D. Gastaldo  ‐  Immigrant Women’s Health Promotion (2002) 1 Revisiting Personal is Political: Immigrant Women’s Health Promotion

the year 2000. Becoming an immigrant is a process characterized by losses in socio-economic status and social networks. Although on arrival immigrants have a better health status than the average Canadian (Chen et al., 1996), after 10 years in the country they are in poorer health and have a higher prevalence of chronic health conditions (Dunn & Dyck, 2000). Immigrant women are particularly at risk for mental illness and other chronic diseases. They also lack access to health care services. This data reveals the urgent need to learn how to prevent illnesses and promote the health of Canadian immigrants. For instance, very little is known about immigrant women’s strengths and their health promotion strategies in everyday life. In this context, it is important to acquire new insights on how to promote immigrant women’s health. To date, the study of immigrant women’s experiences of health has been divided by a myriad of ethno-cultural groups. This approach has failed to identify the common elements of the immigrant experience shared by women. The proposed project is guided by concepts that transcend country of origin, which are gender, place and displacement, and power relations in everyday living. This study will focus in the particular context of mental health promotion. The core concept in health promotion is empowerment, meaning that in order to achieve health and well-being individuals and communities should have control over their lives. In the proposed study empowerment will be problematised as a potential means for achieving better health, but also as a strategy to raise self-responsibility for health by government