Summary

Background: With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the need arose to maintain treatment continuity for religious Jewish Ultra-Orthodox young women with eating disorders (EDs). This need leading to the development of home-based online treatment channels, previously unfamiliar and unaccepted in this population. Aims: To investigate our online home-based treatment model implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic Method: We briefly review the literature on 1. The Jewish Israeli Ultra-Orthodox culture; 2. Young women in Ultra-Orthodox society; and 3. EDs in Jewish Israeli Ultra-Orthodox women. We then present the inpatient ED department for Ultra-Orthodox young women and describe the online treatment model adapted to this population during the COVID-19 pandemic. We highlight the difficulties, dilemmas, and advantages of our online model with the description of three patients. Findings: Online therapy can serve as a barrier to treatment in some cases, due to physical (lack of suitable online devices except phones), familial (over-crowded families), and religious circumstances, as well as because of the patient's reluctance to take part in this treatment. In other cases, virtual home-based treatment can lead to a positive change. This may be the case in patients who find the distancing online model suitable for them, and in parents who are committed to treatment, using their greater physical and emotional presence at home during the COVID-19 pandemic for the good of their ill daughters.Discussion: This paper highlights the difficulties and possibilities inherent in a virtual home-based treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic for Ultra-Orthodox young women previously hospitalized because of an ED. This model can be effective for some patients and families if undertaken by a multidisciplinary team that is not only knowledgeable about the treatment of EDs and the use of online strategies but also knowledgeable and culturally sensitive to the specific needs and codes of Ultra-Orthodox populations.

Keywords (separate with commas)

anorexia nervosa, COVID-19, eating disorders, home hospitalization, online treatment, Jewish Ultra-Orthodox

Summary

Social capital literature makes it abundantly clear that international migrants benefit from relationships with people outside of their own ethnic group. Inter-ethnic relationships can provide newcomers with new sources of information, help them access different resources (e.g. housing, employment) than those available in their own communities, and increase their sense of inclusion and belonging in their new home. Community organizations in the settlement sector play a central role in the integration of newcomers in Canada. Every year, these organizations receive and support immigrants from various ethnic backgrounds. However, little research has explored the inter-ethnic relationships that are established within the settlement sector. Through a pan-Canadian study, semi-structured interviews were conducted in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal with practitioners (n=40) and service users (n=40) in the settlement sector. The nature of the results is twofold: 1) this research permitted to describe the nature of the inter-ethnic relationships taking place in the establishment sector and 2) the impact of those relationships on the integration of immigrants was assessed. Furthermore, this research explores how policy differences between Quebec and the rest of Canada impact inter-ethnic relationships in the settlement sector. Understanding the nature of these relationships and how they are tied to policy can allow us to understand better what contributes to the integration of immigrants, and therefore guide practices and policies, in Canada and in other destination countries.

Keywords (separate with commas)

migration, inter-ethnic relationships, settlement sector, community organizations, social integration, immigration policies

Summary

The population of older adults in\ Canadian society is ageing and becoming more ethnically diverse. Some scholars have explored the lived experiences of older immigrants in Western societies, however, studies on widowhood experiences among older immigrants are extremely limited. Adopting an intersectionality framework, this study seeks to address this gap by examining\ the influences of age, gender, immigrant status, ethnicity on the lived experience of widowed older Chinese immigrants in Calgary, Canada.\ Data were collected from 12 in-depth qualitative interviews and thematically analyzed. Older Chinese immigrants’ widowhood experiences were located within intersections of multiple identities. Findings suggest that an intersectionality perspective could be used to better inform the development of social work practice and policy making for older immigrants.\ 

Keywords (separate with commas)

widowhood, older adult, Chinese immigrant, lived experience, spousal bereavement, intersectionality\ 

Summary

To date, there has been limited scholarly analysis of manifestations of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse (ICSA) within Jewish, Ultra-orthodox communities. The Australian Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (2013-2017) (RCIRCSA) provided a valuable examination of two ultra-orthodox organisations in Australia, \ and additionally issued a set of child safety recommendations for application. \ RCIRCSA recommendations and broader community observations addressed the need to support, (rather than discourage) disclosures, improve reporting to authorities, and provide greater survivor support as opposed to siding with individuals against whom allegations had been laid. The dilemma of institutional and communal reputational prioritization was also noted.Further highlighting cultural concerns in management of incidents of ICSA, was the recent, extended high-profile case of Malka Leifer, principal at the ultra-orthodox Adass Jewish school in Melbourne. Recently found guilty on a series of charges of sexually abusing two former students, Leifer was assisted to flee to Israel in 2008 by members of the communal leadership as they became aware of a series of allegations made against her, prior to reporting their concerns to police, thus enabling her to avoid extradition and facing the courts, prior to 2021.The paper addresses:- Ultra-orthodox cultural leadership practices that have failed to protect children, in particular practices that have acted as barriers to disclosure of sexual abuse;- Performance of mainstream Australian, Jewish leadership in addressing child safety within these communities;- Likely commonalities with other comparable faith-based communities; and\ - Acknowledgement of the existence of child safety inadequacies in more contemporary times, in mainstream Jewish institutions and their leadership performance.This paper presents as part of a study addressing:- Institutional Child Sexual Abuse and Jewish Communal Leadership; and- Improved policy, practice and tailored community education to promote child safety within Jewish communities.

Keywords (separate with commas)

Institutional Child Sexual Abuse, Ultra-orthodox Jewish organisations, Jewish community, Australia, Leadership