Sunday, March 8 is International Women’s Day. Below is a TRU expert who can address issues of particular relevance to women.

Dr. Joyce O’Mahony is an associate professor in the TRU School of Nursing. Her background as a community health nurse encouraged her to explore further the mental-health care experiences of immigrant women in the postpartum period. More than 54,000 Syrian refugees have resettled to Canada in response to the unprecedented global refugee crisis. Over 4,000 Syrian refugees have arrived in BC since 2015 (three-quarters of them being women and children). O’Mahony and her team now are examining contextual factors that support emotional well-being of Syrian refugee mothers; intersecting factors such as social supports, gender issues, education, language and literacy needs. Engaging Syrian refugee mothers about their social support needs and the barriers they experience is critically important to inform health-care services and policy. Interventions are largely focused on developing community relationships to address multi-level factors which impact Syrian mothers during resettlement to promote overall family health. Her research is motivated by the need to enhance opportunities for improved health through the perspectives of immigrant and refugee women in the resettlement period.

Contact: 250-377-6138 | jomahony@tru.ca