CAVWA

With funding from Women and Gender Equality Canada, W21C is working in partnership with the Calgary Vietnamese Women’s Association (CAVWA) to understand the health and wellness support landscape for women within the Vietnamese community in Calgary. While community supports and services are critical for the health and wellness of overall communities, the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated an already large disparity in availability and access of these supports in marginalized and racialized communities. The study, led by Dr. Tanvir Turin Chowdhury, PhD, associate professor, Department of Community Health Sciences, aims to explore the current state of health and wellness services and unmet needs within this vibrant community, and at the same time better understand the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the community’s ability to access and benefit from supports.

Using a Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach with CAVWA as research partners, this study is being conducted through three phases: 1) assessing the current state of unmet health and wellness needs; 2) scanning what is currently available in health and wellness supports for Calgary Vietnamese women; and 3) creating a comprehensive knowledge translation strategy to equitably share research findings to stakeholders, including Vietnamese community members.  CAVWA hopes to use the findings of this study to pursue policy changes within their community and make research findings available to stakeholders and other researchers who wish to partner on research to address important issues within the Vietnamese community.  

W21C engaged with the Calgary Vietnamese Women’s Association to co-develop and execute the study. We developed a protocol for a mixed-methods community-based research study, and conducted surveys, key information interviews and focus groups to understand health and wellness needs and gaps experienced by women in the Vietnamese community in Calgary. We also conducted an environmental scan of all services and supports available that may be beneficial to the community. Finally, we developed a knowledge translation plan for CAVWA to use to disseminate the findings of the study to interested parties (i.e., community members, policy makers, health and social services providers) to build upon the work CAVWA already does to raise awareness and advocate for health equity for the community.