Promoting Health Equity: Mental Health of Black Canadians Fund Community Report (2018-2024) : Glossary

This glossary defines key terms and concepts used in the Promoting Health Equity: Mental Health of Black Canadians Fund Community Report (2018-2024).

Anti-Black racism

Prejudice, attitudes, beliefs, stereotyping and discrimination directed at people of African descent and rooted in their unique history and experience of enslavement. Anti-Black racism is deeply entrenched in Canadian institutions, policies and practices. As such, anti-Black racism is either functionally normalized or rendered invisible to the larger white society. Anti-Black racism is manifested in the legacy of the current social, economic, and political marginalization of Black people in Canada, such as:^{Footnote 1}

• a lack of opportunities
• lower socio-economic status
• higher unemployment
• significant poverty rates
• overrepresentation in the criminal justice system

Afrocentric

An approach to knowledge, wellness and healing that centers African values, philosophies and worldviews. In mental health programming, Afrocentricity emphasizes culturally relevant care, community connection and historical awareness of systemic oppression.^{Footnote 2}

Black people in Canada

Generally includes diverse individuals, populations, and communities in Canada that identify as having African or Caribbean ancestry.^{Footnote 3}

Culturally focused

Mental health strategies that reflect the beliefs, customs, histories, and lived experiences of specific cultural communities. MHBC funded projects adopted culturally focused approaches to ensure services are responsive to the unique needs of Black people in Canada.^{Footnote 4}

Culturally relevant

The ability of organizations and professionals to understand, communicate with, and effectively interact with people across cultures. In the MHBC context, this includes incorporating culturally safe practices, values, and languages specific to Black communities in Canada.^{Footnote 5}

Decolonized

Strategies and practices that challenge and transform the Eurocentric foundations of mental health systems by centering Indigenous and African ways of knowing, healing, and community care. This includes rejecting deficit-based models and supporting Black-led mental health leadership.^{Footnote 6}

Disaggregated data

Disaggregated data is broken down into component parts or smaller units of data for statistical analysis. In the context of race-based data, this means breaking down the composite (aggregate) "racialized" category into its component parts such as Black, South Asian, East or Southeast Asian, Latino, Middle Eastern, and white.^{Footnote 7}

Discrimination

Treating someone unfairly by either imposing a burden on them, or denying them a privilege, benefit or opportunity enjoyed by others, because of their race, citizenship, family status, disability, sex or other personal characteristics.^{Footnote 8}

Equity

The absence of unfair, unjust, systematic, and avoidable differences in health status or social determinants of health. A health equity approach seeks to reduce inequalities and to increase access to opportunities and conditions conducive to health for all. Heightened efforts to address the needs of populations that are at higher risk for poor health outcomes can help reduce health inequities between different population groups.^{Footnote 9}

Intersectional lens

Acknowledges the ways in which people's lives are shaped by their multiple and overlapping identities and social locations. Together they can produce a unique and distinct experience for that individual or group, for example by creating additional barriers or opportunities. MHBC funded projects applied an intersectional lens to better serve diverse Black populations.^{Footnote 10}

Knowledge mobilization

The synthesis, adaptation, dissemination and active exchange of knowledge.^{Footnote 11}

Lived experience

The firsthand knowledge and insight gained from personal experiences of mental health, racism or marginalization. MHBC funded projects often centered lived experience to guide project development and implementation.^{Footnote 12}

Mental health

A person's state of psychological, emotional and social well-being. It is a necessary resource for living a healthy life and a main factor in overall health. It does not mean the same thing as mental illness. However, poor mental health can lead to mental and physical illness.

Positive mental health allows a person to feel, think, and act in ways that help them enjoy life and cope with its challenges. Mental health can be positively or negatively influenced by factors at the individual, family, community and societal levels, including:

• life experiences
• social relationships
• physical health
• social determinants of health

Positive mental health

PHAC defines positive mental health as "the capacity of each and all of us to feel, think, and act in ways that enhance our ability to enjoy life and deal with the challenges we face". It is a key factor in individual and community health. It contributes to the function of individuals, families and communities. It also contributes to the social and economic prosperity of society.^{Footnote 13}

Race-based data collection

Collecting and analyzing data that identifies people on the basis of race, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation and other human rights grounds. Data collection can help to support human rights and human resources strategies for organizations in the public, private and non-profit sectors. MHBC projects support race-based data collection to better understand and address mental health inequities.^{Footnote 14}

Resilience

The ability of individuals and communities to recover from adversity, trauma or stress. MHBC projects used strengths-based approaches to build resilience among participants, particularly in response to COVID-19 and systemic racism.^{Footnote 15}

Safe spaces

Environments where people feel physically and emotionally secure, respected and free from discrimination. MHBC projects prioritized creating safe spaces for Black people to explore mental health topics and receive support.^{Footnote 16}

Social determinants of health

The social, economic and environmental factors that relate to a person's place in society, and that determine individual and population health. These include gender, race, income, education and employment.^{Footnote 17}

Systemic or institutional racism

Patterns of behavior, policies or practices that are part of the social or administrative structures of an organization, and which create or perpetuate disadvantage for racialized people. These appear neutral on the surface but still have an exclusionary impact.^{Footnote 18}

Ubuntu principles

Ubuntu is a set of principles with roots in the Nguni Bantu languages, particularly Zulu and Xhosa. It is often translated as "I am because we are." It expresses the belief that individual identity and well-being are deeply interconnected with the broader community. This communal worldview emphasizes empathy, mutual respect, compassion, and collective responsibility. These values often stand in direct contrast to individualistic approaches found in Western models of mental health care.

In Black communities, where systemic racism, social exclusion and historical trauma have long contributed to mental health challenges, Ubuntu offers a culturally affirming framework for healing and resilience. By centering relationships and shared humanity, projects fostered Ubuntu environments help participants felt seen, heard, and supported. This is especially powerful in addressing mental health stigma, which can isolate those who are struggling.

Ubuntu encourages open dialogue, mutual support, and a shared responsibility for each other's well-being. This makes it easier for participants to seek help and express vulnerability without shame. Integrating Ubuntu into mental health interventions strengthened trust, increased participation, and built a sense of belonging, all of which are crucial for improving emotional and psychological well-being in Black communities. It transforms mental health care from a solitary experience into a collective journey toward healing, rooted in culture, connection, and compassion.

Some MHBC projects incorporated Ubuntu to guide relationship-centered mental health programming.^{Footnote 19}

Youth

Generally refers to people aged 15 to 24 years of age.