TMCIS Affiliate Highlight: Dr. Kateryna Metersky

As a researcher, I have a vested interest in person-centred care and integrate my extensive clinical experiences, as I maintain my nursing practice in General Internal Medicine at Toronto Western Hospital. My research program focuses on integrating my SRC work into pedagogy and practice to promote social justice, health-equity, and local, global, and transnational well-being. I pay close attention to intersectionality and the needs of vulnerable populations, as exemplified in my current projects. These explore a wide range of topics, including social isolation and connectedness among older immigrants, approaches to long-term affordable housing, person-centred care delivery within primary care settings in Brazil and Canada, food and housing security and the impacts on Ukrainian, Syrian, and Afghan women’s health and sense of belonging, healthcare system navigation with recent Ukrainian refugees, and the lived experiences of Ukrainian refugee women who engage in sex work in Toronto

I hope that my current research interests and program of research can contribute to providing support for key vulnerable populations and groups in our society. I always strive to include people with lived experience in all aspects of research planning and conduct to ensure that the results and findings of my research will be of most use to the studied populations, community partners, and organizations. I also strive to produce research that will be impactful and push the boundaries of current practices to produce meaningful changes. 

Fresh off the press publication entitled “Blossoming Through Creativity: Unveiling Sense of Belonging Among Ukrainian and Syrian Refugee Women in Ontario” that was authored by Drs. Al-Hamad (primary author), Metersky, Parada, Yasin and two research assistants Molly Hingorani and Caitlin Gare. This publication can be found in the Journal of International Migration and Integration. Through the collected experiences of Syrian and Ukrainian refugee women, it describes and shares the multifaceted nature of the concept of ‘sense of belonging’. It also discusses the connection between this concept and resilience as well as the structural barriers and factors that can impact women’s agency to develop their sense of belonging in the new host country. 

My team and I partnered with Maggie's Toronto Sex Worker's Action Project to clarify the experiences of Ukrainian refugee women engaging in sex work in Toronto including how they became involved (e.g., via pressured by host, job seeking, or direct recruitment). These refugees must secure employment within a short time after arrival in Canada to make ends meet. Many end up taking on employment that is precarious in nature and can willingly or unwillingly involve an element of sex work. This study has received funding from SSHRC’s Partnership Engage Grant and is currently awaiting REB approval for data collection to begin.