A University of Windsor professor will be part of a nationwide study to track the health and well-being of Syrian refugees settling in Canada.
The Windsor portion of the study will survey 135 Syrian refugees for the next five years and will focus on the physical and mental health of the participants.
Psychology professor Ben Kuo says they will focus on two main questions.
"What are those important factors that will help refugees settle in their host country and what are those factors that prevented them from being fully integrated into Canadian society?" says Kuo.
Kuo says the study will help government agencies and others form policies for the future.
"This information is critical. A long-term impact of adjustments on Syrian refugees is something we need to find out and something we currently don't have information about," says Kuo. "When they are no longer in the focus of most Canadians are they doing well? What sort of issues are they facing? Are they finding good jobs that will allow them to really fully integrate into Canadian life?"
Starting in January 2017 Kuo will work with the Multicultural Council of Windsor Essex to communicate with the people in the study.
Additional studies will be completed in Vancouver, Toronto, Kingston and Quebec. The nationwide study received $1.3-million in funding from the Canadian Institute of Health Research.
