Wellesley Institute » Research

Exploring the Link Between Neighbourhood and Newcomer Immigrant Health

Estelle Sun — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:18:05 +0000

This descriptive qualitative study examined both the “place-based” characteristics of St. James Town (SJT) and individual-level factors, including newcomer immigrants’ perceptions of the neighbourhood, their social relations, and their access to health and social services in the neighbourhood. The study focused on ethno-racial newcomer immigrant populations: Tamil, Filipino, and Chinese (Mandarin speaking) and compared their experiences with those of Canadian-born residents in the neighbourhood. The study also interviewed health and social service providers in SJT and the surrounding area.

Download Exploring the Link Between Neighbourhood and Newcomer Immigrant Health

Inner City Health: Experiences of Racialization & Health Inequity

Wellesley Institute — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 19:03:22 +0000

This report summarizes the results from a mixed-methods study of experiences of racism in the health and social services sector in four inner city communities.

Please read the report here.

Inner City Health: Experiences of Racialization & Health Inequity

Principal Organization: Hamilton Urban Core Community Health Centre

Partner Organizations: Community MicroSkills Development Centre, Black Health Alliance, Parkdale Community Health Centre

Authors: The Inner City Health Strategy Working Group

Participants: Racialized groups in the Hamilton (urban core), Northeast Toronto (Malvern), Northwest Toronto (Rexdale) and West Toronto (Parkdale)

Research Methods: community surveys, interviews, existing data review

Coming Together: Homeless Women, Housing and Social Support

Wellesley Institute — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 13:11:10 +0000

The final report for Coming Together Project shares the voices and insights of women and transwomen with experiences of homelessness. This report expands on an earlier community report on a Community-Based Research project using staged photography.

Download the final report here.

The Coming Together was part of the collaborative project “Homelessness – Solutions from Lived Experiences through Arts-Informed Research”. The policy report from the collaborative presents findings and recommendations from eight community-based, participatory research projects on homelessness in Toronto; six of the eight projects used arts-informed or arts-based research methods.

More information at http://www.artsandhomeless.com/

Coming Together: Homeless Women, Housing and Social Support

Principal Organization: Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work University of Toronto

Partner Organizations: Regent Park Community Health Centre, Sistering – a Woman’s Place

Principal Investigator: Izumi Sakamoto, Ph.D

Authors: Izumi Sakamoto, Josie Ricciardi, Jen Plyler, Natalie Wood, Aisha Chapra, Matthew Chin, Billie Allan, Rose Camero & Monica Nunes

Participants: Women and transwomen with experiences of homelessness and marginal housing

Research Methods: arts-based, community-based participatory action research: art-making sessions, staged photography, interviews, focus groups, annotated bibliography

More information at http://www.comingtogether.ca/

To read a journal article discussing the findings of the Coming Together project focusing on the experiences of transwomen who are homeless, please click on the link below.

http://www.groups.psychology.org.au/glip/glip_review#current
Sakamoto, I., Chin, M., Chapra, A. & Ricciardi, J. (2009) A ‘normative’ homeless woman?: Marginalisation, emotional injury and social support of transwomen experiencing homelessness. Gay and Lesbian Issues and Psychology 5(1): 2-19.

Evaluating Collaboratives of Community Change

Wellesley Institute — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 16:13:11 +0000

In 2009, two Hamilton multi-sector collaborations – the Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction (HRPR) and the Jobs Prosperity Collaborative (JPC) undertook an evaluation process. The evaluation surfaced a number of lessons and questions.

Please read the evaluation report here.

Drawing from the evaluation report the HRPR and JPC have produced the short working tool.

Five key lessons are highlighted here.

Evaluating Collaboratives of Community Change

Principal Organization: Hamilton Roundtable for Poverty Reduction

Partner Organization: Jobs Prosperity Collaborative

Author: Dr. Arnold Love

Participants: Community of Hamilton

Research Methods: documents and reports review, interviews, survey

5 Key Lessons on Collaboration

Learning from Hamilton’s Poverty Roundtable and Jobs Initiative

Author: Nancy F. Johnson

Finding Security in an Insecure World

Wellesley Institute — Fri, 04 Jun 2010 20:16:45 +0000

“We need to come together as a community, Black Creek community, come together and do something for ourselves…” These were the words of a Canadian-born woman from the Black Creek community, a composite of four neighbourhoods located in the northwest inner suburb of Toronto, on a research project seeking to explore the relationship between systemic racism, employment and economic inequalities, and health.

Black Creek is a community occupied by many people from distinct ethnic and racial groups on a low income, who face unique challenges in securing employment and economic opportunities. How do these families overcome the challenges they face and how do these strategies affect their health and well-being? These were the questions posed by the researchers in Income Security, Race and Health: Employment and Income Insecurities faced by Racialized Groups and their Impact on Health.

The research project was conducted in three phases:

The first phase, the Photovoice eXposed Project, showcases the photographs taken by local residents on the social impacts of poverty and racism. Photovoice is an approach which enables people from the community to visually represent their knowledge of their own reality.

The second phase, Process Report, describes the experiences and perspectives of different communities and service providers on the system-related barriers and discriminations that people from racialized communities face in the labour market and the impact that these have on the income security and health of their families.

The third phase, Family Interviews and Workshops, presents findings of interviews conducted with local families on the strategies they use to achieve income security and the economic and health impacts of these strategies.

Four research bulletins will provide highlights of the findings from the second and third phases. Stay tuned to find out more!

Income Security, Race and Health: Employment and Income Insecurities faced by Racialized Groups and their Impact on Health

Principal Organization: Access Alliance Multicultural Community Health Centre

Partner Organizations: Black Creek Community Health Centre, Griffin Centre, Toronto Public Health, Delta Family Resources Centre, York University, YoukU-TD Community Engagement Centre, University of Toronto (Cities Center), Ryerson University, Colour of Poverty Campaign, Black Creek Community Collaborative

Participants: Low-income racialized groups in Black Creek area

Research Methods: focus groups, interviews, photovoice

Breaking Ground: Exploring the Role of Peer Support in Supportive Housing

Nimira Lalani — Fri, 28 May 2010 20:53:24 +0000

Adults with serious mental health problems require many supports to help them function at their best and enjoy a decent quality of life. Crucial to the recovery of this population is access to stable, supportive housing. Habitat Services, a non-profit community mental health agency, funds and monitors private sector boarding home accommodations and provides on-site housing support services to tenants to promote their housing stability and support their recovery.

Habitat is partnering with Parkdale Activity-Recreation Centre, which is developing Edmond Place, a peer-delivered housing support project currently under construction in Parkdale, a neighbourhood in west Toronto. Edmond Place will provide 29 furnished units in a beautifully renovated historic building – the same, once neglected edifice that previously housed more than 50 psychiatric survivors before it closed due to fire.

This type of Habitat-funded accommodation is new in that it will be consumer/survivor driven. What particular kinds of supports do tenants need? What is the role of consumers/survivors and how can they be best supported? These are the sorts of questions that Habitat, Parkdale Activity-Recreation Centre and the Ontario Council of Alternative Businesses sought to understand. In the following report, they discuss findings of their community-based research with tenants, people providing peer support, and representatives from Toronto-based agencies and organizations that employ peer workers.

Download the full report to find out more.

Breaking Ground: Peer Support for Congregate Living Settings

Principal Organization: Habitat Services

Partner Organizations: The Ontario Council of Alternative Businesses, Parkdale Activity and Recreation Centre

Participants: Consumer/survivors of the mental health system living in boarding homes

Research Methods: literature review, interviews, focus groups

Cashing In? Payday Lending and The Need for an Alternative

Wellesley Institute — Wed, 19 May 2010 15:16:02 +0000

“Get cash in as little as 30 minutes!”, “No credit, no problem!”. Do these slogans sound familiar? The ability to borrow cash fast – no questions asked – has become big business in Canada. Payday loans – small, short unsecured loans – seem to be commonplace these days. But who uses them and why? Why don’t people just turn to banks to borrow money much more cheaply? The answers may surprise you.

The Centre for Community Based Research in Kitchener conducted this study in partnership with the Wellesley Institute and with guidance from an advisory committee. Read the report to find out more.

Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.

Principal Organization: Centre for Community Based Research

Partner Organization: Wellesley Institute

Authors: Sarah Marsh, Yasir Dildar, Rich Janzen

Participants: Payday loan borrowers and other stakeholders

Research Methods: interviews, web survey, literature review, community meeting

Comprehensive Community Initiatives: Lessons Learned, Potential and Opportunities Moving Forward

Nimira Lalani — Fri, 14 May 2010 19:52:51 +0000

Do comprehensive, collaborative place-based initiatives to reduce poverty “work”? This was the question posed by the Tamarack Institute, Vibrant Communities Canada, and The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation at a very productive Strategic Dialogue held May 10-11, 2010. The Wellesley Institute was commissioned to review research and experience in this field. Our backgrounder Comprehensive Community Initiatives: Lessons Learned, Potential and Opportunities Moving Forward, was distributed to participants beforehand and discussed at the sessions. Bob Gardner presented highlights and strategic issues moving forward for Canadian initiatives, along with Anne Kubisch of the Aspen Institute on international experience. The backgrounders, presentations and reflections on the day are all available on the Tamarack site.

Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.

Comprehensive Community Initiatives strategic dialogue may 10 2010

Tamarack has developed a Strategic Dialogue web page which contains the documents and presentations shared with participants in advance of the Strategic Dialogue.

In addition, Anne Makhoul, Principal Project Officer, Caledon Institute of Social Policy and Eric Leviten-Reid, Coordinator, Evaluation and Learning, Vibrant Communities Canada were tasked with observing and writing about the Strategic Dialogue. They have written two reports – a longer story about the event and a two page overview which can also be found on the web page .

Residents & Agencies Working & Learning Together

Wellesley Institute — Fri, 14 May 2010 18:49:32 +0000

“How can residents and agencies be more effective partners in addressing needs and services within the Lawrence Heights and Neptune community?” This was the question that led to BePart, a collaborative project between residents and local agencies in Lawrence Heights and Neptune, two related social housing neighbourhoods in North Central Toronto. The project was guided by a commitment to action research, building trust and strong connections both within and between residents and agencies, and working together towards a shared vision for the future. Residents and agencies on the Steering Committee were trained in many aspects of community-based research and used multiple data collection approaches to shed light on the research question. Emerging themes and recommendations (for residents, agencies, and funders) were developed, communicated and are being currently considered in social development planning efforts.

BePart: Collaborative Research Report

Principal Organization: New Heights Community Health Centres

Principal Investigator: Gillian Kranias

Authors: BePart Steering Committee

Participants: Residents of Lawrence Heights and Neptune neighbourhoods

Research Methods: Focus groups, surveys, and interviews

Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file. Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.

On May 6, 2010 members of BePart Steering Committee presented their report and shared ideas and challenges for moving forward in terms of collaborative action and further research at the Toronto Community-Based Research Network (TCBRN) educational session on “Sustainability and Community Based Research” .

Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.

For more information or to comment on this report, visit www.bepart.ca

Social Inclusion Audit and Toolkit

Wellesley Institute — Thu, 06 May 2010 17:14:18 +0000

Four libraries in Ontario (Brampton, Hamilton, and Toronto) and British Columbia (Vancouver) participated in a research project to evaluate how inclusive urban libraries are in engaging with new immigrant youth. Each library targeted a different ethnic youth group of library and non-library users. Focus groups and walkabout clipboard surveys were carried out to establish youth’s perceptions on several aspects of their community libraries: local presence in the community, infrastructure, signage, collections, programs, physical environment, and youth engagement.

Visit www.siatoolkit.com for the downloadable copies of the Audit and Toolkit and other additional resources (a Bilingual version; complete literature review and bibliographic information; five short video clips that provide the “What” and “Why” of Social Inclusion).

Principal Organization: Canadian Urban Libraries Council

Principal Investigator: Betty Ferreira

Participants: New Immigrant Youth

Research Methods: Focus groups, surveys

Note: There is a file embedded within this post, please visit this post to download the file.