HEIA tool to assess equity impacts of programs and services for newcomers

Description:

Immigrant and refugee populations in Canada are more exposed to the known social determinants of Health (SDoH) that contribute to mental health problems and illnesses. Newcomers also tend to access mental health services less often and face numerous barriers when doing so. This uneven access to the SDoH contributes to health inequities. When delivering mental health or settlement programs, it is essential that they do not exacerbate inequities.

The Health Equity Impact Assessment (HEIA) tool was developed by the Government of Ontario to improve health equity and reduce disparities in health outcomes among population groups. In this webinar, you’ll be introduced to how you can use the HEIA tool to reduce the unintended consequences of the programs and services you deliver for newcomers.

Intended audience: leaders and service providers in the health, settlement and social service sectors.

Speakers:

Gideon Quaison (he/him)

Gideon is a Health Equity Coach within the Office of Health Equity at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). His academic background is in health policy, management and informatics and he also holds a Master's in Public Health from the Dalla Lana School of Public Health based out of the University of Toronto. Gideon currently works in an environment where he supports education, strategy, policy and decision-making through coaching or training that focuses on health equity, anti-Black racism and anti-oppression. Over the last few years Gideon has worked in organizations mandated to eliminate health disparities experienced by marginalized communities. He has an interest in utilizing anti-racist and anti-oppressive strategies to create more liberatory spaces across the health system.

Arany Sivasubramaniam (she/her)

Arany is a Health Equity Coach within the Office of Health Equity at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). Previously, she has worked as a recreation therapist and an intake coordinator in the inpatient, medical withdrawal services at CAMH. She has also worked in a number of clinical settings including long-term care homes, hospitals, and group homes as a recreation therapist. Her academic background is in recreation therapy, critical race theory, and abolition politics. She is also currently a PhD Candidate at the University of Waterloo in the Faculty of Health and through her scholarship, hopes to plant seeds of transformation to grow strong, autonomous, and safe communities. Currently, Arany’s work involves educating teams and units across CAMH on embedding health equity as a part of their everyday practice.