By Lincoln DePradine

For many Canadians of African and Caribbean ancestry, finding a doctor or other medical professional with a shared ethnic and cultural background is difficult, even impossible for some.

Two organizations—Roots Community Services Inc. (RootsCS) and The Walnut Foundation (TWF) —are trying to reverse that experience for Black community members.

“We’re in partnership with The Walnut Foundation,” Dr Shane Joseph, a leader at RootsCS, announced at a health conference in Toronto. “We’re opening the first-ever Black health and social services’ hub in the Region of Peel, for the Black, African and Caribbean community,” Joseph said.

Grenada-born Joseph is a psychotherapist and consultant, who holds a doctorate in social work.

At RootsCS, where he’s chief executive officer, the organization’s mission is offering “culturally relevant programs and services to inspire and empower individuals—primarily from the Black, African and Caribbean communities—to make positive changes in their lives and within their communities”.

RootsCS has offices in Brampton and Mississauga, with an established presence that spans the Peel and Halton Regions.

Joseph, whose counselling specialties and expertise include grief and loss; separation and divorce; suicidal ideation; parenting; racial identity; and men’s issues, was a presenter at a conference of TWF, a men’s health group dedicated to “advancing men’s health and wellness within the Black community, with a focus on prostate health”.

The conference, sponsored by Movember Canada, which supports and funds men’s health projects, discussed prostate cancer. It examined why Black men are “disproportionately affected” by prostate cancer.

The conference’s panel of speakers, which included medical doctors, noted the reluctance of Black men to seek regular and early treatment and professional health advice that could be helpful to them.

“Early detection changes the dynamics; eating and living healthy change the dynamics,” said Joseph.

He discussed the topic, “The Role of Masculinity in Avoiding Health Issues”.

Joseph said in the Black community, “a lot of misconceptions” and stigma exist around certain health issues.

Socialization and negative “traditional masculinity”, he said, have placed Black males in a “man box”, which emphasizes physical attributes like strength and athleticism, and downplays the exhibition of emotions such as love and pain.

“In traditional masculinity, you must have reluctance to express pain. The man box is telling us that men should not cry openly,” said Joseph.

“If we are teaching men that masculinity is about strength and dominance and being in control without showing the other side around vulnerability, around the fact that you can express emotions, you’re not creating a balance,” he added. “In psychological terms, we say we are creating dissonance for the man. There’s a holistic part of you and the strength part is just one.”

The “cycle” of traditional masculinity must be broken, Joseph advocated. “And in breaking that cycle,” he said, “we have to redefine masculinity, telling men that it’s okay to cry.”

Joseph said “cultural and societal influences”, including “historical mistrust” of the medical system by the men, are among the reasons that many do not seek help from doctors and other healthcare professionals.

The RootsCS and TWF “Black health and social services’ hub” allows patients to “find a doctor who is Black, who is coming from that background”, said Joseph. “When you’re telling the doctor what’s going on, they’ll know exactly what you’re talking about.”

Joseph said in his professional practice, he has recommended to clients “recreational therapy”, which involves spending time in Jamaica and other Caribbean countries.

“Recreational therapy is now becoming a new phenomenon. It does something for you. Culturally, the change of environment does something for the human body,” he said.

“Go back to Jamaica for two months and you’re getting the sea, sand and sun. You’re around family friends and you’re getting the good mango—the real, authentic thing,” said Joseph. “And, if you come from Trinidad and Tobago, the roti—the curry alone—getting you better; you just smell that thing and you start feeling better.”

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Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

  Brampton