That was all fine and dandy, right up until her doctor told her that the referral entitled her to seek help for “anxiety and depression”. Unfortunately, that was not what my friend was looking for. She needed specialized counseling over issues that had little to do with anxiety or depression. However, according to her doctor, those issues weren't being covered by the Shaw clinic. Hence, X was disappointed because despite mustering up the courage to communicate her issues with a complete stranger (even if it was her family doctor), the appropriate help seemed unattainable. Yet, the disappointment did not end here, the doctor also told her that this referral was adequate enough for only one visit. After her initial visit, the health practitioners at the clinic would charge a fee per any additional sessions.


Fortunately, the doctor sensed X’s disappointment and asked her if she knew about the division of her local mosque which specializes in providing counseling for people dealing with similar issues.  X told me that this information helped her relax but she still remained skeptical in regards to this “division’s” existence and credibility. So she asked me if I had known about this facility in our local mosque.

I did not.
So why didn’t I? I had been to that mosque countless times. The health care freak within me would have spotted the marketing campaign for such facilities from a mile away! Was it even “advertised”? Community health centers such as the ones located within this massive mosque are clearly a great way to cater in religiously/culturally-sensitive care. People from the community have quick and easy access to it and they can explore solutions to problems which health practitioners of other backgrounds may not be able to understand. With such an immense amount of funding, donations, time, volunteer-ism, and knowledge of experts going into these sorts of establishments, it is only reasonable that its existence should be made known on a substantial scale. Perhaps there has been a shift from the lack of accessibility of such resources to the lack of promotion of the available resources.


Thousands of immigrants and refugees from varying origins are pouring into Canada every year. As human beings, we share similar mental and physiological health issues, however the ways to deal with them must be tailored to our diverse needs. Community health centers are an amazing phenomenon which can provide such immigrants with a greater fit of health care.  However, searching for them shouldn’t turn into a treasure hunt for people who may already be having troubles accessing the basic resources.  The facet of publicity that lies within the notion of accessibility must not be ignored.

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