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Canadian epidemiological data suggest an increasing number of HIV infections among people from HIV-endemic countries, including sub-Saharan Africa. Currently, there are few studies that focus on the lived experience of HIV illness among Canadian residents of African ancestry. The purpose of this paper is to study the lived experiences of African immigrants living with HIV in Canada, using narrative inquiry methodology.

This qualitative study focussed on the experiences of sub-Saharan African immigrants living with HIV in Alberta, Canada. Using the philosophical underpinnings of narrative inquiry methodology (Clandinin, 2013), three African immigrants living with HIV in Alberta contributed to this study over an extended period of time. Between five and six interviews were conducted with each participant, over a period of 12 months. Interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed, and negotiated with each participant during analysis to uncover the experience and meaning of living with HIV as African immigrants in Canada.

The researchers found several narrative threads related to: stigma, social, and family exclusion; as well as HIV illness as a complex personal, familial, and social experience. Also, narratives across different geographic and social spaces shaped the complex experience among African immigrants living with HIV in their new host country of Canada.

The authors recognize that the sample size, though appropriate for narrative inquiry study, was small. The intention with this research was not to generalize findings to the broader African immigrant community that is affected by HIV illness in Canada. Rather, the intent was to demonstrate a deeper understanding of lived experience, among African immigrants living with HIV in Canada.

The findings show the complex personal, familial, and societal factors that shape the experience of living with HIV and HIV-related stigma among African immigrants. It is important to understand such factors and the experience of HIV-related stigma because such experiences impact access to health and social services, as well as health and social outcomes of immigrants living with HIV.

This is the first Canadian study to examine lived experience of African immigrants living with HIV in Canada. This study demonstrates a deep understanding of lived experience, among African immigrants living with HIV in Canada. Complex personal, familial, and societal factors shape the experience of living with HIV and HIV-related stigma. Based on the findings of this study, further research is needed to: study more closely the familial contexts of African families affected by HIV in Canada; explore the social and political landscapes that impact the experience of HIV illness and related stigma in Canada, in the context of migration and settlement; and examine the relationship between these experiences and the health and social outcomes of African immigrants living with HIV in Canada.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the educational experiences of sub-Saharan African undocumented students in Moroccan public schools, as well as the perceptions of instructors regarding the challenges and needs of sub-Saharan students in the capital city of Morocco, Rabat.

A qualitative interpretative case study approach was implemented to investigate this topic. This study involved seven respondents who had experience working with sub-Saharan students in their classrooms.

The findings of this study indicate that Moroccan public schools provide sub-Saharan African students with free education and a welcoming and secure learning environment. However, inadequate educational conditions, such as deficiencies in the designed programs, possibly limited competence of teachers, lack of professional instructors capable of teaching migrants and insufficient resources, can all hinder the learning process and educational integration of sub-Saharan African students.

This study contributes to the limited body of research on intercultural education in the Northern African region. The educational challenges and needs of hundreds or thousands of sub-Saharan African immigrants settling in Morocco are often overlooked or not given adequate consideration in scholarly works.

The aim of this paper is to present a conceptual model on foreign-born health care workers from developing countries working in the US. The model covers their motivations for migration, the consequences in terms of the inequality and exclusion they may experience and the role of institutional responses at micro-, macro- and meso-level of intervention.

The paper is based on: (1) in-depth review of key literature studies on the foundation theories of international migration including sociology, economics, anthropology, psychology and human resource management, (2) analysis of theoretical approaches to medical migration across disciplines, (3) analysis of the international and national documentary sources of micro-, macro- and meso-level policies on migration and (4) analysis of evidence on best practices, solutions and aspirational changes across different levels of institutions.

(1) Migration of international medical graduates (IMGs) from developing countries to the US can be explained from a micro-, macro- and meso-level of analysis. (2) IMGs who identify as racial/ethnic minorities may experience unfair discrimination differently than their US-born counterparts. (3) Although political/legislative remedies have had some successes, proactive initiatives will be needed alongside enforcement strategies to achieve equity and inclusion. (4) While diversity management initiatives abound in organizations, those designed for the benefit of IMGs from developing countries are rare. (5) Professional identity groups and some nonprofits may challenge structural inequities, but these have not yet achieved economies of scale.

Although it is well-documented in the US health care literature how ethnic/racial minorities are unfairly disadvantaged in work and career, the studies are rarely disaggregated according to sub-groups (e.g. non-White IMGs and US-born MGs). The implication is that Black IMG immigrants have been overlooked by the predominant narratives of native-born, Black experiences. In placing the realities of native-born Blacks on the entire Black population in America, data have ignored and undermined the diverse histories, identities and experiences of this heterogeneous group.

An awareness of the challenges IMGs from developing countries face have implications for managerial decisions regarding recruitment and selection. Besides their medical qualifications, IMGs from developing countries offer employers additional qualities that are critical to success in health care delivery. Considering organizations traditionally favor White immigrants from Northern and Southern Europe, IMGs from developed countries migrate to the US under relatively easier circumstances. It is important to balance the scale in the decision-making process by including an evaluation of migration antecedents in comprehensive selection criteria.

The unfair discrimination faced by IMGs who identify as racial/ethnic minority are multilayered and will affect them in ways that are different compared to their US-born counterparts. In effect, researchers need to make this distinction in research on racial discrimination. Since IMGs are not all uniformly impacted by unfair discrimination, organization-wide audits should be in tune with issues that are of concerns to IMGs who identify as racial/ethnic minorities. Likewise, diversity management strategies should be more inclusive and should not ignore the intersectionality of race/ethnicity, nationality, country of qualification and gender.

Immigrant health care workers from developing countries are integral to the health care industry in the United States. They make up a significant proportion of all workers in the health care industry in the US. Although the literature is replete with studies on immigrant health care workers as a whole, research has rarely focused on immigrant health care workers from developing countries. The paper makes a valuable contribution in drawing attention to this underappreciated group, given their critical role in the ongoing pandemic and the need for the US health industry to retain their services to remain viable in the future.

This paper aims to explore the intersection of cultural processes and immigration in parental understanding of adolescent mental health and mental health seeking behaviors among African immigrants in Western countries. The present study examines the perspectives of Congolese immigrant parents on adolescent mental health in Brussels, Belgium, and Raleigh, North Carolina, USA – two geographic regions with relatively large Congolese migrant populations. This study highlights a needed understanding of cultural and acculturative context in shaping the beliefs of Congolese immigrants and explores potential barriers of seeking health services. Additionally, it recognizes health issues among this underrepresented and underserved population.

Fifteen Congolese immigrant parents, eight in the USA and seven in Belgium, participated in structured qualitative interviews using an adapted version of Kleinman Questions and behavioral scenarios on depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and oppositional defiant disorder. Interviews were audio recorded, and participants were assigned pseudonyms to de-identify responses. English interviews were transcribed verbatim by a trained team of undergraduate research assistants, and French interviews were transcribed verbatim by the first author and a graduate research assistant. Following transcription, the first and second authors used a rapid analytic approach (Hamilton, 2013). The first and second authors conducted a matrix analysis to observe thematic patterns.

Parents interpreted adolescent behavior to be more problematic when the scenarios were overtly outside of their cultural realm of values and beliefs. Parents preferred methods of intervention through religious practices and/or family and community efforts rather than seeking mental health services in their host countries as a secondary option. The authors’ findings provide an understanding of the values and beliefs of this underrepresented demographic, which may be useful to guide health professionals on how to support this community in a culturally responsive way.

Limitations to the current study include the structured nature of the interview guide that did not allow for in-depth qualitative exploration. Interviewed participants had lived in their host countries for more than 10+ years. Thus, the authors’ findings are not reflective of new immigrants’ experiences. Parents’ perspectives were likely shaped by exposure to Western beliefs related to support for mental health (e.g. knowledge of psychologists). Future studies should focus on recent refugees due to exposure to traumatic events and experiences reflective of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC’s) current socio-political situation, and how these are understood in the context of adolescent mental health. Further, due to the hypothetical nature of the scenarios, the authors cannot be sure that participants would engage in the identified approaches with their children. Additionally, hearing from the youth’s perspective would provide a clearer insight on how mental health and seeking professional help is viewed in a parent–child relationship. Finally, the data for this study were collected in 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the authors cannot speak directly to Congolese refugee and immigrant experiences during this significant historical period, given the rise in mental health concerns in refugee populations more broadly (Logie et al., 2022), the authors’ findings speak to how parents may have responded to increased mental health symptoms and point to additional barriers that these populations may have faced in accessing support. The authors’ study emphasizes the need for dedicating resources and attention to this population, especially the development of culturally tailored messaging that invites community members to support the mental health needs of their community.

The authors’ findings provide important implications for mental health professionals. This study provides a clearer understanding of how Congolese immigrant parents view mental health and help-seeking within their cultural frame. Although parents may seek professional help, a distrust of mental health services was expressed across both cohorts. This suggests that mental health professionals should acknowledge potential distrust among this population and clarify their role in supporting the mental health of adolescent immigrants. Clinicians should inquire about familial cultural beliefs that are parent- and child-centered and modify their interventions to fit these belief structures.

This paper addresses the gap in knowledge about mental health perspectives of Sub-Saharan African immigrant populations, specifically those from the DRC.

The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of African community leaders, on factors that influence substance use and mental health status of Sub-Sahara African immigrants living in the northeast region of the USA.

A social constructionist approach to grounded theory was used to understand social life’s complexity in the African community. Data analysis consisted of initial coding and focused coding, which led to the emerging of the following mid-range theories.

The following mid-range theories are developed: the work culture of Sub-Sahara African immigrants may influence substance-use behaviors, impact treatment for mental health and contribute to interpersonal conflicts related to marriage and parenting; there may be a relationship between the culture of privacy and spirituality because the church is often a place of comfort, and many may not seek treatment for mental health for fear of losing that community; Sub-Sahara African immigrants’ mental health and substance-use behaviors are influenced by unique factors that stem from balancing living in the new culture while also preserving their unique cultural norms.

The analysis of perceptions of African community leaders underscored “On the go” as a metaphor for describing Sub-Sahara African immigrants.

The educational experiences of Black immigrant women in P-16 education are often understudied in critical scholarship about race, ethnicity, and gender. The existing literature on Black students in US higher education tends to overlook within-group diversity, oftentimes highlighting the experience of domestically born African Americans and neglecting the experiences of Black people born outside of the country. To address this gap in the education discourse, we examined the experiences of Black, African immigrant girls and women who have experienced all or part of their P-16 education in the United States. Using a combination of Critical Race Feminism (CRF) and transnationalism as our theoretical frameworks, we sought to answer two research questions: (1) How do Black immigrant women in the film describe their process of racial, ethnic, and gender identity formation? and (2) What are the literacy practices and educational experiences of Black African girls and women? Methodologically, we drew from Saldaña's (2009) model of film-based qualitative inquiry to analyze the documentary Am I: Too African to be American or Too American to be African? (directed by Dr Nadia Sasso). In our analysis, we foreground the lived experiences of eight women from three African countries: Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Senegal. Major findings from this qualitative analysis include: (1) the importance of cultural negotiation for immigrant girls and women, (2) the presence of dualities in language and ways of speaking in education, (3) a tumultuous racial identity formation process, and (4) the linked perceptions of students' gender identity and beauty. Finally, we present implications for immigration policy, inclusive research, and equitable practice across P-16 education.

The purpose of this paper is to conduct a systematic review of published literature studying the health of African immigrants in the USA and to develop a formal set of recommendations for future researchers aiming to improve the health outcomes in this population.

A comprehensive search was initiated on PubMed, Cochrane, ERIC, DOAJ, Prospero and Scopus databases. Final inclusion criteria were: systematic reviews, studying African Immigrants in the USA, measuring a clinical health outcome, since 1999. Articles were screened in four stages by title, abstract, full-text of the review and full-text of the primary studies within each review. Data was abstracted by identifying general information, study population, outcome measurements, conclusions and recommendations of each review.

In the initial search, 519 potential reviews were identified. After removing duplicates, 473 articles were excluded by screening the title or abstract. After a full-text review of each article and primary study within each article, nine reviews were included in the final synthesis. Reviews covered Female Genital Cutting and Pregnancy Outcomes, Caesarean Births, Gestational Diabetes, Cancer, HIV/AIDS, Body-weight and Acculturation. Among the primary reports included in the final synthesis, less than 50 per cent studied African immigrants in the USA. African Americans living in the USA made up only 11 per cent of the pooled study sample.

Immigrants from Africa are one of the fastest-growing populations in the USA. This group has been underrepresented in health research, leading to a poor understanding of the group’s health outcomes. Health researchers must adopt recommendations and prioritize studies that meet the health needs of Africans during this time of demographic transition.

Systematic reviews represent a bedrock of medical evidence and signify a solid understanding of accepted knowledge in the field. Systematic reviews, however, do not necessarily constitute the end of discovery. Researchers can use existing systematic reviews to critique previous studies or initiate future research. There remain significant research gaps analyzing the health outcomes, behaviors and treatment of subgroups of African immigrants living in the USA. Future research should shift toward the growing needs of the population, leveraging the strengths and diversity of African immigrants now living in the USA.

Migration from third‐world and low‐income countries to high‐income Western countries presents significant challenges for individuals and families, and for health service providers in the receiving societies. Cultural conflicts related to preferred body size/shape and parenting practices, together with differential intergenerational rates and styles of acculturation, can affect nutritional and lifestyle choices and be associated with high rates of childhood obesity. Using African cultures as an example, this paper examines these issues. It concludes that, in designing and implementating obesity prevention programmes, health service providers need to understand these factors and how they play out.

Malta is a small, densely populated, and dominantly Catholic island republic not too far off the North-African coast. Before 2002, Malta never had to deal with many irregular immigrants. Nevertheless, negative stigmas toward “southerners” were pre-existent and seemed to have been around for centuries. This stigmatization was caused by a historical identification of the self of Maltese citizens as Christian Europeans. By 2002, irregular migration patterns changed and thousands of African irregular immigrants started arriving by boat every year. Keeping in mind the smallness of the island, this had a considerable impact on its ethnographic landscape. Pre-existing stigmas strongly persisted, additional stigmas were created, and many supposed inconveniences were fabricated by the Maltese citizenry. The title “outsiders as invaders” is quoted from an interview with a Maltese expert on irregular migration. This brings attention to the fact that stigmatized persons who are living in Malta are still regularly demonized and seen as “the others” by mainstream society. Even today barely any effort is made by Maltese society, institutions, or even its government to support integration and acceptance of non-European outsiders.