PANEL
Edward Ou Jin Lee, Ahmed Hamila, Javier Fuentes Bernal, and additional speakers affiliated with the Clinic Mauve (School of Social Work, Université de Montréal)
LGBTQI+ migrants encounter multiple structural and intersecting barriers to health care access due to their migration status (xenophobia), racial identity (racism), sexual orientation (homophobia) and/or their gender identity (transphobia). COVID-19 and its restrictive public health measure further destabilized the public health-care system and marginalized LGBTQI+ migrants, making it more difficult to access care. In response to this crisis, the Clinic Mauve was launched in September 2020 in collaboration with community partners, offering medical and psycho-social services (social worker, psychologists, etc.) and outreach, including peer navigation. Results from an initial evaluation of the clinic’s services and programming suggest that since the arrival of COVID-19, many LGBTQI+ migrants who accessed the clinic experienced increased social isolation and mental health distress. However, participants reported a high degree of satisfaction and appreciation for the clinic’s integrated care model. Since its inception, the need for Clinic Mauve services has only continued to grow. This panel brings together the clinic’s researchers and health care workers to share key insights related to its implementation and evaluation, including the clinic’s strengths and on-going challenges to ensuring its long-term sustainability, notably due to institutional constraints. This panel also explores the role of LGBTQI+ migrants and racialized people, at various levels of the clinic’s research, training, supervision and practice⎯from peer navigation to graduate students to organizational leadership. Through this meaningful participation, the Clinic Mauve aims to transform health systems and contribute to more equitable, inclusive, and accessible futures for queer and trans migrant and racialized communities.
