Catalyst and Research Development Grant Project Highlight 

Addressing Health Inequities for Black and Racialized Immigrants with Disabilities During and Beyond COVID-19 in Ontario

An Interview with Chavon Niles

Please tell us about yourself and your journey to UofT. What are your research interests/areas of focus? 

Before joining UofT, my work was rooted in community-based health equity initiatives. I led provincial and national education programs, collaborated with grassroots organizations, and worked directly with Black and racialized disabled immigrant communities  to co-create solutions to systemic inequities. 

I have always approached research as movement-building work centering those most affected by inequities. I draw on critical social theories and frameworks. While these frameworks have been applied across various disciplines to reveal how systemic oppression continues to harm specific communities, these lenses are rarely used within health services and rehabilitation research especially drawing on scholarship from the global South. These frameworks hold great potential to transform systems of health care and public health for the better. Without attention to these critical frameworks, we risk exacerbating disparities in health care access and health outcomes. The focus of my research program at UofT aims to answer the following question: How can Critical Disability Studies and Health Equity frameworks be used to intentionally mobilize rehabilitation and health services research to address the growing disparities in outcomes that underserved communities are experiencing in the local and global context? My research includes a clear commitment to community engagement to inform research. 

Often, when we talk about health inequities, we hear that “the system is broken.” But it’s not broken, it is functioning exactly as it was designed to, systematically excluding and devaluing certain communities. These inequities are embedded in policy decisions, institutional practices, and historical legacies of colonialism, racism and ableism. 

Can you tell us about your project “Addressing Health Inequities for Black and Racialized Immigrants with Disabilities During and Beyond COVID-19 in Ontario”? 

This project builds on earlier research that documented how Black and racialized disabled immigrants navigated healthcare and rehabilitation systems during COVID-19. That study highlighted: 

• Medical neglect- where symptoms were dismissed by healthcare providers. 

• Barriers to rehabilitation services due to language, financial, or legal status constraints. 

• Public health policies that caused more harm than protection, disproportionately impacting Black and racialized disabled communities. 

With this IfP grant, we are now refining and deepening the research to: 

• Investigate how Black and racialized disabled immigrants have been affected by the pandemic beyond immediate health concerns. 

• Explore their perception of their mental health, economic stability, and social well-being in the aftermath of COVID-19. 

• Evaluate the unintended consequences of public health responses on already marginalized populations. 

• Suggest post-pandemic recovery strategies by addressing systemic inequities, advocating for policy changes, and guiding inclusive healthcare reform. 

• Develop recommendations for culturally responsive healthcare interventions, using narrative inquiry and storytelling to ensure that lived experiences inform healthcare policies. 

This work builds on the deep knowledge and advocacy of communities who have long been leading the way in addressing health inequities. By amplifying these voices and collaborating with those most affected, we are creating opportunities for meaningful change. Our research bridges the gap between lived experiences and policy action, ensuring that these stories inform and can lead to tangible structural transformation in healthcare and rehabilitation. 

Could you tell us about the choice to do narrative inquiry and storytelling as your main methodology? 

I use narrative inquiry and storytelling because traditional research methods often do not capture the full complexity of people’s lived experiences. Numbers and statistics can quantify disparities, but they cannot tell us how these barriers feel, how they impact daily life, or how people navigate systems designed to exclude them. 

Storytelling is not just a research method, it is a tool for resistance, accountability, and truth-telling. It challenges dominant narratives that frame healthcare inequities as isolated incidents rather than patterns of systemic exclusion. 

Black and racialized disabled communities have been telling their stories for generations, the issue is not that these experiences are unknown, but that they are often ignored, dismissed, or deprioritized in healthcare policy and research. My research amplifies these and demands action and stresses that these are not single stories.  

Overall, why is this work important? 

As I mentioned earlier, this work is important because health inequities are not accidents, they are designed. They are the result of policy choices, institutional biases, and histories of exclusion that shape who gets care, who is believed, and who is left out. 

This work is also about hope, transformation, and co-creation. It builds on the knowledge and advocacy of those who have been fighting for health equity long before this project began. It is about shifting power, not just documenting inequities, but actively working with communities to redesign systems that were never meant to serve them in the first place. 

As researchers, we need to ask ourselves: 

• Are we willing to center the knowledge of those most affected by health inequities? 

• Are we ensuring that our research leads to real-world impact, rather than staying within academic circles? 

• Are we actively working to dismantle inequitable systems, rather than just describing them? 

How does your project align with IfP themes of recovery, readiness, and/or resilience? 

This project pushes beyond traditional definitions of recovery, readiness, and resilience. Recovery must mean more than returning to the pre-pandemic status quo because “normal” was already deeply inequitable. This project ensures that Black and racialized disabled immigrant communities are not erased in post-pandemic reforms. This research helps prepare for future public health crises by ensuring that health equity is a foundational principle in emergency response planning, not an afterthought. 

Black and racialized disabled immigrant communities should not have to be resilient just to survive. This project challenges the idea that resilience is the solution and instead pushes for structural change so that resilience is not a requirement for access to care. 

What are the next steps (perhaps both short-term and long-term) for your project? 

Short-term goals (2025-2026): 

• Complete the study and analyze findings. 

• Apply for a Knowledge Mobilization grant to share preliminary findings with community partners, healthcare providers, and policymakers. 

• Host a community engagement session to discuss results and co-create next steps. 

Long-term goals (2026 and beyond): 

• Use the findings to inform a larger national SSHRC study, expanding the research to examine these issues on a broader scale. 

• Continue policy advocacy to push for long-term structural changes in healthcare and rehabilitation services. 

• Build sustained partnerships with organizations across Canada to ensure this research leads to action. 

• Co-develop training materials for healthcare and rehabilitation professionals.  

This work is about reshaping healthcare systems so that they are designed for equity, inclusion, and justice.