Dr. Sonia Singh has been awarded $50,000 from the Surrey Hospital and Outpatient Centre Foundation to further research within the South Asian community in the Fraser region.
A planning meeting was held on October 16, facilitated by BC SUPPORT Unit Fraser Centre staff, to identify priorities, opportunities, and next steps. A core steering committee, including two Fraser Centre staff, was established. The committee is now recruiting patient partners for the committee, hiring a project coordinator, and determining the scope of the project.
The group hopes to contribute to the knowledge, supports, and engagement of the South Asian community to improve health care and research as there is a lack of health knowledge specific to the South Asian community in Canada, and what is known indicates that the communities’ health concerns and experiences are different from Caucasian Canadians. Thus it is critical to improve the engagement of the South Asian community in health research[i]. In addition, South Asian Canadians are the largest visible minority group in Canada, particularly in the Fraser region of B.C., making the region a logical choice for initiating this group.
[i] See: Khan, M. M., Kobayashi, K., Vang, Z. M., & Lee, S. M. (2017). Are visible minorities “invisible” in Canadian health data and research? A scoping review. International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care, 13(1), 126-143. And Quay, T. A., Frimer, L., Janssen, P. A., & Lamers, Y. (2017). Barriers and facilitators to recruitment of South Asians to health research: a scoping review. BMJ open, 7(5), e014889.