Image of a person walking towards the sun on a path surrounded by trees.
Topic(s): 
Webinar event date: 
mai 2, 2023 11:30 am EDT
Webinar Presenters: 

Nandini Saxena MSW, RSW

Nandini is a registered social worker with the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers, and has over twenty years of experience in policy research, public engagement, knowledge mobilization, and health system improvement. Prior to joining the NCCDH in 2021, Nandini held a variety of staff and management roles in public health, mental health and substance use, public policy, and international development. Nandini is passionate about the design and implementation of meaningful and inclusive engagement processes grounded in diverse perspectives and ways of knowing that advance evidence-informed decision-making for policy and system improvement, and which aim to achieve equitable population health outcomes. Nandini has led the design and implementation of numerous knowledge mobilization and policy research initiatives on, for example, ways to address systemic barriers experienced by refugees and immigrants, understanding citizens’ value preferences on the long-term management of used nuclear fuel, and centering the voices of people with lived/ living experience of mental illness and addiction in service and system improvement work. Nandini holds a graduate degree in Social Work from the University of Toronto and is currently pursuing a Master’s in Public Administration from Queen’s University School of Policy Studies.

Description

This session will introduce participants to the topic of health equity in social work practice and explore opportunities for social work intervention and action at multiple levels to advance health equity. Core health equity concepts will be defined and described, including the role of the social and structural determinants of health in shaping the health of individuals, families, communities, and populations. Discussion about what is the scope of the problem of health inequities will support thinking through the role of social workers and others in disrupting systems of oppression, along with the associated principles and practice of critical allyship. Resources and tools to facilitate action in social work contexts, including implementation levers and frameworks, will be shared. An interactive case study will be discussed to bring some of these concepts to light in social work practice contexts building on the work that participants are doing to advance health equity. Learning objectives include:

  • Describe core health equity concepts​
  • Apply anti-oppression lens to social work practice​
  • Identify frameworks, resources and tools that can be used to implement health equity​
  • Discover resources from the National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health (NCCDH) that support health equity action