Project Information
Assessing the needs of the Chester priority sector
Host Organization
NDG Community Council (the Council)
Project Supervisor(s)
Halah Al-Ubaidi, Executive Director of the NDG Community Council
Project Description & Objectives
The NDG Community Council focuses their work on sectors that are identified as the most vulnerable, socially and economically. Recent statistics have revealed new sectors that are not well served. For this project, the Council needs to create door-to-door surveys and define the limits of the Chester priority sector and identify the partners that will work with the Council on this project.
Fellowship Responsibilities & Deliverables
The McBurney Fellow will create a survey and analyze the results, as well as analyzing other existing data (e.g., statistics and reports created by the Ville de Montreal and CIUSSS). In order to better serve this sector, the Council needs to understand the demographics, education and income of the people living in the sector. They also need to understand the housing conditions and rent, road safety, food security, and public security issues in the area. The Fellow will create a survey to collect this information, and through analysis of the results, will help work on an action plan to tackle the needs and improve the living conditions in the sector.
Project Team
The McBurney Fellow will benefit from the support and mentorship of 4 community organizers working in the other priority sectors. A committee of staff from the Council will be supporting them directly as well.
Fellowship Location
The McBurney Fellow will work primarily in the NDG Community Council offices, with a few hours of door-to-door surveying each week.
Skills
- Able to read statistics
- Able to read maps
- Friendly, good interpersonal skills
Additional Application Materials
N/A
More About the Host Organization
The NDG Community Council is one of 32 Neighbourhood Tables on the Island of Montreal. They work with residents, community groups, institutions, businesses and elected officials on all issues that affect quality of life in NDG. Working with these partners, the Council develops projects, supports initiatives led by residents, allocates funding and resources, and incubates services that often become organizations, among other projects. The Council always works in partnership with different stakeholders, depending on the issue at hand.
Some examples of the Council’s initatives and projects:
- The Council incubated the following three important services that are now very strong and important organizations in NDG:
- Food Depot
- Bienvenue à NDG
- Logis Action
- One resident-led initiative the Council has supported is Porchfest, an important event in the neighbourhood organized by two residents. It involves many artists in NDG that play music on their porches over two days in May. This event attracts visitors from all over Quebec and is an excellent initiative for artists and the local economy. Usually, Porchfest collects fund to support art programs in the community sectors.
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The Council has worked for many years in different sectors in NDG identified as socially and economically vulnerable. The Council mobilizes residents and partners to work together on rising issues such as public security, food deserts, the heat island effect, social isolation, and others.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Council’s focus was on breaking social isolation, and then shifted to building resilience following the pandemic.
Evidence on interventions to prevent homelessness following discharge from the hospital
Host Organization
Québec Homelessness Prevention Policy Collaborative (Q-HPPC)
Project Supervisor(s)
Eric Latimer, Co-Chair of the mental health working group at the Québec Homelessness Prevention Policy Collaborative
Department of Psychiatry; Associate Member, Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Occupational Health; Associate Member, Department of Equity, Ethics and Policy
Project Description & Objectives
Many people who enter the hospital from homelessness, and some who enter it while housed, face homelessness when they are discharged. The Québec 2022 homelessness count reported that, out of 4,277 people interviewed with reference to October 11, 2022, 6.6%, or about 282 individuals, indicated that a hospitalization or treatment program was a cause of their current episode of homelessness. The number would be several times greater over the course of one year. It is not infrequent that such individuals are referred to a homeless emergency shelter. At least a few studies have examined various interventions designed to prevent such individuals from becoming homeless following discharge. For example, Forchuk et al. showed that, in London, Ontario, an intervention to house and support individuals upon their discharge from a psychiatric hospital was extremely effective (Forchuk et al., 2008). Herman et al. have also reported that Critical Time Intervention improves transitions following a hospital discharge (Herman et al., 2011).
Before such an intervention can be designed for the Québec context, a careful literature review is needed. The McBurney Fellow will work with a McGill librarian and the supervisor to design an appropriate literature review strategy. The Fellow will then, with the supervisor, identify relevant articles, extract data and report the findings.
The Fellow will also be asked to meet with social workers in psychiatry departments at a representative sample of 7 hospitals in Montreal to ascertain, as accurately as possible, the frequency with which discharges into homelessness occur.
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Forchuk C, MacClure SK, Van Beers M, et al. Developing and testing an intervention to prevent homelessness among individuals discharged from psychiatric wards to shelters and ‘No Fixed Address’. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing 2008;15:569-75.
Herman DB, Conover S, Gorroochurn P, Hinterland K, Hoepner L, Susser ES. Randomized trial of critical time intervention to prevent homelessness after hospital discharge. Psychiatr Serv 2011;62:713-9.
Fellowship Responsibilities & Deliverables
The McBurney Fellow will produce a 25-page report (not counting any appendices) detailing their findings from both the literature review and the interviews. Through this project, the Fellow will have a unique opportunity to learn about homelessness, which has become a critical social, ethical and public health issue.
Project Team
The supervisor is co-chair of the mental health working group of the Q-HPPC. The McBurney Fellow will also meet once or twice with the other co-chair, Jessica Soto, Director of Diogène, as well as other members of the working group which includes a representative of the provincial Homelessness and Addictions Services Directorate, Judith Arsenault, and a representative of the Montréal Public Health Directorate who has been assigned to homelessness, Valérie Fournier.
Fellowship Location
Hybrid in Montreal. The McBurney Fellow can divide their working days between the offices of their supervisor, at the Douglas Research Centre in Verdun, and working from home.
Skills
The McBurney Fellow needs to be skilled at reading and understanding studies reporting on social interventions, which requires basic understanding of research methods. They should have good interpersonal and writing skills. The ability to communicate in French is an asset.
Additional Application Materials
Please submit a 5-10 page writing sample. It can be from a course assignment and must be just one document (not excerpts from multiple documents).
More About the Host Organization
The mandate of the Québec Homelessness Prevention Policy Collaborative is to define and promote evidence-informed, feasible practice and policy changes that will contribute to preventing homelessness in Québec and beyond.
The experience of pelvic exams: How can medical education better prepare medical students to serve the community?
Host Organization
Montreal Sensitive Pelvic Exam Collective (SPEC)
Project Supervisor(s)
Eby Heller, SPEC Coordinator
Project Description & Objectives
Our collective is currently working on a research project to better understand the needs of individuals across Quebec regarding their experiences with receiving pelvic exams. We will use a mixed methodology to better understand how pelvic exams are currently experienced and what approaches, language and techniques can improve this experience. Our research will also aim to determine the long-term impact of our collectives work and ways in which we can further impact future and current physicians in their practice. After years of working with 㽶Ƶ and adapting our curriculum based on clinical context and external research, we are looking to do our own research to better serve the community who receive pelvic exams, via better training for medical students.
Fellowship Responsibilities & Deliverables
The fellow will first be focused on a literature review of best practices in pelvic exams, consent, patient-informed medicine and patient-led pelvic exam training for medical students. The fellow will next be focused on collecting and analyzing survey data from individuals who receive pelvic exams. The fellow, in collaboration with the rest of the team, will produce an analysis of the survey data and a first draft of an article for publication. Time and experience permitting, the fellow will perform focus groups with individuals who receive pelvic exams, to be included in the research and analysis.
Project Team
Eby Heller, SPEC Coordinator
Emma Roy, SPEC member
Phoebe Friesen, McGill Faculty, Social Studies of Medicine; Department of Equity, Ethics and Policy
Fellowship Location
Hybrid in Montreal. The collective does not have an office, however, we can arrange for an office at McGill or in a collective workspace with other SPEC members. Otherwise, the fellow will be working remotely with frequent in person meetings with supervisor and other SPEC members.
Technical Skills
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- Familiarity with qualitative and quantitative research methodology
- Ability to communicate fluently in English
- Ability to read with complete comprehension in French
- Ease with online survey platform (google forms or other)
- Experience with creating literature reviews or annotated bibliographies
Assets
- Experience analyzing survey and focus group data
- Bilingual French and English
- Experience in the reproductive health sphere
Transferable Skills
Required
- Understanding of feminist approach
- Appreciation of the impact of consent in healthcare settings
- Ability to respond clearly, ask pertinent questions, think critically
- Willingness to work with a diversity of collaborators, ability to be flexible
Assets
- Experience communicating with patients
Additional Application Materials
N/A
More About the Host Organization
The Montreal Sensitive Pelvic Exam Collective has been collaborating with the 㽶Ƶ Faculty of Medicine in the delivery of the Sensitive Pelvic Exam Workshop since the 1990s.
The purpose of the training we offer is to teach basic examination techniques and a sensitive, respectful and inclusive approach to providing pelvic exams. The content is influenced by the collective’s philosophy of holistic health and principles of non-judgment. The teaching approach is grounded in a feminist tradition; who better to teach this sensitive exam than the individuals who receive it? The training helps to inform medical students about the connection between institutional and personal traumas and the experience of pelvic exams. We share information on the historical and continuing oppression and marginalization of certain groups (Black people, Indigenous people, 2SLGBTQI people) in relation to healthcare, reproductive health, and medical testing and learning. We teach a consent-based and inclusive approach that aims to reduce harm and empower marginalized individuals when experiencing pelvic exams.
In addition to being trained in standardized exam techniques, our instructors each bring their own unique expertise and diverse perspectives. Students frequently report feeling more empowered to practice the exam in a real clinical setting after having undergone this workshop.
Making woman and girls count in Inclusion and Disability Rights in Canada
Host Organization
DisAbled Women’s Network of Canada (DAWN)
Project Supervisor(s)
Valerie Grand-Maison, Director of Research
Keiko Shikako, 㽶Ƶ, School of Physical & Occupational Therapy
Project Description & Objectives
We will identify the issues related to women and girls with disabilities in the context of two critical issues: the implementation and monitoring of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Canada, and the development of accessible standards for youth employment that consider the specific needs of women and girls with disabilities.
Fellowship Responsibilities & Deliverables
A detailed gender and intersectional analysis and pathways for action in the monitoring of the UNCRPD and for inclusion of diverse women and girls in the community inclusion pathways for employment.
Project Team
The McBurney Fellow will work with Keiko Shikako (㽶Ƶ faculty supervisor), Valerie Grand-Maison (DAWN Canada supervisor), and Mehrnoosh Movahed (Research Associate – PAR-KT CoLab).
Fellowship Location
Hybrid in Montreal. Possibility to work from the PAR-KT Co-Lab and/or DAWN for part of the time.
Skills
- Bilingualism (French and English) is an asset
- Expertise or interest in gender and sex analysis, knowledge translation, and/or policy analysis
- Strong communication skills
- Knowledge of infographic/design tools an asset
Additional Application Materials
N/A
More About the Host Organization
DAWN Canada’s mission is to end the poverty, isolation, discrimination and violence experienced by women with disabilities and Deaf women. DAWN is an organization that works towards the advancement and inclusion of women and girls with disabilities and Deaf women in Canada. Our overarching strategic theme is one of leadership, partnership and networking to engage all levels of government and the wider disability and women’s sectors and other stakeholders in addressing our key issues.
Racial discrimination within the medical field
Host Organization
Clinique Juridique de Saint-Michel (CJSM)
Project Supervisor
Fernando Belton, CEO
Project Description & Objectives
Among the legal clinic's core values is the fight against racial profiling, differential treatment given to a person because of their cultural identity. It is in this spirit that we, in Quebec, have undertaken this vast project aimed at demystifying racial discrimination within the medical field.
The project provides for a three-year program to combat racial discrimination in the healthcare environment. The first year is dedicated to qualitative research to identify victims of cultural diversity in the health field. A legal clinic will support victims wishing to initiate proceedings for racial discrimination in the healthcare environment. Training will be provided in academic and professional institutions.
The second year includes quantitative research to obtain realistic statistics on racial discrimination in the healthcare environment in Quebec. Psychological support for victims will be put in place, as will a reference manual for health professionals.
The third year aims to create and distribute a documentary based on previous research, accompanied by the launch of legal and psychological services for victims. Partnerships with professional orders aim to make annual training on unconscious bias and fairness in care compulsory.
The project aims to raise awareness, support victims and involve health professionals in the fight against racial discrimination in the healthcare environment, despite the complexity of the long-established system.
Fellow Responsibilities & Deliverables
The McBurney Fellow will play a key role in managing the project's first year. They will work on the design and implementation of research projects, collaborate on obtaining funding for their realization, and supervise volunteers linked to these projects when required.
In addition, the McBurney Fellow will support and promote the involvement of stakeholders and collaborators or partners in the work of the CJSM. These activities may include knowledge transfer aimed at better networking between research and management within the CJSM and its partners, facilitating workshops or participating in panel discussions in university settings, and/or overseeing the dissemination and promotion of the research projects’ results at the national and international level.
The McBurney Fellow can expect to hold one or more of the following responsibilities, depending on the priorities identified by the research program and pending discussions with their supervisor:
- Identify the research needs of the project and create partnerships with different organizations to meet the identified needs;
- Co-build research projects with CJSM’s partners and be oriented towards participatory research;
- Develop research protocols and submit grant applications to various granting organizations and/or collaborate on the projects of other member researchers;
- Assume the supervision and coordination of the work of volunteers who support research and writing for the CJSM;
- Participate in the development of approaches, tools, services or policies related to research projects.
Project Team
The McBurney Fellow will report directly to Fernando Belton, CEO of the CJSM. They will have a team of volunteers reporting to them and will also interact with doctors, lawyers, and other professionals who will consult on the research projects.
Fellowship Location
Onsite at the CJSM, located at 3737 Blvd Crémazie Est.
Technical Skills
- Capable of reading and communicating in French. Most of the CJSM documents are in French and most of the communication in the clinic is in French.
- Bachelor’s degree in an appropriate university discipline such as administrative sciences, humanities or social sciences, either completed or in progress.
- Capable of assuming leadership in the development and implementation of research activities related to the project of demystifying racial discrimination in the medical field.
- High level of expertise, rigor, autonomy and initiative in research.
- Strong project management and timeline/deadline management skills.
Transferable Skills
- Leadership.
- Adaptable when new obstacles or circumstances arise.
- Able to propose innovative solutions to problems.
- Decisive.
- Collaborative, good at working as part of a team.
Additional Application Materials
N/A.
More About the Host Organization
The Saint-Michel Legal Clinic, founded in 2019, is a non-profit organization driven by a profound vision: that of ensuring access to justice for all. This vision guides each of our decisions and inspires each of our projects. Among our many initiatives, we offer free legal consultations, deploying a dedicated branch to serve remote regions of Quebec that do not have legal clinics or law schools. We understand the importance of ensuring access to legal advice for everyone, no matter where they are.
In addition to our commitment to access to justice, we firmly believe in academic perseverance in the field of law. We recognize that representation is essential, particularly for young people from marginalized backgrounds or diverse cultural backgrounds. This is why we are setting up support and mentoring programs to support these young people in their academic and professional careers. Cultural diversity is still underrepresented in the legal world, which is why our board and leadership are made up of lawyers and law students, to better represent the interests of law students from diverse backgrounds. horizons. In addition, we offer scholarships in partnership with law firms that share our commitment to academic perseverance in law.
At the same time, we have made a firm commitment to actively combat the problem of racial profiling. After the global trauma caused by the tragic event of George Floyd, we became aware of the need to raise awareness of this issue, which is also evident in Quebec. Since 2020, we have run an annual awareness campaign entitled “Marathon: Shining a Light on Racial Profiling” every year. With our constantly evolving legal expertise, we have become a go-to resource for victims of racial profiling and anyone who wants to learn more about this topic. We also offer valuable support to victims of this form of discrimination.
In response to another important issue, we began raising awareness about racial discrimination in healthcare. This initiative was strengthened following the death of Joyce Echaquan. Our pilot project shed light on the issues faced by men and women from cultural diversity in the health care system.
Being located in Saint-Michel, we want to actively contribute to the development of this community. We are committed to meeting the community's needs for urban safety and we carry out prevention and awareness campaigns against violence linked to the use of firearms. Our goal is to foster a safer and more inclusive environment for all residents of Saint-Michel.
The Saint-Michel Legal Clinic constantly strives to broaden its scope of action to fulfill its fundamental mission: guaranteeing access to fair justice, promoting diversity and fighting discrimination in all its forms. Our commitment to our community and our society remains unwavering.