Leisure as Catalyst for Well-Being and Sense of Belonging Among Iranian Immigrant Women Aged 30–55 in Ottawa, Canada
Mahsa Hadidi, Eileen O’Connor, Nadia Abu-Zahra, Laura Ambrosio, Emily Regan Wills · 2026
Read Leisure as Catalyst for Well-Being and Sense of Belonging Among Iranian Immigrant Women Aged 30–55 in Ottawa, Canada by Mahsa Hadidi, Eileen O’Connor, Nadia Abu-Zahra, Laura Ambrosio, Emily Regan Wills (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/PMC13513831.txt.
Description
Hadidi and colleagues studied whether community leisure activities improve well-being and belonging for Iranian immigrant women in Ottawa, Canada, in 2026 research on newcomer health. The women, aged 30 to 55 and Farsi-speaking, joined three activities run with PAND Settlement Services. The three were a classical Persian dance workshop, a guided tour of the National Gallery of Canada, and a group walk along the Rideau Canal.
Evidence came from 32 post-activity evaluation surveys, the researcher's field notes, and two follow-up feedback sessions. Participants rated all three activities positively for enjoyment, accessibility, and social contact, describing them as a break from routine and a chance to meet women sharing their language and migration experience. Continued attendance, though, depended on time pressure, caregiving duties, weather, transportation, and cost. Hadidi argues leisure should be funded as a real part of settlement support, not an optional extra.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Mahsa Hadidi, Eileen O’Connor, Nadia Abu-Zahra, Laura Ambrosio, Emily Regan Wills |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 54 KB |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |