Building Roads Together: a peer-led, community-based walking and rolling peer support program for inclusion and mental health.

SETTING: The program founder selected Regent Park for Building Roads Together© pilot program implementation because it is one of 31 neighbourhoods identified by the City of Toronto as a Neighbourhood Improvement Area based on a low Neighbourhood Equity Benchmark score indicating that it faces serious inequities requiring immediate action. In addition, Regent Park has a higher than average proportion of residents who are recent immigrants, and is Canada's first social housing development undergoing a 25-year process of transformation to a mixed-income community. Community partners confirmed that Building Roads Together responded to community needs and complemented existing programs and supports. INTERVENTION: Building Roads Together is an award-winning community-based peer support walking and rolling program designed to promote inclusion and reduce health inequities. Strong bodies of evidence demonstrate that peer support, walking, and exposure to green space, each on their own or in combination, reduce social isolation and improve health and mental health. The program founder designed Building Roads Together based on this research evidence; a needs assessment including interviews, focus groups, and meetings; and her lived experience. OUTCOMES: The needs assessment informed program design, including name, goals, approach, and curriculum. Building Roads Together includes the following phases: (1) Community engagement; (2) Partnership development; (3) Neighbourhood-based Walk the Talk Advisory Groups; (4) Peer Walking/Rolling Group Leadership Training; (5) Mentoring/Support; (6) Peer Walking/Rolling Groups. The training curriculum combines peer leadership, inclusion, and communication skills; practical skills required to create and manage a walking group; and information about urban green space. IMPLICATIONS: In partnership with the Centre for Learning & Development Toronto and the Regent Park Community Health Centre, the program founder trained 42 peer walking group leaders and mentored multiple walking groups.

RéSUMé: LIEU: Le fondateur du programme a choisi Regent Park pour la mise en œuvre du programme pilote Building Roads Together© car il s'agit de l'un des 31 quartiers identifiés par la ville de Toronto comme une zone d'amélioration du quartier sur la base d'un faible score de référence pour l'équité du quartier indiquant qu'il fait face à de graves iniquités nécessitant action immédiate. En plus, Regent Park a une proportion supérieure à la moyenne de résidents qui sont des immigrants récents, et est le premier ensemble de logements sociaux au Canada à subir un processus de transformation de 25 ans en une communauté à revenu mixte. Les partenaires communautaires ont confirmé que Building Roads Together répondait aux besoins de la communauté et complétait les programmes et soutiens existants. INTERVENTION: Building Roads Together est un programme communautaire de marche et de roulement de soutien par les pairs conçu pour promouvoir l'inclusion et réduire les inégalités en matière de santé. Des preuves solides démontrent que le soutien par les pairs, la marche, et l'exposition à l'espace vert, individuellement ou en combinaison, réduisent l'isolement social et améliorent la santé et la santé mentale. La fondatrice du programme a conçu Building Roads Together sur la base de ces données de recherche; d'une évaluation des besoins, notamment des entretiens, des groupes de discussion et des réunions; et de son expérience vécue. RéSULTATS: L'évaluation des besoins a informé la conception du programme, y compris le nom, les objectifs, l'approche et le curriculum. Building Roads Together comprend les phases suivantes : 1) Engagement communautaire; 2) Développement de partenariats; 3) Groupes consultatifs Walk the Talk, basés dans le quartier; 4) Formation en leadership de groupe de marche / roulement par les pairs; 5) Mentorat / soutien; 6) Groupes de marche / roulement entre pairs. Le programme de formation combine des compétences de leadership, d'inclusion, et de communication entre pairs; des compétences pratiques requises pour créer et gérer un groupe de marche; et des informations sur les espaces verts urbains. IMPLICATIONS: En partenariat avec le Centre for Learning & Development Toronto et le Regent Park Community Health Centre, le fondateur du programme a formé 42 chefs de groupe de marche par les pairs et encadré plusieurs groupes de marche.

COVID-19 Economic Response and Recovery: A Rapid Scoping Review.

This rapid scoping review of existing evidence and research gaps addressed the following question: what research evidence exists and what are the research gaps at global, regional, and national levels on interventions to protect jobs, small- and medium-sized enterprises, and formal/informal sector workers in socioeconomic response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic? The results are based on 79 publications deemed eligible for inclusion after the screening and prioritizing of 1,658 records. The findings are organized according to the 3 main categories of socioeconomic interventions-protecting jobs, enterprises, and workers-although the 3 are intertwined. Most results were derived from global-level gray literature with recommendations for interventions and implicit links to the sustainable development goals. Based on research gaps uncovered in the review, future implementation science research needs to focus on designing, implementing, evaluating, and scaling: effective evidence-based socioeconomic interventions; equity-focused, redistributive, and transformative interventions; comprehensive packages of complementary interventions; interventions to upend root causes of systemic social inequities; collaborative and participatory approaches; interventions that integrate environmental sustainability; and city-level interventions. Failing to consider the environmental dimensions of economic recovery is shortsighted and will ultimately exacerbate social inequities and poverty and undermine economic stability in the long term.

Reflections on Teaching, Learning and Doing Participatory Research in a Graduate Seminar.

BACKGROUND: To improve training for the next generation of researchers to engage in community-based participatory research (CBPR), we reflect on our experience offering an applied participatory research methodologies graduate seminar. METHODS: This article is written from the perspective of a university professor/course director, a community partner, and a master's student who took the course. First, we describe our unique context. Second, we provide a general overview of the planning and implementation. Third, we illustrate what happened from our three perspectives. We conclude with recommendations. RESULTS: We each shared our unique perspectives on the strengths, opportunities and challenges associated with teaching/learning through engaging an applied CBPR project. There was consensus that our timelines were tight, the workload was heavy, communication was tricky, and we could have used more resources. Nevertheless, we all appreciated everyone's deep engagement and investment in the collaborative processes, the development of new skills and our success in gathering important evaluative feedback with efficiency and expediency. We agreed that this was a rewarding experience that we would repeat. CONCLUSIONS: Mounting a course in this fashion requires a strong community-university partnership, that is supported with substantial preparatory work, human and financial resource commitments, and contingency planning. We recommend transparency, communication and managed expectations.

Making Contributions and Defining Success: An eDelphi Study of the Inaugural Cohort of CIHR Health System Impact Fellows, Host Supervisors and Academic Supervisors.

CONTEXT: The Health System Impact (HSI) Fellowship, an innovative training program developed by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research's Institute of Health Services and Policy Research, provides PhD-trained health researchers with an embedded, experiential learning opportunity within a health system organization. METHODS/DESIGN: An electronic Delphi (eDelphi) study was conducted to: (1) identify the criteria used to define success in the program and (2) elucidate the main contributions fellows made to their organizations. Through an iterative, two-round eDelphi process, perspectives were elicited from three stakeholder groups in the inaugural cohort of the HSI Fellowship: HSI fellows, host supervisors and academic supervisors. DISCUSSION: A consensus was reached on many criteria of success for an embedded research fellowship and on several perceived contributions of the fellows to their host organization and academic institutions. This work begins to identify specific criteria for success in the fellowship that can be used to improve future iterations of the program.

Social support and the significance of shared experience in refugee migration and resettlement.

This article examines the role of social support as a determinant of refugee well-being and migration patterns during early resettlement. Analysis is based on qualitative in-depth interviews with 47 government-assisted refugees in Canada and 38 key informants (settlement service providers and immigration officials) in Canada and overseas. The study describes refugees' decision making during stages of migration and resettlement, from whom they seek social support in particular situations, what sources are appraised as most important, and what is significant about the support. The authors suggest that a goal of refugees support-seeking strategies is affirmation through shared experience.

Validation of self-rated mental health.

BACKGROUND: This article assesses the association between self-rated mental health and selected World Mental Health-Composite International Diagnostic Interview (WMH-CIDI)-measured disorders, self-reported diagnoses of mental disorders, and psychological distress in the Canadian population. DATA AND METHODS: Data are from the 2002 Canadian Community Health Survey: Mental Health and Well-being. Weighted frequencies and cross-tabulations were used to estimate the prevalence of each mental morbidity measure and self-rated mental health by selected characteristics. Mean self-rated mental health scores were calculated for each mental morbidity measure. The association between self-rated mental health and each mental morbidity measure was analysed with logistic regression models. RESULTS: In 2002, an estimated 1.7 million Canadians aged 15 or older (7%) rated their mental health as fair or poor. Respondents classified with mental morbidity consistently reported lower mean self-rated mental health (SRMH) and had significantly higher odds of reporting fair/poor mental health than did those not classified with mental morbidity. Gradients in mean SRMH scores and odds of reporting fair/poor mental health by recency of WMH-CIDI-measured mental disorders were apparent. A sizeable percentage of respondents classified as having a mental morbidity did not perceive their mental health as fair/poor. INTERPRETATION: Although self-rated mental health is not a substitute for specific mental health measures it is potentially useful for monitoring general mental health.