Promoting Black Students’ Mental Health Research & Intervention Project

My name is Dr. Agnes Berthelot-Raffard and I am an assistant professor at York university in the School of Health Policy Management.  I am the principal investigator of a pan-Canadian research project titled: Promoting Black Students’ Mental Health: A Research and Intervention project of the social determinants of Health and Equity in Canadian Universities.  

Funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada for a three-year period (2021-2024), the purpose of this research is to understand the unique mental health barriers Black students face within an academic setting and create culturally appropriate resources to improve their health and wellness.    

This pan-Canadian and bilingual study will involve the dissemination of several quantitative online surveys, and qualitative focus groups and one-on-one interviews among them a pan Canadian quantitative survey on Racial Climate on Canadian Campuses. 

Currently we are looking for participants who identify as Black and/or African students who are 18 or older enrolled at a Canadian university.  The students’ participation will involve a focus group with 8 people for 3 hours on a safe Zoom platform.  The focus group with involve questions about the impact of racism and epistemic injustices on mental health and the influence of racial microaggressions on self-perception.  An incentive will be provided to participate in this study.   

Please circulate this message among your network.   If you have any questions about this study, you may contact Dr. Agnes Berthelot-Raffard (Principal Investigator) at aberthel@yorku.ca or Amoy Jacques, research project coordinator at ajaq81@yorku.ca