On the Margins

How accessible are health care services in rural and remote areas of Nova Scotia, and how does this impact Black Nova Scotian women and their communities? Dr. Wanda Thomas Bernard is leading a team that is researching the answer, and the team will discuss the project at an upcoming conference in Yarmouth.

Dr. Bernard, who is Director of the School of Social Work at Dalhousie University, is the Principal Investigator of a three-year, $629,000 project, co-funded by the Canadian Institutes of Heath Research (CIHR) and Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC).

The On the Margins (OTM) project consists of a team of researchers, the majority of whom are Black Canadians. Their investigation centers on health status, health care delivery and health services among African Canadians living in the south and west shores of the province Ñ from Liverpool to Annapolis Royal.

Dr. Josephine Etowa from Dalhousie UniversityÕs School of Nursing, Dr. Barbara Clow from the Atlantic Centre of Excellence for WomenÕs Health, and Dr. Carol Amaratunga, Chair in the WomenÕs Health Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine at the University of Ottawa are also co-investigators of the project.

Participatory action research

Dr. Bernard says that community involvement was the backbone of the research. Interviews and focus groups were held in the various rural and remote Nova Scotian communities and as many as 237 women have been interviewed so far.

ÒThis research was successful because community members gave their time, expertise, and resources,” Dr. Bernard says. ÒWe are pleased to be going back to the communities now with the results.”

Dr. Wanda Thomas Bernard has provided leadership in developing culturally-relevant services and culturally-specific programs in the health professions. She has organized numerous conferences and workshops for anti-racist, Africentric perspectives on community issues such as violence, gender and health. She has been instrumental in the development of community-based research teams, and has worked over the years to foster links among academics, frontline practitioners and the African Nova Scotian community.  She was awarded the Order of Canada in June, 2005 for her activist work on race and racism.

From research to action

The OTM project will hold a three-day conference entitled Black Women on the Margins (OTM): From Research to Action, at the Rodd Grand Hotel and Nova Scotia Community College in Yarmouth from Thursday, April 27 Ð 29. Dr. Bernard, research team members, community members and others will be on hand to discuss the project and how health barriers affect women and their communities. All are welcome to attend. For further information, contact Dr. Bernard at 494-1194, or 471-8374.