Low Barrier High Impact: Community Based Research with Newcomer Survivors of Gender-based Domestic Violence

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Overview

This session explores key considerations in designing, delivering, and sustaining community-based arts interventions in sensitive research areas. Using Access Alliance HEAL Project as a case study, we examine the challenges of participant engagement, including recruitment and retention across a series of sessions. A discussion on the importance of culturally relevant and work-sensitive strategies that respond to the diverse realities of participants’ lives is addressed.

The session also highlights the role of scientific rigour in intervention development, using principles of implementation science to ensure quality, adaptability, and effectiveness. A central focus is the validation process, emphasizing how co-design and community engagement are essential not only for refining the intervention but also for ensuring its relevance and acceptance by the community.
 
Finally, reporting on sustainability and long-term impact of arts-based approaches, especially in contexts that require sensitivity, such as mental health, trauma, and community healing, participants learn how creative practices can serve as powerful tools for both research and social change, while maintaining ethical, inclusive, and evidence-informed frameworks.

Speakers

Akm Alamgir

Akm Alamgir earned a Ph.D. degree in evaluation, a Master's degree in epidemiology, and a Bachelor's in medicine. He is the Director of Knowledge & Learning at Access Alliance (Toronto), an Adjunct Professor at York University (Toronto), and an Academic Editor of the scientific journal PLOS One. He is a mixed-method community-based researcher on social determinants of health in Canada (ORCID #0000-0003-4804-6609). He generates knowledge, creates learning materials, and builds the capacity of the stakeholders. He is the principal investigator of funded research projects on refugees, youth, mental health, and gender-based domestic violence. He is part of preparing the Canadian national standards in Youth Mental Health and Addictions Navigation Services. He is an “expert reviewer” of the Canadian government for the New Frontiers in Research Fund Transformation Competition (NFRFT 2022) applications. He reviews manuscripts submitted to the Journal of International Migration and Integration, PLOS One, and Health Promotion International.

Christen Kong

Christen Kong earned a Master of Social Work specialization in Human Service Management and Leadership and is a Registered Social Worker (843177). She is a Health Promoter at Access Alliance focusing on art-based practices and activities to improve the health outcomes of newcomer populations in Toronto. She is the project coordinator for Hubs of Expressive Arts for Life –HEAL Project, a multi-year intersectoral implementation community based participatory research study on newcomer women survivors of domestic based violence. She is a member of multiple working groups and advisory committees to further the work of women against gender-based violence. She is a placement supervisor and has been a field instructor for students in a variety of disciplines including students from Health in Community, Public Policy, Human Biology and Master of Social Work departments from different universities in Toronto.