Tag Archive for: sexual health

Behind the Science: Rx For Heterosex – An Interview with Thea Cacchioni

Interviewee: Dr. Thea Cacchioni | Authors/Editors: Romina Garcia de leon, Janielle Richards (Blog Co-coordinators)

Published: August 2, 2024

Can you tell us about your research?

My original research area critically engaged the diagnostic category of female sexual dysfunction. I was concerned that women’s problems were being over-medicalized. This was in the wake of Viagra, and there was a race among pharmaceutical companies to find a Viagra-like drug for women. Whereas Viagra was a drug that was discovered ‘accidentally’, every option tested for women was ineffective. In the meantime, scientists and doctors connected to the pharmaceutical industry were discussing how to define women’s sexual problems, particularly given that frigidity was no longer seen as an acceptable term.  As part of this research area, I interviewed women with sexual problems – I heard of some physiological reasons for difficulties, particularly in the case of sexual pain, but interpersonal, social and political reasons were overwhelmingly more common (such as past experiences of sexualized violence, partner dissatisfaction, and so on). It was also clear that there was a lot of misunderstanding around what constitutes ‘normal.’ I also testified at the US FDA against one particular desire drug that was denied twice and then eventually approved after a very clever public relations campaign accusing the FDA of sexism.  

A more recent area of research that is more personal to me is Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). As a gender studies professor, I find it to be quite fascinating that 4-10% of women globally have this diagnosis, yet there is such little public discussion about it. This is an area that is also of interest given that it’s related to the standards of femininity and successful heterosexuality in ways that are similar to my past area of research. PCOS includes symptoms such as hairiness, acne, infertility, and weight gain. These are all things that do not fall into a hetero-feminine norm. My research in PCOS involves doing in-depth interviews with individuals with PCOS. An interesting aspect of this sample is that out of 30, 15 people identify as queer, with 5 identifying as non-binary or trans. I’m interested in the way that experiences of PCOS may differ depending on gender and sexual identity. 

What led you to do this work?

I have lived experiences with PCOS. I’ve had the diagnosis for over 20 years, and I’m very familiar with how difficult it is to engage with medical professionals around this diagnosis. There’s a lot of misunderstanding or lack of awareness within the medical community, and that was part of my interest. My PCOS symptoms are mainly weight gain, irregular menstruation, and struggles with fertility. On top of this, I had an added distress because I felt like I wasn’t being a ‘good feminist’ for worrying about these things. This interested me. I think trends, theory and politics have helped me come to terms with this dichotomy I was experiencing. I also think that I’ve come further into body acceptance through body-positive movements that we’re seeing through fat activism.

Could you share any findings from your research?

One finding that I continue to see in the PCOS participants is that non-binary people show fewer signs of distress towards their symptoms and embrace them as part of their gender identity. I think the queer sample overall, had a lot more support in their relationships in terms of embodying these traits. There is less pressure in terms of fertility, and thinness, as well as acceptance of acne or weight gain. That’s not to say that you can’t be queer and feminine-identified or concerned with fertility or weight gain, of course. Another trend that I noticed was that distress over these symptoms was a sense of feminist consciousness (which I saw in both heterosexual and queer samples). Individuals with a positive relationship with their bodies because of their feminist consciousness had less symptom-related distress.  In terms of their experiences with the medical system –  most of them had pretty terrible experiences with doctors who would simply tell them to lose weight. However, it’s very hard to lose weight when you have PCOS. 

Another noticeable observation was that a lot of PCOS patients sought naturopathic remedies. This may be driven by the lack of support from their doctors. In sessions with naturopaths they can converse about their symptoms for longer periods and feel heard. A lot of people are turning to holistic medicine, and I think that’s something the medical profession has to address. In general, we see frustration with medicine, a tendency to rely on advice from naturopaths and influencers and so-called hormone experts. I think that it gives individuals a sense of control. Yet many times, these individuals will prescribe many supplements that have very little results.

Where do you hope this research will go in a couple of years?

I would love to expand my research to diverse people with PCOS. Although my study was diverse and had some diversity in terms of gender identity, I would like to take that further.  I would also like to look into the question of race, ethnicity, nationality, culture, religion, and how that may influence your experiences with PCOS. All of these factors may shape norms of sex, gender, and sexuality, all of which come into play when discussing PCOS and distress.

For instance, another problem with the medical approach is that it’s very connected to the body mass index (BMI). There are a lot of critiques of the BMI, and so I think that also that’s another point around where people with PCOS are losing proper care, because if it’s just centred on BMI, it can be misleading – you can be very muscular with PCOS and not fit within a healthy weight on the BMI. 

Where to read more about Dr. Cacchioni’s work? 

Book: “Big Pharma, Women and the Labour of Love”

Women’s Health Interrupted Podcast: Season 2 Recap

Authors: Edidiong Daniel, BSc. Environmental Toxicology | WHRC Social Media Committee Member | Editor: Romina Garcia de leon Reviewer: Bonnie Lee

Published: July 19th, 2024

We’ve come to the end of Season 2 of the Women’s Health Interrupted Podcast! – a podcast that centers on women’s health across these four themes: general health and wellness, brain health, socio-cultural determinants of health as well as politics, policy, and advocacy. The second season of the Women’s Health Interrupted Podcast was hosted by UBC’s Masters of Journalism students, Chhavi Mehra and Sarah Williscraft, and featured guests across various institutions and fields. All episodes are available on any major podcast streaming platform. If you haven’t tuned in yet, here’s a quick recap!

Season 2 kicked off with Dr. Lori Brotto, a professor in the UBC Department of Gynecology, a registered psychologist in Vancouver, and Executive Director of the Women’s Health Research Institute of BC, discussing Cultivating Female Sexual Desire through Mindfulness. Dr. Brotto shared the role of mindfulness and environmental influence in cultivating female sexual desires and discussed the orgasm gap and contributing factors, while also debunking some myths surrounding female sexuality.

Next, we had Dr. Najah Adreak, a clinical researcher and an advocate for cardiovascular health and treatment, especially for underserved women patients, for episode two: Why are Women’s Cardiovascular Concerns Often Downplayed? Dr. Adreak discussed why women’s cardiovascular health is often downplayed and also shed light on the knowledge gaps in women’s cardiovascular health, the differences between male and female hearts, how hormonal changes and social determinants of health can affect women’s heart health long-term, and the role of physicians in filling the knowledge gaps in female cardiovascular health.

In the third episode: All You Need to Know about Gynecological Cancer, co-hosts of the Gynecologic Oncology Sharing Hub (GOSH) podcast Nicole Keay and Stephanie Lam told us everything we should know about gynecological cancer, explaining how gynecological cancer differs from other forms of cancer and the importance of researching these cancers as separate entities. Nicole and Stephanie also shared new research tools for gynecological cancer such as the Opportunistic Salpingectomy for prevention strategy and the Proactive Molecular Risk Classifier for Endometrial Cancer (ProMisE) for endometrial cancer diagnosis.

Dr. Lindsay Larios, assistant professor at the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Social Work, joined us to discuss Abortion Rights with Precarious Immigration Status, highlighting the challenges in accessing abortion and general reproductive care as immigrants in Canada. Dr. Larios explained how access to reproductive care for pregnant immigrants differs based on class, race, ethnicity, and other socioeconomic factors, the difference between private and public health insurance for immigrants, the importance of including reproductive rights and justice framework in Canada’s immigration system, and reforms and repairs that need to happen.

For episode 5: Housing and Health Barriers Faced by 2SLGBTQ+ Youth, Dr. Alex Abramovich, an Independent Scientist with the Institute of Mental Health Policy Research at The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, took us through the current state of housing access for 2SLGBTQ+ Youths in Canada. Dr. Abramovich laid out some factors that impact access to housing for 2SLGBTQ+ youths in Canada and shared some useful resources for 2SLGBTQ+ youths experiencing homelessness. 

PhD student, Amanda Namchuk, and recent B.Sc. in Biology graduate, Tallinn Splinter, came on the podcast to discuss the Exclusion of Women from health Research: Then and Now. Amanda and Tallinn helped differentiate between sex and gender and addressed the need for sex and gender-based research using the difference in the breakdown of Tylenol in men and women, among others, as a clear case study. They also explained how the exclusion of women in research impacts historically underserved communities and the role of big institutions like the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and journals in ensuring sex and gender are properly incorporated in scientific research.

Featuring Dr. Ann-Marie de Lange from the University of Oxford, and Dr. Claudia Barth, biologist and cofounder of the Women’s NeuroNetwork, we went deep into the brain for episodes 7 and 8. Dr. Ann-Marie de Lange discussed some common misconceptions about how pregnancy affects the brain, highlighted some changes that happen to the brain during pregnancy and after birth, and shared what women can do to improve their brain health for episode 7: Mommy Brain: It’s Not Just in Your Head. In episode 8: How Does Menopause Affect the Brain, Dr. Barth shed light on some hormonal changes that happen to the brain during menopause, menopausal symptoms, the impact of menopause on mental health and neurological disorders, and the need to educate women and men on menopause.

Dr. Debra Anderson, Dean of the Faculty of Health at the University of Technology Sydney, explained how lifestyle factors and health behaviors such as smoking, exercise, and nutrition can impact quality of life in the ninth episode: This is How You Can Improve Your Quality of Life. Dr. Anderson also stressed the importance of looking at women as a whole and also shared a shocking revelation on how big a role calcium plays in reducing premenstrual syndrome (PMS).

For episode ten: Domperidone for Low Milk Supply: Is it Safe? we were joined by Dr. Janet Currie, a social worker and the founder and director of Focus Consultants, and Dr. Suzanne Hetzel Campbell, a professor at UBC School of Nursing, to discuss the use of domperidone, a drug approved to treat stomach problems in Canada, in treating low milk supply in breastfeeding mothers. Dr. Currie and Dr. Campbell mentioned some factors that have contributed to the dramatic increase in domperidone use, safety concerns, and what Health Canada can do to better regulate the safe and effective use of off-label drugs like domperidone.

Finally, we had Kirann Mann, a first-year obstetrics and gynecology resident at McMaster University, for our eleventh episode on Breaking the Stigma Around Pelvic Floor Dysfunction. Kirann explained the pelvic floor, what it does, and the importance of maintaining pelvic floor health, and listed some symptoms of a weak pelvic floor and stressors in one’s life that impact pelvic floor health. Kirann also explained how socioeconomic factors like socioeconomic status, education level, and racial and ethnic background can create disparities in gaps and knowledge, and shed light on how the pelvic floor awareness campaign builds community surrounding pelvic floor health.

What an incredible journey Season 2 took us on. The Cluster is so grateful to all the wonderful experts that took the time to sit down with us and discuss these timely women’s health topics with us. We hope you were able to learn a new thing or two from all the different disciplines and perspectives featured throughout Season 2. All episodes and corresponding resources can be found on our website. We hope you join us for Season 3. Stay tuned!

 

 

Behind the Science: Hearing Women’s Fertility Experiences

Interviewee: Deea K Dev, Medical Student, University of British Columbia, Faculty of Medicine, Authors/Editors: Romina Garcia de leon, Shayda Swann (Blog Co-coordinators).

Published: September 1, 2023

Can you tell us about your research?

I work in the Memory and Imagination Lab under Dr. Daniela Palombo. We wanted to explore the memory characteristics of an unsuccessful fertility treatment experience. We wanted to look into the lived experiences of people who had gone through unsuccessful in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment and see to what extent it became an intrusive and self-defining experience. IVF is a form of assisted reproductive technology that is quite common, but unfortunately often does not result in pregnancy and the experience itself is accompanied by a lot of adverse outcomes. It’s really expensive and getting through an unsuccessful IVF treatment has larger implications for mental health or self-esteem, and even quality of relationships with a partner. We partnered with a fertility clinic and the staff there were really supportive of the research proposal and its potential implications. We administered questions about the patient’s experiences with their medical care team. The study has really important implications for instating procedures and protocols surrounding this particular patient population so that we can work toward more patient-centred care. It seems like the doctors at that fertility clinic really valued this aspect of our research as well.

Why did you want to get involved in women’s health research?

Topics like these don’t really get much attention and there is under-representation of women across research and health care. It’s more common to know that there are intrinsic biological factors like hormones and sex-specific physiology that manifest differently for women, but I think something that’s not really talked about a lot is the fact that extrinsic factors are really important to take note of when conducting women’s health research. Socio-cultural issues and the environment itself shape the way that women interact with the healthcare system. I felt that it was really important to identify and evaluate patient perspectives on their own experiences with healthcare, then that way we can work towards patient-centred care and move away from harmful practices. I remember when I was volunteering with this organization called Wish which supports women who are involved in Vancouver’s street-based sex trade, I heard a lot about very harmful practices like medical paternalism. Hearing these patient perspectives was really a motivator for me.

You mentioned that you’re doing a lot of other advocacy work right now. Could you share more about that?

In my first year of medical school, I joined the Canadian Federation of Medical Students as the Local Officer of Sexual and Reproductive Health, representing UBC. Our first event was this overview of LGBTQ+ care and gender-affirming practices by this really amazing speaker and we had medical students across Canada attend that event. Another one that’s really popular was an IUD insertion workshop to help medical students understand the experiences that women face when going through IUD placement, and also the different types of contraception available. Another position I did was with the Women’s Health Initiative committee to organize educational events for medical students about specialized healthcare needs. We did an event on reproductive justice and health equity for free prescription contraception, which, as you may know, was something that was legislated this year in British Columbia. So that was really interesting. I also volunteered at Wish and that was really an amazing experience. Wish offers amazing services like an emergency shelter and a nightly drop-in centre. They want to make sure that women have a safe place to rest and access harm-reduction supplies. I’ve learned a lot from that experience as well.

 

What impact do you hope to see with the work that you’re doing?

I hope there is emphasis placed on the importance of highlighting the specific needs of women in healthcare in our medical training. I think there’s not much coverage of very important topics that underscore reproductive and sexual health topics, but also recognize the intersectionality of patients coming from different backgrounds. I think it’s really important to educate medical students so that we can become equipped as physicians who are eventually the ones in positions of power to start filling up the unmet gaps in our healthcare system. To help medical students get those qualities like listening to patient perspectives, and moving away from harmful practices like paternalism. I hope these are some of the things that medical students graduate with so that we can change the healthcare system and the way that women interact with it.

 

Where can people find out more about the work you do?

You can find me on LinkedIn.

 

Behind the Science: Exploring the Intersection of Racial Discrimination and Sexual Pleasure

Interviewee: Charity Mudhikwa, BSc Hons, MSc Student, Simon Fraser University Faculty of Health Sciences, Authors/Editors: Romina Garcia de leon, Shayda Swann (Blog Co-coordinators).

Published: June 9th, 2023

Could you tell us more about your research?

 My research is sort of two-pronged. Firstly, it aims to examine the prevalence of perceived everyday racial discrimination among racialized women in British Columbia. Everyday racial discrimination refers to chronic, routine and relatively minor experiences of unequal treatment such as being followed around in stores and being treated with less courtesy because of your race. These experiences have been shown to be associated with poor health outcomes! And so, the second aim of my research is to evaluate the association between everyday racial discrimination and sexual health— particularly sexual pleasure.

I’ll also be looking to see if HIV status modifies that association since my work is within the BCC3 cohort of women living with and without HIV. I think women living with HIV are generally more aware of their sexuality because of the conversations they have in healthcare settings and with their peers, so we may see differences when comparing women living with and without HIV. 

Ultimately, I’m really interested in examining everyday racial discrimination, the tools used to measure it in health research, and the associations that it may have with sexual pleasure.

What motivated you to look at the intersection between racial discrimination and sexual pleasure in women?

As a racialized woman myself, I always knew what racism was and experienced it in different ways, but I began to understand it more when I moved to Canada because I grew up in Zimbabwe, where my race was not a significant part of my identity. Usually, when we think of racism we think of structural factors, like how racialized communities have lower socioeconomic status or blatant acts like racial slurs. But we don’t think about more minor everyday experiences of racial discrimination, like not being treated well in restaurants. It seems very minute and inconsequential, but it’s cumulative and there is evidence that it does impact health. Also, racialized women are often seen as ‘deviant’ when it comes to sexual behaviour. What about looking at sexual health from a positive lens like pleasure? What about the racial discrimination that women experience? How may it affect women’s opportunities to experience pleasure? 

What are some of your findings so far?

Racialized women, particularly Black and Indigenous women, are reporting significantly higher experiences of everyday racial discrimination compared to White women. When we compare by HIV status across specific groups, for example, Black women living or not living with HIV, there are no significant differences in everyday racial discrimination scores. So, we’re seeing that even after accounting for HIV status or socio-economic factors like income, education, and sexual orientation, racialized women are still experiencing very high levels of everyday racial discrimination. So, it warrants further investigation of how these experiences may be impacting priority health areas for women. 

Who have been some of your mentors in the research field?

I’m very lucky to have had really inspirational and encouraging mentors throughout my academic journey. For my undergraduate honours project, I reached out to Dr. Bob Hogg, and he welcomed me with open arms, helped me figure out a project, and connected me with other mentors such as Dr. Kalysha Closson who has also been supportive. I was grateful to have people who believed in me and encouraged me to pursue opportunities that I otherwise would not have such as working to get my honours work published. Throughout grad school, my supervisor Dr. Angela Kaida has been very instrumental in my journey as a researcher and encourages me to explore the questions that I’m interested in. I think that’s rare, unfortunately, so having supportive people has been incredible. I don’t think I’d be where I am without those mentors. I’m very grateful for them. 

What impact do you hope to see with your research?

Firstly, especially in Canada, I would like to see the recognition that racial discrimination even exists in the first place. Going through the literature, I’ve realized just how much is lacking in a Canadian context. Some people in Canada genuinely deny the existence of racism or racial discrimination, or say ‘But it’s not as bad as it is in the US.’ There’s definitely a need for the Canadian general public to recognize that racism does exist and that it has serious implications for people’s health. And it may have impacts on women’s priority health areas such as sexual health and pleasure. So hopefully the impact that my work will have is to recognize the potential links between racial discrimination and sexual pleasure and to also inspire further research that considers the influence of everyday racial discrimination on other health outcomes.

 Where can people find out more about the great work you do?

You can find out more about it on Twitter at @CharityMudhikwa or @HIV_HEAR_me. You can also find me on the BCC3 Study website. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Behind the Science: Sexual Pleasure in Women Living with HIV

Interviewee: Kelly Mathews, MD Student, University of British Columbia Authors/Editors: Romina Garcia de leon, Shayda Swann (Blog Co-coordinators).

Published: May 5th, 2023

Could you briefly explain what your research is about? 

I’m part of a study on healthy aging in women living with and without HIV called BCC3. It involves community members, so women living with HIV, right from the beginning. My project, in particular, is looking at sexual pleasure in women living with and without HIV, and examining if the hormone testosterone has any influence on pleasure. We also look at social variables like income, mental health, home environment, substance use, etc. to see if they have any influence on sexual health.

Why do we need more work to understand sexual pleasure in women?

HIV is not transmissible by sexual activity for people on effective antiretroviral therapy. Yet, research looking at sexual health for women living with HIV has been really pathologizing, seeing women as vectors of disease rather than sexual beings who are deserving of pleasure and satisfaction in their sex lives. 

Historically, the way we’ve studied female sexual function has been thinking that women operate in the exact same way as men do. There’s been a ton of research on the sexual response cycle in men and this has been broadly applied to women.  This doesn’t take into account how women experience pleasure and what sexual interactions are like for women. For instance, women living with HIV, have often been labeled as having sexual desire disorder, without taking into account structural factors that might be preventing them from wanting to have sex. 

I think it’s really important to emphasize these positive aspects of sexuality and the other things that give women pleasure, whether that be with a partner or on their own, and once we can figure it out then we can promote it on the frontlines to clinicians, community workers, and among community members themselves. 

Recent research suggests that a focus on pleasure can actually lead to safer sex and a reduction in chronic pain, mental health, and fatigue. So I think focusing on pleasure is really the way going forward.

Could you highlight some important findings from your research?

The biggest thing that we’ve seen so far in preliminary results is that there’s actually no difference in the prevalence of reporting ‘always’ or ‘usually’ experiencing pleasure during a sexual experience when we compare the women living with HIV and those without HIV, which was a bit of a surprise! This is something that we hope will be empowering for community members to take away from the study. We also acknowledge that it’s important to keep promoting pleasure for more people because only 60-65% of the women in our study reported ‘always’ or ‘usually’ experiencing pleasure. 

I think that this finding highlights some of the strengths of our study. We looked at pleasure not only in partnered sex, but also for women who are engaging in self-pleasure/masturbation. Not too many projects have done that in the past. I think another strength is that our control population is very similar in terms of many sociostructural factors such as housing, income, and substance use to the women living with HIV in our study. So this helps us narrow in on this pleasure piece and shows that the virus itself isn’t changing pleasure. It’s more of those social determinants of health that affect both populations.

Another important finding was that women living with HIV have lower total testosterone levels than HIV-negative women, but this was not associated with an increased or decreased odds of pleasure.

What other questions do you hope to answer next?

We’ve nearly doubled our sample size of women that we have testosterone measurements for and sexual pleasure responses. That’s going to allow us to look at a few more variables and, in particular, it’s going to allow us to do an analysis stratified by HIV status. Having spoken to some community members, a lot of people have highlighted the need for including chronic pain as well as maybe HIV medication side effects in our analysis. It would also be really interesting to look at how HIV factors like immune cell count, HIV viral load, and HIV-related stigma might impact sexual health. 

What impact do you hope to see with this work years from now? 

I think the community involvement and the design of the BCC3 study are really good and I hope that more projects will emulate that in the future and have more community members involved in every step of the project. In terms of pleasure, I really hope that there is a shift to conducting more research focusing on these positive aspects of sexuality. 
Another hope is that we can get the message out about U Equals U and reduce the stigma surrounding HIV. U Equals U, or undetectable equals untransmittable, is a saying from groundbreaking research that essentially means that there is no risk of transmitting HIV to a sexual partner if the person living with HIV is using effective HIV medication. Knowing this, my goal for the future is that more and more women living with HIV will be able to experience stigma-free sex and have the same opportunities for a satisfying sex life as someone that doesn’t have HIV.

Behind the Science: Moving the Microscopic Lens to Marginalized Populations

Interviewee: Emmanuela Ojukwu (RN, PhD), Assistant Professor of Nursing, University of British Columbia. Authors/Editors: Romina Garcia de leon, Shayda Swann (Blog Co-coordinators).

Published: November 18th, 2022

Could you briefly explain your career trajectory from a Registered Nurse to now an Assistant Professor?

Towards the end of obtaining my Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing, I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in women’s health. As my journey progressed, I would eventually get accepted to a PhD program where I had the opportunity to work with a professor who was internationally recognized, with a track record of success in improving minority women’s health with a focus on social determinants of health. The decision to focus on HIV came during my RN experiences at a Perinatal HIV clinic for vulnerable populations, wherein I observed birthing parents living with HIV, to be lost to follow-up to their own care but continually engaged in their infant’s care, postpartum. Possibly due to maternal instincts, but the focus on their infants and not themselves was very apparent. This spurred the idea for what would eventually become my dissertation. So, I wanted to see what factors deterred them from engaging in their own care or factors that motivated them to go in (for those that did). Also, as a natural empath – sometimes to a fault – I would find myself really vested in their care, particularly, for the marginalized women, e.g, new immigrants/refugees, racialized populations, homeless. Most of the patients who were lost were within these categories, so it was important to note the possible intersections in their marginalized identities, which were causing their suboptimal engagement in treatment and possible impediments to their overall wellbeing. When I applied to UBC, I definitely wanted to continue with HIV research, although, I realize that HIV rates here compared to the US are relatively less, but it’s still present. And, as there is currently no treatment that completely eliminates the virus, the likelihood of transmission and/or increasing morbidity and mortality,is significantly reduced with effective treatment/management. I remain vested in this topic as a researcher, and would describe my work as focusing on health equity and social determinants of health for vulnerable populations, marginalized by race, sex, gender, disabilities such as HIV, and other psychosocial vulnerabilities.

Why did you choose to study marginalized populations and sexual health?

Asides from being such an empath, I think that I’ve had my own lived experiences of discrimination within the healthcare setting, both as a patient and a healthcare provider. I, sometimes, find that there are “sexual and reproductive health stereotypes” that follow “black women” and these often go before them upon their arrival to any hospital/clinical setting. As a patient, I can count times this has been the case for me; and not until I divulge my profession in healthcare do I get treated any differently. As a provider, the discrimination can stem from patients or colleagues with preconceived, underrated expectations of racialized peoples’ performances, and hence a lack of trust in their abilities as providers, and also unequal (or mostly, subdued) access to and opportunities for growth and development within their various units. All of these experiences, and their impacts on wellbeing demonstrate a critical need for research with and for persons on both sides of the table. By doing this work with and for patients who may fit within these identity brackets, especially for topics that could be stigmatizing such as sexually transmitted infections and HIV, I hope to amplify their voices and create an awareness of their situations. I hope that in creating such an awareness of the existing disparities and inequities; and with the development of interventions, put in place by healthcare providers, public health officers, and even the government; that there might be opportunities to rebuild some of the trust which may have seemed lost in the system, by these communities.

How does Women’s Health specifically intersect with your work at the moment?

Women’s health is at the center of everything I do in my research. A lot of my work focuses on the sexual and reproductive health of women. I currently have two ongoing studies; one, examining the impacts of COVID-19 on quality of life for African, Caribbean, and Black women living with HIV in BC; and another exploring the impacts of racism, sexism, and psychosocial vulnerabilities on access to care services for African, Caribbean, and Black women living with HIV. While I have a special interest for racialized women, I do not shy away from work focusing on the psychosocial and sociostructural factors influencing equitable care for all women. Merely existing in a patriarchal world as a woman can interfere with several aspects of wellbeing. The impacts of other layers of marginalization can have very lasting, detrimental effects on the lives of persons who fit within these identity brackets. Examining the impacts of these intersecting, underprivileged identities and unpacking the various layers and layers of vulnerabilities that surface, is at the core of my research. So in essence, the makeup of a woman’s sexual and reproductive health, and how that interferes with and/or allows them to exist inclusively in a very patriarchal system is of importance to me.

What impact do you hope to see with your work years from now?

I’m hoping that knowledge generated from my work can have lasting positive impacts in the way that care is modified/adjusted for the affected populations. Not surprisingly, there isn’t a lot of data on marginalized populations when it comes to women’s reproductive health, whether it’s rates of maternal mortality or anything else, in Canada. I’m hoping that my research can contribute to bridging those gaps and generating these data, so that researchers, community leaders, healthcare providers, the government, and others in positions of power may be alerted to these situations and help to effect change. We know that these issues exist but the paucity of data and research in this area limits the opportunities for interventions that are culturally-sensitive and -safe. I hope that my research in the short run, can be a “call to action” and in the long run can lead to sustainable “actions for change” for enhancing women’s equitable health.

Where can people find your work?

My email, usually, is the best way to contact me, at emmanuela.ojukwu@ubc.ca.

Behind the Science: Health Access of Indigenous Women


Interviewee: Chelsey Perry, M.S.c, Simon Fraser University, Authors/Editors: Negin Nia & Romina Garcia de leon (Blog Co-coordinators)

Published: July 15th, 2022

This week the WHRC spoke to Chelsey Perry, who is focusing her master’s work and research with the Centre for Gender and Sexual Health Equity (CGSHE) to examine social and structural factors that influence health access of Indigenous women, Two-Spirit and gender-diverse people. Perry has been working on several projects aiming to make a change in a colonial health system, and to amplify Indigenous voices. Read more about their work below.

Could you please tell us about the work that you do with the Centre for Gender and Sexual Health Equity?

I started my master’s degree at SFU last year and before that I started working on some projects in the summer at the CGSHE. They were about decolonizing Indigenous research methodologies and creating training for researchers who want to get involved in Indigenous research with the CGSHE and Vancouver Coastal Health. 

On the other hand, I am also working on projects with the SHAWNA (Sexual Health & HIV/AIDS: Longitudinal Women’s Needs Assessment) and AESHA (An Evaluation of Sex Workers Health Access) cohorts housed at CGSHE. In these projects we have pulled the Indigenous data from those two cohorts to specifically look at Indigenous women, Two-Spirit and gender diverse people’s experiences throughout the COVID 19 pandemic.This was to make sure that we are accurately and appropriately looking at the data from an Indigenous lens. And, also to inform on social and structural inequities during the course of the pandemic. 

My work specifically focuses on access to routine health care for Indigenous women, and gender-diverse people during the pandemic. But, also how Indigenous communities have come together and how that’s impacted access to health services among Indigenous women, Two-Spirit and gender diverse people.

And how does this tie into your master’s thesis?

My master’s work is nested within a larger project called the Amplify project at CGSHE, which looks at equitable and culturally safe sexual and reproductive health services among Indigenous women, Two-Spirit and gender-diverse people. This is where my master’s work and my research work are really intertwined. My master’s research focuses on that access to routine health care, access to sexual reproductive, and health services. But I also do work on other projects for the Amplify project and the AESHA cohort as well. 

What got you interested in this type of research in the field of women’s health?

I have always been interested in health research because of my family experiences and just wanting to make change in a colonial health system. There is a lot of room to bridge gaps between a colonial health system and Indigenous ways of knowing. I have mixed Nisga’a, Haida, Scottish and French ancestry and I’m a member of the Nisga’a First Nation – and I think my varying identities can bring a unique perspective to this work.

I also believe that it is so important to be amplifying Indigenous voices to inform actionable change — and I want to be a part of supporting change. And I really wanted to work with the supervisors I’m working with, because they have all been doing excellent work within this field and really inspire me. 

What are some long-term goals for your research?

In my thesis research, each objective is tied to the calls to action and recommendations from the Truth and Reconciliation, In Plain Sight, and the Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls reports. So, this research addresses calls to action and recommendations from these reports to look at gaps within health outcomes between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples as well as social and structural factors that impact Indigenous women, Two-Spirit and gender diverse peoples health.

I hope this research will support policy changes to address the urgent need for culturally safe care and anti racism legislation, here in BC, but also broader in Canada, too. And to address health gaps that are caused by social and structural inequities.

Where can people find you and your work?

People can learn more about me and my work @chelseyllperry on Twitter and on LinkedIn.