Dr. Farah Mawani

Reflections on Teaching, Learning and Doing Participatory Research in a Graduate Seminar

by Flicker, S., Mawani, F.N., & Dellavilla, M.

Published by Progress in Community Health Partnerships: Research, Education, and Action

September 24, 2019

Background: To improve training for the next generation of researchers to engage in community-based participatory research (CBPR), we reflect on our experience offering an applied participatory research methodologies graduate seminar.

Methods: This article is written from the perspective of a university professor/course director, a community partner, and a master's student who took the course. First, we describe our unique context. Second, we provide a general overview of the planning and implementation. Third, we illustrate what happened from our three perspectives. We conclude with recommendations.

Results: We each shared our unique perspectives on the strengths, opportunities and challenges associated with teaching/learning through engaging an applied CBPR project. There was consensus that our timelines were tight, the workload was heavy, communication was tricky, and we could have used more resources. Nevertheless, we all appreciated everyone's deep engagement and investment in the collaborative processes, the development of new skills and our success in gathering important evaluative feedback with efficiency and expediency. We agreed that this was a rewarding experience that we would repeat.

Conclusions: Mounting a course in this fashion requires a strong community–university partnership, that is supported with substantial preparatory work, human and financial resource commitments, and contingency planning. We recommend transparency, communication and managed expectations.

URL: https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/1/article/733504/pdf

Building Roads Together: a peer-led, community-based walking and rolling peer support program for inclusion and mental health

by Mawani FN, Ibrahim S.

Published by Canadian Journal of Public Health

February 1, 2021

Setting: The program founder selected Regent Park for Building Roads Together© pilot program implementation because it is one of 31 neighbourhoods identified by the City of Toronto as a Neighbourhood Improvement Area based on a low Neighbourhood Equity Benchmark score indicating that it faces serious inequities requiring immediate action. In addition, Regent Park has a higher than average proportion of residents who are recent immigrants, and is Canada's first social housing development undergoing a 25-year process of transformation to a mixed-income community. Community partners confirmed that Building Roads Together responded to community needs and complemented existing programs and supports.

Intervention: Building Roads Together is an award-winning community-based peer support walking and rolling program designed to promote inclusion and reduce health inequities. Strong bodies of evidence demonstrate that peer support, walking, and exposure to green space, each on their own or in combination, reduce social isolation and improve health and mental health. The program founder designed Building Roads Together based on this research evidence; a needs assessment including interviews, focus groups, and meetings; and her lived experience.

Outcomes: The needs assessment informed program design, including name, goals, approach, and curriculum. Building Roads Together includes the following phases: (1) Community engagement; (2) Partnership development; (3) Neighbourhood-based Walk the Talk Advisory Groups; (4) Peer Walking/Rolling Group Leadership Training; (5) Mentoring/Support; (6) Peer Walking/Rolling Groups. The training curriculum combines peer leadership, inclusion, and communication skills; practical skills required to create and manage a walking group; and information about urban green space.

Implications: In partnership with the Centre for Learning & Development Toronto and the Regent Park Community Health Centre, the program founder trained 42 peer walking group leaders and mentored multiple walking groups.

URL: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32876932/

Opportunity Costs: Underemployment and Mental Health Inequities Between Immigrant and Canadian-Born Labour Force Participants: A Cross-Sectional Study

by Mawani, F.N., O’Campo, P. & Smith, P.

Published by Journal of International Migration and Integration

September 25, 2021

To examine the association of underemployment (operationalised as unemployment or overqualification) to fair/poor self-rated mental health (SRMH) in labour force participants, between a. immigrant vs. Canadian-born and b. recent (< 10 years in Canada; arrived 1993–2003) vs. long-term immigrant (≥ 10 years in Canada) labour force participants. Data from the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) 2.1 (2003) was used to explore associations within the context of a 1993 national immigration policy shift prioritising admission of skilled immigrants. Logistic regression analyses were performed to estimate odds ratios associating underemployment with fair/poor SRMH for the full study sample then stratified by a. immigrant status and b. length of time in Canada. Data were weighted to reflect the CCHS 2.1 sample design, adjustments for nonresponse, and post-stratification. The study sample included 57,308 labour force participants aged 18–64. Following a listwise deletion of participants with missing values for independent variables, dependent variables, and/or covariates, the resulting sample was 54,064 (94% of the eligible sample). Underemployment was positively associated with fair/poor SRMH for labour force participants. Overqualification was positively associated with fair/poor SRMH for immigrants (AOR 1.63; 95% CI 1.16–2.27), but not for Canadian-born labour force participants (AOR 1.03; 95% CI 0.90–1.20). Unemployment (AOR 3.41; 95% CI 1.79–6.48) and overqualification (AOR 1.52; 95% CI 1.04–2.21) only had significant positive associations with fair/poor SRMH for long-term immigrants. The magnitude of association of overqualification was greater for recent (AOR 2.04) than long-term immigrants and this may have practical importance. The findings suggest the need for tailored interventions to prevent underemployment and fair/poor SRMH for immigrant vs. Canadian-born labour force participants. A whole of government approach is needed to reduce the underemployment of immigrants and its mental health impact.

URL: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12134-021-00896-0

COVID-19 Economic Response and Recovery: A Rapid Scoping Review

by Mawani FN, Gunn V, O’Campo P, et al.

Published by International Journal of Social Determinants of Health and Health Services

March 18, 2021

This rapid scoping review of existing evidence and research gaps addressed the following question: what research evidence exists and what are the research gaps at global, regional, and national levels on interventions to protect jobs, small- and medium-sized enterprises, and formal/informal sector workers in socioeconomic response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic? The results are based on 79 publications deemed eligible for inclusion after the screening and prioritizing of 1,658 records. The findings are organized according to the 3 main categories of socioeconomic interventions—protecting jobs, enterprises, and workers—although the 3 are intertwined. Most results were derived from global-level gray literature with recommendations for interventions and implicit links to the sustainable development goals. Based on research gaps uncovered in the review, future implementation science research needs to focus on designing, implementing, evaluating, and scaling: effective evidence-based socioeconomic interventions; equity-focused, redistributive, and transformative interventions; comprehensive packages of complementary interventions; interventions to upend root causes of systemic social inequities; collaborative and participatory approaches; interventions that integrate environmental sustainability; and city-level interventions. Failing to consider the environmental dimensions of economic recovery is shortsighted and will ultimately exacerbate social inequities and poverty and undermine economic stability in the long term.

URL: https://journals-sagepub-com.ezproxy.library.uvic.ca/doi/full/10.1177/00207314211002785