Dina Idriss-Wheeler was awarded the 2024 Research Impact Canada Engaged Scholarship Award for her project, Exploring intimate partner violence (IPV) and access to services in Ontario’s journey from pandemic lockdown to recovery: Perspectives from IPV survivors and service providers.
ABOUT PROJECT
With this project, we explore the lived experiences of survivors of intimate partner violence (IPV) during Ontario’s COVID-19 lockdowns and subsequent post-pandemic recovery phase, focusing on survivors’ experiences and service providers’ outreach efforts. Key objectives of the study are to:
- Understand the processes involved in providing and accessing social and health services during the COVID-19 lockdowns and post-pandemic recovery.
- Identify facilitators and barriers to accessing these services.
- Explore factors associated with an individual’s experience of IPV, their access to services as well as investigate their perceived health outcomes during and post-pandemic, focusing on subgroups at heightened risk of IPV (i.e., immigrants and refugees, residents of rural & remote areas).
A mixed methods study design was used to understand the lived experiences of both violence against women (VAW) services providers and IPV Survivors. The qualitative data, collected through interviews of VAW service providers and Survivors of IPV, explores both perspectives regarding access to services during and post-pandemic. Quantitative data, collected through a survey, explored the factors associated with the experience of IPV during Ontario’s COVID-19 lockdowns, specifically examining IPV Survivor’s (1) access to support services and (2) their perceived health outcomes. This work has the potential to inform preparations for future disasters and emergencies, as well as offer insights to support advocacy efforts in the VAW sector.
In partnership with the Ontario Association of Interval and Transitional Houses (OAITH), this research is rooted in community-based methodologies since its inception in 2020. OAITH’s insights have been and continue to be invaluable, contributing to the project’s conceptualization, tool development, ongoing participant recruitment and knowledge dissemination activities. The creation of a project advisory committee (PAC) – which includes OAITH, service providers, and IPV survivors – has been invaluable. The contributions of Marlene Ham (Executive Director, OAITH) and Lauren Hancock (Policy & Research Coordinator, OAITH) to the Project Advisory Committee (PAC) are vital, serving as foundational elements of this collaborative effort. The PAC has been essential in offering key insights, highlighting concerns, and aiding risk mitigation throughout the project’s lifecycle from the perspective of VAW sector and community of individuals who experience IPV. Our knowledge dissemination activities continue to encompass a range of outputs, including community/sector presentations, infographics, factsheets, webinars and relevant reports, as well as joint academic/conference papers, ensuring a wide distribution of our project findings beyond traditional academia and in consult with the community.
The principles of engaged scholarship inform every aspect of our work. Reciprocity has been a cornerstone, exemplified by our joint and successful 2023-2024 Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Partner Engage Grant, which has supported our research and knowledge dissemination activities in this project. By aligning closely with OAITH’s needs and the IPV community, we ensure our activities are relevant to and serve the community effectively. We adhere to the democratization of knowledge by disseminating new insights through various channels, created with partners and through stakeholder consultation.
This experience has highlighted the importance of meaningful engagement in research, with three key lessons learned. Firstly, there must be a meaningful partnership, based on mutual respect and a shared vision for significant change, moving beyond just transactional interaction; there has to be a human and social commitment. Secondly, the research within the community must genuinely reflect and incorporate the community’s needs from the outset, leading to collaboratively developed and directly beneficial outcomes. This includes shared ownership of research findings and a lasting commitment to ensure the research serves as a catalyst for community awareness and change. Lastly, the traditional academic system, which often prioritizes metrics such as publications and grant funding, may clash with the time-intensive and collaborative nature of engaged scholarship and community-engagement approaches. These approaches require flexibility, adaptability, and a focus on long-term impacts, which do not always align with the structured, results-oriented timelines typically rewarded in the academic setting.
ABOUT AWARD RECIPIENT
Dina Idriss-Wheeler, a PhD candidate in Population Health at the University of Ottawa, investigates the social, political, and economic factors that influence health service access for underserved and at-risk communities, with a focus on advancing health equity. Using a social justice and human rights lens, Dina’s thesis focuses on the disparities in health access and the consequences of intimate partner violence during and after COVID-19 in Ontario, Canada. At the Canadian Red Cross (CRC), Dina was the 2022-2023 Canadian Institutes of Health Research Health Systems Impact Doctoral Fellow. She worked in the Health in Long Term Care Programming and Health Intelligence Research Development Units. Her work drew on insights from fifteen years of CRC-supported community health worker programs in Africa. Having worked at McMaster for over 13 years, Dina has extensive experience in research methods, educational programming, and project management.