Toward holistic and community-based interventions in the mental health of Black and Filipino youth

Abstract

The field of social work needs critical education on how colonialism and oppression have impacted the mental health experiences of Black and Filipino youth. The psychological and socio-political factors impacting these particular youth have been examined in the literature, and we highlight the need for transformative change within service provision and interventions. Our article proposes an alternative model based on culturally relevant, decolonial, intersectional, holistic, and community-based interventions within the Region of Peel, Ontario, Canada. Situated within a settler colonial nation-state, we maintain that our proposed interventions have the potential to engage in decolonization and the building of solidarities with other marginalized groups, specifically other racialized communities and Indigenous Nations, going beyond the dominant clinical models in youth mental health. We propose that these interventions centre the particular and respective experiences of Black and Filipino youth in this geographical location, dismantling settler colonialism using intersectional and decolonial frameworks.