Funding outcome

Chinese youth in Canada experience unique mental health challenges shaped by historical contexts and racism. In particular, Chinese youth in Alberta have faced post-COVID anti-Chinese racism, a turbulent political climate, and harsh stigma and stereotypes. This multi-phase, community-led research project engages Chinese youth in Alberta to explore how they envision reclaiming their mental health narratives and resist harmful stereotypes. The first phase will establish a Chinese youth community advisory group to guide the research, ensuring all stages of the research reflects Chinese youths' lived experiences. Through training sessions, youth will gain skills in participatory research, leadership, and community engagement. Chinese youths' engagement experiences will be evaluated to gain further insights for future research. The second phase will use focus groups to explore how Chinese youth navigate mental health challenges and envision change in their individual and collective selves. The focus groups will occur in a culturally meaningful setting over Chinese tea, traditionally known as yum cha, to foster collective healing. Data from the focus group discussions will be analyzed to explore shared patterns across Chinese youths' stories. By amplifying youth voices and centering cultural identity in mental health discussions, this project aims to generate community-led and culturally-relevant insights for community organizations that serve Chinese youth in Alberta.