YWCA and SFU launch participatory action research project to advance newcomer health equity
MEDIA RELEASE
VANCOUVER, BC - Simon Fraser University’s Faculty of Health Sciences (SFU FHS) and YWCA Metro Vancouver, in collaboration with Endura Consulting, are launching a new participatory action research initiative, Borders in Care: Mapping the Social Determinants of Newcomer Health. The project will see principal investigator Vishal Jain – an adjunct professor at FHS – and co-lead Carolyn Neilson – Vice-President of Employment, Community Programs and Partnerships at YWCA Metro Vancouver – work with partners and communities across the province to understand, document, and address the social determinants of newcomer health.
Newcomer status and citizenship are often overlooked in the literature as key determinants of health even though newcomers– which include, but are not limited to, immigrants, refugees and undocumented workers – face distinct and interlocking challenges that affect access to basic needs.
Over the next year, the Borders in Care project team will bring together community organizations, people with lived and living experience, and policy makers to explore how the structural barriers associated with newcomer status shape health and wellness. The project will conclude with the publication of a community-anchored research and policy agenda grounded in lived experience and community data.
“Newcomers enrich every aspect of our communities and society,” says Jain. “Some arrive to realize their deeply held aspirations; others come fleeing violence and persecution. All come to Canada in search of a brighter future. In partnership with the YWCA and Endura Consulting, we look forward to advancing newcomer health priorities and objectives that are evidence-informed, community-driven, and speak to the complex issues at hand.”
The project emphasizes the importance of building on community knowledge and lived experience as essential to improving health outcomes. By centering newcomer voices, the team aims to identify where systems may be falling short and sustainable solutions to enable access to basic needs and opportunities.
“At the YWCA, we see every day how immigration status, language, housing, gender, and income shape whether newcomers can access the basics that underpin good health,” says Neilson. “Borders in Care gives us a way to listen deeply and act collectively centering newcomer voices, generating local evidence, and translating it into practical changes across health and social systems.”
Today’s launch of Borders in Care coincides with the 35th anniversary of International Migrants Day.
"This project begins at a time when newcomers are facing growing uncertainty, exclusion, and harm driven by political decisions that are often far beyond their control,” notes Vash Ebbadi-Cook, Project Director for Borders in Care and Founder and Principal Consultant, Endura Consulting. “Endura Consulting is proud to convene organizations, align efforts, and support collaboration that strengthen our understanding of these impacts to newcomers and enhance community programming.”
To learn more about Borders in Care or to participate in this critical work, visit the Borders in Care project website or contact bordersincare@enduraconsulting.ca.
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Contact:
Vash Ebbadi-Cook, Project Director
bordersincare@enduraconsulting.ca
Project Partners
Simon Fraser University, Faculty of Health Sciences
YWCA Metro Vancouver
Endura Consulting
About Borders in Care
Borders in Care is a participatory action research project focused on building a community-driven research agenda to understand and address the social determinants of newcomer health in British Columbia. Grounded in principles of equity, inclusion, and collaboration, the project seeks to illuminate how citizenship and immigration status shape access to health and social supports, and to co-develop solutions that foster belonging and wellbeing for all newcomers.
Borders in Care is funded by The Vancouver Foundation’s PAR Convene Grant. This resources supports projects that bring together community and research partners to co-design participatory action research grounded in the social determinants of health.