The Wellesley Institute conducts community-based policy research focused on the social determinants of health. They have supported community-based research approaches and policy-focused research grounded in local data. A case study described involved assessing health impacts of changes to Ontario's Interim Federal Health Program through surveys of healthcare providers, demonstrating how community data can inform policy. The Institute is also collaborating on a project gathering perspectives of temporary foreign workers on impacts of relevant policies through surveys and interviews.

1. Using Community Research to Inform
Health and Social Policy for Immigrant
and Refugee Communities
Brenda Roche
Wellesley Institute

2. Wellesley Institute
Wellesley Institute conducts community based policy research
that focuses on, and is grounded in, the social determinants
of health
Our work includes:
• Analysis of patterns and trends in the current body of evidence
• Focused policy analysis
• Community studies conducted in partnership with external groups and
agencies
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3. Community Research
We have a history of supporting community based research
approaches
Over time we have moved more towards policy focused
research
Research that is grounded in community has untapped
potential to inform policy debates; it can provide timely and
concrete evidence through local data
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4. Community Research
Community research has the ability to create real links
between broad-based public health ‘evidence’ and ‘local
knowledge’
Policy tools can help to unify data that is being gathered but is
fragmented
Action oriented research can help pull together partners & to
use their expertise to collect data that absent from public
debate
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5. Challenges
Community research has a chequered past; at times it has been
viewed as too focused on capacity building and not on
evidence
Projects can function in isolation, failing to connect work that is
being done by other stakeholders
Community agencies are vital to this work, but face growing
and competing demands in their daily work
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6. Challenges
Data collection at the community level can seem disconnected
from policy discussions and debates
How can we ensure that that data being gathered has
relevance at the ground level and informs practice and
shares knowledge?
The current research and policy climate includes a context with
limited funding, can appear unreceptive to knowledge
mobilization, and policy change
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7. Health Equity Impact Assessments
A Health Equity Impact Assessment (HEIA) is a tool used to
analyze a new program or policy’s potential impact on
health, health disparities and health disadvantaged
populations.
Collecting front-line information and data from health care
professionals can help to assess whether there have been
health effects
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8. HEIA on the IFH Program
Canadian Doctors for Refugee Care worked with health care
providers to track the impacts of changes to the IFH program
through an online survey
Wellesley Institute used these data in a policy-oriented HEIA on
the IFH program
The findings pointed to dramatic health impacts of the cuts to
the IFH; from lack access to basic primary care to limited use
of critical care, even in medical emergencies
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9. HEIA on the IFH Program
A federal court later overturned the IFH cuts, citing in its
judgment the growing evidence regionally, provincially &
nationally
This research demonstrates some of the best ideas in bridging
community and policy research; it was timely, relied on the
expertise of community providers and made use of a tool
that looked at concrete impacts of policy changes
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10. Community based policy research
HEIA on the IFH program for refugees is a good illustration of
where a simple tool can help to pull together data that
providers are collecting
Sometimes community data is not being collected, but we
know that policies are being shaped and revised without
input from community members and their representatives
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11. Migrant Workers Speak
With the Migrant Workers Alliance for Change (MWAC) we are
looking at the health, employment and social impacts for
workers who are here under the Temporary Foreign Worker
Program (TFWP)
There are significant changes taking place with the TFWP, but
limited information from the workers themselves
As policies relevant to migrant workers under the TFWP are
being revised, insights from workers themselves is urgently
needed
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12. Migrant Workers Speak
Project emphasizes an action research approach; collaborative
decision making process between team members from
MWAC and the Wellesley Institute
This work relies on the active collaboration of community
partners in gathering local data
Workers are asked to take part in surveys, individual interviews
and focus groups
Currently we are in the middle of data collection
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13. Migrant Workers Speak
This type of research has great potential to bring migrant
workers’ perspectives to the forefront of current discussions
on the TFWP
The research depends on on community partners sharing their
expertise, and working in a collaborative way
In part this relies on frank discussions from the start about
what community partners hope to achieve, and what are
institutional needs
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14. Issues Moving Forward
We need to create opportunities for different forms of
community research that contribute to policy discussion and
debate.
How can we ensure that this work asserts the value of local
data, and contributes to policy analysis in concrete and
defendable ways?
In linking community and policy research how can we ensure
knowledge mobilization for front line practice does not get
overlooked?
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15. Value Moving Forward
Partnership approaches are critical to producing community
research that can inform policy discussions and debates
- Allows us to work across communities
- We can draw on different expertise and tools to gather concrete and
meaningful data
Community-generated evidence is critical in cases where health
and social policy may be driven more by ideology than by
evidence. The evidence may not be perfect, but it tells a
story that can challenge the credibility of policies that are
not evidence-based
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16. Thank you!
For more information on the Wellesley Institute
www.wellesleyinstitute.com
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