Debut: FCS International Speaker Series

Over the years, nursing professor Josephine Pui Hung Wong and social work professors Funke Oba and Henry Parada have built robust research programs in global health and social services equity — working with diverse communities around the world. 

In March, they shared their insights at the debut event of the faculty’s new International Speaker Series — an initiative of associate dean of graduate studies and internationalization, Annette Bailey. The series is but one tool in the faculty’s broader internationalization strategy to build a culture of internationalization in research, pedagogy, and partnerships at home and abroad. 

Child and youth care professor Mónica Ruiz-Casares moderated the panel entitled “Reimagining Equity in Global Health Research: Power, Principles, and Possibilities!”. In Ruiz-Casares’ words, “the task is big, and we need to unite hands and be creative, daring and bold.”

The resulting discussion was rich, thought provoking and wide ranging — including philosophical perspectives on what constitutes valid knowledge, the contrast between traditional and mutually benefitting research models, and practical tips for students, researchers and faculty interested in international work. 

Epistemic revival: Rediscovering ways of knowing

The panel opened with a question central to international work: who’s to say what constitutes valid knowledge — which knowledge counts, can be used, cited and built upon?

For Oba, much Indigenous wisdom in her native Nigeria is encapsulated in proverbs and applied in everyday life and various systems of governance — valid wisdom that has only lately been rediscovered to build health and wellbeing. “It’s the notion that there’s not one way of knowing, that there is not one single story — the danger of a single story.”

She relates: “When I first started out in child welfare [in Canada], ‘kinship care’ was not a thing. But I knew that in Nigeria, that was the norm. There were no formal adoption laws or processes, but no child was considered illegitimate or without a family.” Oba related. “Only now, kinship care has been codified and documented by the West and reintroduced as a Western concept — but it never started here.”

Wong added the example of mindfulness to promote mental health — practiced for thousands of years in China, but now found in the West to be a very effective psychological therapy. 

Even if such knowledge has been late in receiving recognition, Wong presented a balanced view: “It's not about not learning anything that's Western. Really, it’s about multiple perspectives. Do we have the ability to look at everybody's perspective critically and at the same time pull out ideas and stuff that will stimulate us to create new knowledge.”

“Safari” research vs mutually benefitting models

The panel next contrasted two models of research. The first, traditional approach is easily recognizable: professors “parachute” into a region uninvited, extract and analyze data, and publish a paper — not unlike a “safari” trip. 

The second — inclusive and actionable — sees partnerships where all parties recognize what each brings to the table, and all sides benefit. As Wong put it: “I am not satisfied with only studying specific phenomena. We already know there's so much suffering out there, so what are we actually going to do about it?”

Beyond conceptual ideals, though, how is the mutually benefitting research model actualized across cultures and geopolitical climates? The professors agreed on the need for community based action, collaborative capacity building, and collective empowerment. 

Outputs often include concrete interventions and training — all assessed and developed together with the community to support its continuity well into the future. Formal research may be only one part of a wider community action project.

Oba talked of harnessing local strengths. In one example, where suicide was being reported more in the Nigerian context, pastors, imams, cultural and religious leaders were often ‘first responders’ to detect personal crises among community members. 

She proposed a program to fast track these leaders, who have community goodwill, to collaboratively provide crisis interventions related to suicide prevention, domestic violence and mental health. Even if, as Oba acknowledged, “they don’t go the whole nine yards to become social workers”, community based creative solutions, training, and capacity building would help more people in a sustainable manner. 

On-the-ground realities of international work

Advancing global health equity research is a lofty goal, but as professor Henry Parada remarked, the “everydayness of running a project” often remains unspoken. During the discussion, Parada spoke frankly, sharing insider reflections and practical tips from his 20+ years in the field.

“We love to talk about epistemology and ontology because we’re academics — but there’s the issue of doing the ‘dirty work’, if I can call it that,” he says. “International work takes a lot of humility. It takes a tremendous amount of time, energy and effort, and it’s expensive.”

“And let’s not romanticize ‘community’. There are conflicts in the dynamics of the project — both internal power struggles and the politics of ego. So, you need patience, and they need patience with you.”

The two-hour panel discussion finished rich in insights and experiences of building globalization in research from the ground up. As public awareness of global health equity grows, the work advanced by the three panelists will serve as a guide for next-generation international researchers.