Categories: Healthcare Access & Equity

Developing a Community-Based Research agenda to address unmet needs in the context of Human Papillomavirus (HPV)

Immigrants and refugees experience unique challenges navigating accessing services for the prevention and detection of human papillomavirus (HPV) and associated diseases. There is a need continue to understand the pathways that shape access to these services, including tackling stigma, gaps in health literacy, and cultural and social norms, while situating these pathways within the socio-political and health-system context in Ontario and Canada. 

What gets measured gets improved – our annual client experience survey

This research-like activity is about understanding the client experience within Access Alliance’s primary care services. It focuses on gathering feedback from patients who visited one of the organization’s three main sites (Jane, College, and Danforth) or accessed care virtually between November 2025 and February 2026.  

Overview and context 

We operate within a community healthcare model defined by health equity and social inclusion,

Advancing health equity, strengthening attachment readiness, and improving mental health outcomes for Black children and youth

Advancing health equity through attachment readiness and systemic transformation

Access Alliance’s annual Community-Based Research Retreat Day in 2026 focused on advancing health equity, strengthening attachment readiness and systems of care, and improving mental health outcomes for Black children and youth community members.

In the morning, we focused on advancing health equity through attachment readiness and systemic transformation.

A sense of belonging – 2026 Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) for Rockcliffe-Smythe & Mount Dennis

The 2026 Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) evaluates the well-being, assets, and challenges of the Rockcliffe-Smythe and Mount Dennis (RS-MD) neighbourhoods in Toronto. RS-MD are vibrant, diverse neighbourhoods located at the west end of Toronto along the Humber River.

Both areas contain large immigrant populations with various housing and employment opportunities.

Advancing newcomer health data justice 

We are working with longtime Access Alliance collaborator, Jay Shaw, to support his work on ADJUST (Advancing health data justice), a project that explores newcomer understanding of health-related data and their ideas for developing policy and practice standards that promote justice.  

According to Dr. Shaw’s earlier research, Health data justice: building new norms for health data governance,

Mental Health Needs and Service Standards for Black Children and Youth 

Access Alliance is embarking on an important Community-based Research (CBR) project with African, Caribbean, and Black (ACB) communities – From Policing to Public Health: A Data-Driven Framework for Culturally Concordant Mental Health and Non-Carceral Crisis Response for children and youth in Toronto.

Led by the Director of the Research Department, AKM Alamgir,

A Newcomer Health Plan for Ontario – the time is right

It is time to design, validate, and evaluate an equity-focused Newcomer Health Plan (NHP) in Ontario.

Why a Newcomer Health Plan?

Approximately 250,000 people immigrate to Canada annually, contributing to about two-thirds of the country’s annual population growth (1); and almost half of all new Canadians settled in Ontario in 2025 (2).

AccessTO – ensuring access for all

The City’s Access to City Services for Undocumented Torontonians (AccessTO) policy outlines that all Torontonians, regardless of immigration status, have the right to access City services without fear. Through the Toronto Newcomer Strategy 2022-2026, the ongoing implementation of the AccessTO policy remains a key priority.

In March 2025,

Opening doors for cancer screening in a downtown priority neighbourhood

Led by the University of Toronto’s Rosanra Yoon, Access Alliance is excited to be part of this new project: Open Door to Address Cancer Screening Hesitancy: a community-based co-design project to address cancer screening hesitancy in a downtown Toronto west priority neighbourhood.

Project focus

With funding support provided by the Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) through the Canadian Institutes of Health Research,

Understanding what Seniors need to know and communicate about medications – a health care system reality check

This joint project between the Access Alliance Research Department and the Open Door project focused on creating a new presentation for seniors about medication, medication compliance, medication use, medication reconciliation and review, why it is important to share accurate information about medication with providers, etc. We set out to build a workshop and simple tools to help seniors better understand and manage their medications.