Working with Japanese Canadian youth to build belonging through art, activism and intergenerational dialogue

Research team members, Left to right: Ai Yamamoto (current MSW student), Izumi Niki (FIFSW MSW graduate & current PhD student in sociology at U of T), Grayson Lee (advisory board member), Associate Professor Izumi Sakamoto, Momo Ando (FIFSW MSW graduate), Sofia Callaghan, Viveka Ichikawa (current PhD student), and Boomba Nishikawa

The forced incarceration of more than 22,000 Japanese Canadians during the Second World War tore apart families and friends, disrupted the transmission of language and traditions, destroyed livelihoods, and dispersed people throughout the country and beyond.  

Generations later, young Japanese Canadians find themselves struggling with their cultural identity and sense of belonging.  

New research led by Izumi Sakamoto, an Associate Professor at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, is examining how art, activism, and intergenerational dialogue can help this community challenge traditional understandings of identity and community, forge stronger connections, and build a more inclusive future. 

Conducted in partnership with Japanese Canadian youth, the two new community-based, participatory research projects build on the outcomes of Sakamoto ‘s previous research, which examined how Japanese Canadian Youth engage in art and activism to reconstruct cultural identity and community.  

“Art can be practiced for catharsis, healing, and identity exploration, but also for activism,” says Sakamoto, who founded the Japanese Canadian Arts and Activism Project (JCAAP). “It allows people to claim or reclaim their sense of self and to be seen and heard.” (Follow JCAAP on instagram @_jcaap.)

The generational impact of wartime internment, dispossession and dispersal  

The impact of forced removal, expulsion and internment in the wake of World War II spans generations. When the war ended, Japanese Canadians who had been incarcerated weren’t permitted to return to British Columbia for four more years, leaving the once closely connected communities scattered. In the decades that followed, rates of interracial marriage rose significantly to nearly 80 per cent, shaping a community that now includes multiple generations of people with mixed heritage.

Izumi Sakamoto and community activist Connie Kadota at the Powell Street Festival, 2025

In addition, now one third of Canadians of Japanese origin are post-war immigrants from Japan, adding another layer of diversity to the community. “Taken all together, Japanese Canadian identity and culture get complicated,” says Sakamoto, herself a new immigrant from Japan who has been learning about the rich and complex history of the Japanese Canadian community from community leaders and organizations for the past ten years. 

Between 2023 and 2025, Sakamoto and her research team spoke with 90 diverse Japanese Canadians to explore their thoughts on cultural identity and the strategies they have used to reconstruct and reimagine their communities. While many described uncertainties about their cultural identities, youth in particular reported a sense of disconnection from Japanese cultural practices and community spaces. Their identities were further complicated by the transnational stereotypes of Japanese culture imposed on them by non-Asian peers and dominant society in general.  

“Young Japanese Canadians are even more diverse than previous generations. Between those with a family history of internment and those whose families immigrated post war two to three generations ago — and given that most Japanese Canadian youth have mixed heritage — their identity formation has been especially complex,” says Sakamoto. “They talked about not feeling ‘Japanese enough’ in some Japanese Canadian contexts and said it’s like they must prove the authenticity of their identities if they don’t speak the language or know their full family histories.”    

Sakamoto’s research found that Japanese Canadian youth developed ways to counter internal and external challenges to their ‘Japaneseness,’ including telling family stories through various art forms, becoming knowledgeable about Japanese Canadian history, and participating in activities that mix art and activism, such as Taiko drumming. 

As part of JCAAP’s ongoing work, the team highlights exemplary activism by Japanese Canadian elders through platforms such as Instagram, website features, and academic publications. A recent example includes a co-authored manuscript by Sakamoto alongside team members Lisa Toi (youth researcher) and Izumi Niki (research coordinator), about the decades-long contributions of FIFSW alum and international anti-nuclear activist, Setsuko Thurlow.

Youth-led knowledge mobilization 

Izumi Sakamoto (right) and OCAD University professor Emma Nishimura at Nishimura’s 2023 exhibition, ‘Rememory: Echoes & Archives’ at United Contemporary art gallery

Sakamoto’s new research project, funded by a SSHRC Connection Grant, will share her and her team’s earlier research findings on identity through an arts-based workshop for youth. Japanese Canadian youth working in partnership with the researchers will co-lead these events, where the aim is to spark discussion and arts-based responses to the research. 

The researchers will also present their results at intergenerational forums. “We want to highlight the similarity of identity struggles among people of different ages,” says Sakamoto. 

The researchers will survey participants before and after the workshop and forums to see if they gain a stronger sense of belonging in the community. The project will also explore the impact of having multiple identities — mixed-race, queer, trans, neurodiverse and more — on Japanese Canadian young people’s sense of belonging in their communities.  

Mapping belonging 

In the second, longer-term project, supported by a SSHRC Insight Grant, the researchers will address a major knowledge gap related to Japanese Canadian youth. “There’s no national demographic data on this group, and we still know very little about how they build community and cultural identity,” says Sakamoto. 

The first step will be a country-wide survey of Japanese Canadian youth. The results will help inform decisions on what future support policies and community programming are needed for this group, and where.  

In the next stage, Japanese Canadian young people will participate in workshops with artists, archivists and the Heritage Department of the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre, one of several community research partners. 

“The youth will have the chance to explore oral histories, contemporary artistic works like podcasts and magazines, and older archival material as a way to create new cultural memories and a broader definition of Japanese Canadian identity,” says Sakamoto.  

To ensure they have an awareness of Japan’s imperialist history when they lead any discussion on Japanese Canadian identity, the project’s youth research partners will take anti-colonial and anti-imperial workshops led by Korean Canadian community organizer and scholar Grayson Lee. 

In the later stages of the project, the researchers will bring together large groups of Japanese Canadians from across the generations and different immigration cohorts to collaborate in storytelling forums online and in person.  

Building strong, inclusive cultural identities 

Each of the projects will result in public resources such as videos, social media campaigns and a multimedia story archive for further knowledge-sharing within the larger Japanese Canadian community.  

Yet the research has applications far beyond this community as well, says Sakamoto. “The erosion of cultural and historical ties is a growing concern for diasporic groups across the world,” she explains. “The experiences of JapaneseCanadian youth provide critical insights into cultural continuity and belonging while forging a more expansive identities inclusive of mixed heritage, LGBTQ+, neurodivergent, and disabled youth who may not have seen themselves reflected in the common Japanese Canadian representations.” 

In the end, she says, the research is about helping people find ways to move forward with a strong cultural identity, despite a disjointed past or present. “We’re building the tools that will create more inclusive, more authentic, and more robust communities that can look to the future with a hope rooted in kinship.”

“In the context of Asian Heritage Month, this research serves as a celebration of Asian resilience by honouring histories of survival while uplifting the joy, creativity, art, and community-building that define Asian Canadian life today.”

By Megan Easton 

Organizational collaborators in Sakamoto’s ongoing program of research include: the Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (Toronto), Powell Street Festival Society (Toronto), Tonari Gumi – Japanese Volunteers Association(Vancouver), and the Young Japanese Canadians of Toronto. 

Research team members who have collaboratively helped create the direction of the project include current and past FIFSW students, Ai Yamamoto (current MSW student), Momo Ando (MSW graduate ), Izumi Niki (MSW grad and PhD candidate in Sociology at U of T), Manaal Syed (PhD graduate and current Assistant Professor at Renison University College at the University of Waterloo), Viveka Ichikawa (MSW graduate, FIFSW PhD candidate, and incoming Assistant Professor at Toronto Metropolitan University), Yanusha Yogarajah (MSW graduate), Yahan Yang (PhD candidate), Kennes Lin (MSW graduate), and XJ Ng (MSW graduate), among others. 

Related:

• The CBC interviews Izumi Sakamoto about the discriminatory practice of requiring “Canadian Experience
• Report on anti-Asian racism during the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the experiences of members of Toronto’s Chinese Canadian community
• Social work professors collaborate with community organizations to explore experiences of anti-Asian racism and develop strategies to address the crisis
• Report on unregulated homestays in Canada uncovers adverse living conditions for international students from Kindergarten to Grade 12

As Canada’s affordability crisis mounts, Micheal Shier’s research aims to boost the capacity of non-profits on the front lines of anti-poverty work

Photo of Daily Bread Food Bank’s Spring Public Food Sort, March 2024, by Nick Lachance for Toronto Star via Getty Images

Affordability is a top concern for Canadians these days, based on recent polls and widespread media coverage of the topic. What people are really worried about is poverty, says researcher Micheal Shier, though they rarely use that emotionally loaded word.

There’s good reason for their worry: poverty rates are increasing across the country. And non-profit organizations serving people are at the frontlines of this pressing social issue, running programs and developing strategies to tackle poverty head on.

Facing mounting service demands, dwindling donations, and reduced government funding, human service non-profit organizations urgently need guidance on the best ways to allocate their time and resources to continue their work. Understanding what practices help or hinder their success is becoming increasingly vital.

That’s where Shier’s research comes in. The social work professor at the University of Toronto’s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work is partnering with human service non-profits nationwide to boost their poverty-reduction capacity.

Professor Michael Shier

“We want to know how we can support these efforts so they can have a much larger positive social impact,” says Shier, the Canada Research Chair in Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship in the Human Services.

Poverty reduction includes anything organizations do to directly tackle the main indicators of poverty, which are all on the rise, including unemployment, precarious employment, and food and housing insecurity.

“This often means coming up with innovative ideas to foster new economic development activities in the local community,” says Shier.  A non-profit might buy a business so it can offer employment while also generating revenue for the organization. Or it might purchase a building and provide affordable housing to its clients.

In Shier’s current pilot project, his team is surveying and interviewing a diverse range of non-profit leaders and staff across Ontario about their poverty-reduction initiatives. “We’re collecting information on exactly who’s doing what, and where,” he says, noting that the next stage of the project will expand this work across Canada.

To determine the organizational factors that promote or hinder non-profits’ poverty reduction efforts, the research team is gathering information on governance structure, staff development, program focus, market engagement, and collaborations. “We want to know if non-profits are using their own funds to run these programs, for example, or collaborating with businesses or government,” says Shier.

Once Shier and his team have identified the internal and external factors that lead to productive poverty reduction strategies, they’ll distribute this information widely across the non-profit sector in a variety of ways.

“We plan to produce a Community Economic Development Capacity Tool that non-profit leaders can use to bolster their poverty reduction activities,” he says. This tool will allow them to assess the value of their current approaches and see where they should invest in new resources or collaborations.

The findings will be disseminated through a variety of educational modules for non-profit leaders and staff. In the past, Shier created YouTube videos on topics such as social entrepreneurship to communicate his research in an accessible way.

“We’ll also be sharing our results with government,” says Shier. “Certain policies around funding, procurement and partnerships can elevate the ability of the non-profit sector to carry out poverty-reduction work.”

The importance of this work in the current economy can’t be underestimated. “There’s a lot of upheaval in our economic systems right now and it’s affecting people’s livelihoods,” he says. “At the same time, the cost of living is going up, and there doesn’t seem to be an end in sight. We haven’t seen government responses that fully address these issues.”

Food Banks Canada, for example, recently gave the Canadian government a D in its annual Poverty Report Card, which grades governments’ legislative efforts to alleviate poverty.

“The overarching goal,” says Shier, “is to help create systems that allow non-profits, the government and for-profits to be as effective as possible in supporting the overall socioeconomic wellbeing of the population.”

By Megan Easton

Related:

• Social work across services and generations: Jewish Family and Child Service
• Janis Rotman Roundtable on Food Insecurity
• FIFSW social work researchers studying food insecurity
• Meet two FIFSW professors who are creating supportive and innovative learning environments for social work students
• How Alumna Kaitlin Schwan became a leading researcher on homelessness and a national advocate for the right to housing

Rachelle Ashcroft is recognized for her outstanding contributions to advancing Interprofessional Education

Ivy Oandasan, Professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Toronto, presents Associate Professor Rachelle Ashcroft with the Ivy Oandasan Leadership Award of Merit for Outstanding Contributions in Advancing Interprofessional Education (IPE)

Associate Professor Rachelle Ashcroft was recognized with the Ivy Oandasan Leadership Award of Merit for Outstanding Contributions in Advancing Interprofessional Education (IPE) on May 19. 

Each year the University of Toronto’s Centre for Advancing Collaborative Healthcare & Education (CACHE) presents awards to those who have demonstrated dedication and engagement in interprofessional collaboration, education, and practice. The awards not only celebrate outstanding achievements but also recognize unwavering commitment to advancing interprofessional collaboration in health care, social care and education.  

In addition to her role at FIFSW, Ashcroft is chair of U of T’s InterFaculty Curriculum Committee (IFCC), which is responsible for U of T’s Interprofessional Education (IPE) Curriculum in partnership with the Toronto Academic Health Science Network, which includes 14 hospitals and 12 health and social care professional training programs. 

Since 2013, Ashcroft has also been actively involved in developing curriculum and providing mentorship in  TUTOR-PHC (Transdisciplinary Understanding and Training on Research – Primary Health Care) — an interprofessional training program focusing on primary care research and leadership. The focus of her growing body of research is on team-based practice in interprofessional primary care settings.  

Ashcroft has been a leader in promoting a national vision and building capacity for the role of social work in Primary Health Care. In collaboration with Associate Professor Keith Adamson, she has worked to develop the Canadian Association of Social Work’s National position and vision for the future of social work in primary care. She also led the development of a six-module e-learning program for social workers in primary care and social work learners considering a future practice in primary care.  

In October 2025, Ashcroft and Adamson, in partnership with the Canadian Association of Social Workers, held the first National Summit on Social Work in Primary Care, which brought together social work clinicians, researchers, teachers, and policy makers from across the country to advanceda strategy to redefine primary health care with social work among the essential contributors. 

Congratulations to Dr. Rachelle Ashcroft on being recognized with this prestigious award! 

Keith Adamson is recognized for his Distinguished Service to the social work profession

Associate Professor Keith Adamson is being honoured this week at the Ontario Association of Social Work (OASW) Annual General Meeting. During Social Work Month, he was selected as the Ontario recipient of the 2026 Canadian Association of Social Workers (CASW) Distinguished Service Award, a prestigious national honour that recognizes exceptional contributions to the social work profession across Canada.  

Associate Professor Keith Adamson

The Distinguished Service Award is given to those who: 

• exemplify social work values and the profession’s ethical principles,  
• are a positive influence and have persistently contributed to social work practice and education,  
• demonstrate leadership within the field and outside the profession,  
• contribute to promoting and advancing the professions of social work 
• demonstrate an ongoing commitment to reconciliation, advocacy and social justice, 
• have practiced for at least 10 years, and  
• contributed to volunteer roles, board positions, or similar efforts. 

Adamson served as OASW president from 2014 to 2018. But that is just one of many key roles he has played in supporting and advancing the social work profession. He has helped advance social work’s involvement in interprofessional education among the professional healthcare Faculties at U of T. He has led innovations in the classroom by involving service users in curriculum development and delivery, and is now working with the Council of Social Work Education on the development of a new Specialized Curricular Guide on Service User Involvement in Social Work education. He has also worked to advance social work’s role in team-based primary health care, an initiative with the potential to help address the human resource crisis in Canada’s healthcare system. 

Adamson joined the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work in 2017 and is now the Director of its Master of Social Work program. He was previously a Deputy Director at the University of Toronto’s Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation. Prior to joining the Faculty, he had over 20 years of progressive senior management experience in clinical, management and professional practice leadership roles as well as expertise in Clinical Governance. 

Congratulations to Dr. Adamson on being recognized with this Distinguished Service Award! 

Social work across services and generations: Jewish Family and Child Service

Jewish Family & Child Service staff gather for a Challah Bake in 2025

When Sascha Gurwitz started working as a social worker in child welfare, she saw families struggling with multiple challenges — poverty, housing, parenting stress, mental‑health concerns — but had limited tools to respond, beyond ensuring immediate safety. She wanted to do more to help.

“Any one of us is one accident, one diagnosis, one circumstantial difference from sitting where we are now, to sitting on the other side and needing services,” she says.

While pursuing a master’s degree at the University of Toronto’s Factor‑Inwentash Faculty of Social Work (FIFSW), Gurwitz learned about Jewish Family and Child Service (JF&CS) from a classmate who worked there. Drawn to support the Jewish community she’d grown up in and inspired by JF&CS’s wrap-around approach, she joined as a social worker. More than twenty years later, she’s still there today — now as manager of family services.

“Because we’re a multi service agency, clients can access counselling, financial empowerment, youth programs or domestic‑violence support,” she says. “And as a social worker, you can gain experience across different areas. There are so many opportunities for growth and collaboration.”

More than 155 years supporting underserved communities

JF&CS dates back to 1868, when the Toronto Hebrew Ladies’ Sick and Benevolent Society began supporting Jewish immigrants who were not welcomed in the city’s hospitals or social services. After the Second World War, the agency helped find homes for close to 1,000 Holocaust orphans and today supports approximately 1,000 Survivors in the GTA.

Over the years, JF&CS has expanded into four locations and more than 30 programs across child welfare, counselling, poverty reduction, domestic‑violence support, and services for people with developmental disabilities.

The agency supports people across the lifespan. It operates a day‑treatment school in partnership with the Toronto District School Board, providing intensive academic and mental‑health support for middle‑ and high‑school students and helping them transition back to mainstream classrooms. JF&CS’s unique financial‑empowerment and problem‑solving program helps clients get out of debt, find employment and secure housing, while building longer‑term stability — enabling many to move out of poverty within two years. For older adults, including Holocaust survivors, culturally attuned programs, such as a partnership with Sinai Health’s Circle of Care, a home and community care provider, address isolation, grief, and end‑of‑life needs, helping them age with dignity.

Across all services, the focus is on strengthening and supporting individuals, children, and families. Guided by the Jewish value of tikkun olam, which means to “repair the world,” the agency was created by and for the Jewish community. But its services are open to all.

“We were all formed at a time when the doors were closed to us,” JF&CS CEO Talyah Breslin says of Jewish organizations established in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. “But we all universally made the same decision, which guides us today: that we will never close our doors to anybody else in need.”

Culturally attuned and trauma-informed care

While welcoming people of all cultures, JF&CS is grounded in Jewish tradition. From offering access to kosher food pantries and holiday meals, to small gestures such as helping a client attend a high holiday service or arranging for a mezuzah (a sacred doorway blessing) for a new home, the agency works to foster safety and belonging.

Talyah Breslin and a Holocaust survivor at a Café Europa event

Full-circle moments are common. Holocaust orphans who found homes through the agency return to speak at staff events, and many Survivors stay connected through Café Europa, a social program run together with the Bernard Betel Centre, where participants meet every month to share a meal, listen to music and dance.

At the same time, a rise in antisemitism has left many Survivors unsettled. One woman, frightened and disoriented, came directly to the agency because it was the one place she knew she’d find help.

Responding to a growing self-esteem crisis among younger generations, JF&CS developed an initiative called Roots, Ruach, and Resilience (ruach is the Hebrew word for spirit or pride), which brings Jewish middle-school students together for challah bakes, outings, and cultural discussions that help them reconnect with their identity.

“Clients want to be somewhere they feel safe and where their experiences will be understood and validated,” says Gurwitz, noting that other clients have shifted their counselling to JF&CS for the same reason.

Following the attacks of October 7th, 2023, the agency’s first priority was its staff. Many were directly affected, and people came into the office to be with colleagues. Leadership created space for debriefing, brought in trauma‑support resources and adjusted regular operations.

“We made it clear to our staff that this wasn’t business as usual,” says Breslin. “If I don’t take care of my staff first, they won’t be able to support anybody else.”

Staff then mobilized to support the wider community, coordinating trauma-informed workshops, helping Israeli newcomers access settlement and mental-health supports, and working with partner agencies to ensure people could get help in a safe, welcoming place.

Connections with the Factor‑Inwentash Faculty of Social Work

Several social work students from FIFSW have found their way to JF&CS through practicum. And many social workers have built long careers there, with employees marking 20, 30 or even 47 years of service.

The wrap-around service model not only benefits clients, but staff learning as well, says Breslin. “Students aren’t limited to one area. They can shadow different teams and learn what practice looks like across programs.”

The agency is also connected to the faculty through research. Its Director of Research and Evaluation, Dr. Nikki Mann, is currently partnering with Associate Dean, Academic and Professor Micheal Shier, Canada Research Chair in Social Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship in the Human Services. Together, they are testing a new tool, developed through a multi-sectoral partnership and led by JF&CS, to help nonprofit human service organizations in Ontario assess and strengthen poverty reduction approaches in ways that reduce the economic vulnerability that people seeking services experience. The work is part of JF&CS’s drive to develop socially innovative initiatives that help reduce trauma and discrimination faced by those experiencing poverty when seeking services and is an example of the agency’s efforts to deepen university-community partnerships.

Meanwhile, Gurwitz feels she’s able to make a real difference through the agency’s integrated service approach.

“There are things that happen in everyone’s life, and sometimes you have a safety net,” she says. “If you don’t, this is the safety net.”

By Carolyn Morris

Related:

• FIFSW alumna Lisa Kronenberg leads launch of Jewish-founded Neshama Hospice — North York’s first hospice residence
• Practicum partner spotlight: Q & A with Maytal Michaelov, Jewish Family and Child Service of Greater Toronto (JF&CS)
• 100 years later, Mount Sinai Hospital continues connecting the community with care

With psychosis rates rising, Amar Ghelani partners with people with lived experience to build better learning materials for social work students

Left to right: Eunjung Lee, Megan Davis, Caroline Walker, Onika Dainty, Amar Ghelani, Katie Stadelman, Narot Kabasaka, and David Puvan

During her first psychotic episode, Caroline Walker remembers being physically restrained by health care workers at a hospital and having no idea why. “I was treated like an annoying body that needed to be held down, rather than seen as a person who needs to be communicated to and given a sense of agency, control, consent,” she said. 

What she needed, she said, was someone who could convey a sense of safety. “It’s really up to you to be that person in the room,” she told the students in the Advanced Social Work Practice in Mental Health course. 

Walker is one of two people with lived experience of psychosis who are helping develop new resources to address an important gap in social work education: how to support people with psychosis. They are part of a team led by Assistant Professor Amar Ghelani that’s piloting new resources to help strengthen teaching and training. Faculty members and social work practitioners with experience serving this population are part of the team as well. 

“Social work students are often undereducated about how to support people who are struggling with signs of psychosis,” says Ghelani, who has over 18 years of experience working with individuals, families, and groups with complex mental health concerns. “Those who do work in this area usually learn on the job.” 

The growing need for care 

With rates of psychosis rising, particularly among young people, preparing social workers to support clients who experience psychosis is more important than ever. The exact reasons for increased rates require further research, though Ghelani says it could be linked to stress stemming from the pandemic and increased access to drugs that are known to induce psychotic symptoms, such as cannabis. Genetics and childhood trauma area are also well-established contributing factors.  

As critical providers of mental health services, social workers interact with people who are showing signs of psychosis in a variety of settings, including outreach programs, community agencies, schools, hospitals, crisis services, and shelters, says Ghelani. “It can be difficult to maintain housing if you have a mental health condition that involves psychosis,” he explains.   

Psychosis is a complex condition that involves disconnection from reality and symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, disorganized speech, emotional problems, cognitive difficulties, social withdrawal, and other challenges. For some, it can develop into a persistent psychotic disorder, such as schizophrenia, and early intervention is important to improve outcomes.  

Strengthening psychosis education for social workers 

To help better train social work students to support people with psychosis, Ghelani’s team developed a variety of new materials, including an online education guide. They’ve also produced a video featuring interviews with two people with lived experience (one of which is Walker) and two experienced practitioners (one of which is second year PhD student Katie Stadelman, who has been working in a psychiatric department of pediatric hospital for the past 14 years).  

Given the important role that simulation learning plays in helping aspiring social workers safely practice their skills, the research team created a guide for actors portraying clients with psychosis as well. In addition, Walker and Onika Dainty (the other member of the project team with lived experience) gave in-person presentations to each class, sharing what it’s like to experience psychosis and how they were treated. 

“A lot of people with psychosis are really reluctant to access help, so engagement is key,” says Ghelani. “Social workers provide contextually informed services and care that are not offered by other kinds of professionals.” This could include ongoing therapeutic relationships, the ability to advocate on their clients’ behalf, and helping them meet key needs related to housing, food, clothing, and family support.  

Student impact 

The resources created by the research team were piloted this winter in the Advanced Social Work Practice in Mental Health course. At the end of the semester, the students were invited to complete an online survey to share their feedback. While the results of the study will likely be published within the next year, students who took the course are already saying it has helped better prepare them to work with a population they realize they are likely to encounter. 

“I really appreciated the experience working with an actor,” said MSW student Amanda Yates, referring to the simulation learning exercises where students roleplayed with trained actors portraying clients exhibiting signs of psychosis. “Connecting what we learned in class and from the materials to an actual person in front of me, it really helped make everything more concrete, and the feedback from my prof on how I handled the conversation was really helpful.” 

She said being able to hear directly from people with lived experience and knowing that they contributed to the teaching resources was incredibly valuable as well. “They’re very invested in having psychosis education be good for the people who are actively going through it. And it was so helpful to be able to ask them questions.”  

This is why people with lived experience are integral to the educational process, argues Ghelani. “They’ve been on the other side of receiving support. They can share what helped them and what didn’t and highlight the gaps in care that they received.” 

Psychosis Teaching Materials Pilot Study for SWK4631 Project Team 

Faculty members
Amar Ghelani, Assistant Professor, Teaching Stream
Eunjung Lee, Professor
Rachelle Ashcroft, Associate Professor 

Lived Experience Advisors
Onika Dainty
Caroline Walker

Social Workers
Narot Kabasakal
Katie Stadelman 

Research Assistant
David Puvan 

Simulation Coordinator 

Megan Davies 

Learn more 

Visit the Psychosis Education Hub, created by the project team, to view videos read the materials. 

What roles do social workers play in primary health care? A new Ontario study takes a closer look 

A new study highlights the roles social workers play in supporting patients as key members of primary health care teams in Ontario — knowledge that can ultimately help optimize the quality of patient care.  

The research, led by University of Toronto professor Rachelle Ashcroft and published in BMC Primary Care, surveyed 159 social workers working in team based primary care settings across Ontario, including Family Health Teams, Community Health Centres, and Nurse Practitioner-Led Clinics. The goal: to better understand social workers’ scope of practice, how they collaborate with other health professionals, and the key structures and processes that guide their work.  

Dr. Rachelle Ashcroft, shown here, welcoming participants to the National Summit on Social Work in Primary Care in October 2025, led a survey of primary care social workers in Ontario. the research was recently published in BMC Primary Care.

“Enhancing comprehensiveness of care is a key benefit of adding social workers to team-based primary care,” says Ashcroft, and Associate Professor at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work . “With the expansion of interprofessional team-based care, the number of social workers in primary care is projected to increase substantively.”  

Rising demands for mental health care services as well as increasing social, environmental, and economic pressures that affect patient health (social determinants of health, such as housing and food insecurity, and employment) add to the complexity of care that is increasingly required.  

The study’s findings show that, in primary health care settings, providing mental health care is a core focus of social work practice. Nearly all respondents reported that they address mental health concerns daily through the delivery of assessments, counselling, and therapeutic interventions to patients across the lifespan.  

Beyond counselling, social workers also address a wide range of social and health-related challenges, including financial stress, housing insecurity, addiction, grief, chronic illness, parenting concerns, and social isolation. They conduct psychosocial assessments, help patients navigate health and social systems, connect people to community resources, and manage ongoing care for patients with complex needs. 

Social workers are highly collaborative with a range of different types of healthcare providers working in primary care teams. Many also collaborate with community-based professionals and services outside their teams, helping bridge gaps between health care and social services. 

At the same time, respondents pointed to system-level challenges. Many said current performance metrics used to assess their work focus mainly on counting patient visits, failing to capture the time spent on care coordination, documentation, and addressing the social complexity of patient needs. Nearly half reported that referral processes could be improved to increase access, and several noted long wait times for nonurgent care. 

The study underscores social workers’ role as vital contributors to comprehensive, team-based primary care. Based on the results of their survey, the authors recommend examining retention challenges and increasing the capacity for collaboration. They also stressed the need for primary health care teams to better understand how social workers deliver and evolve the complex care required to address the social and economic factors that affect patient health. The authors argue that involving social workers as leaders in shaping best practices and how care is organized will help patients receive more effective, accessible, and people-centred care. 

Read the full article “Enhancing comprehensive in primary care: results of a cross-sectional survey of primary care social workers in Ontario, Canada,” published in BMC Primary Care. 

Led by Associate Professor Rachelle Ashcroft, co-authors of this study include FIFSW alumni Simon Lam and Amina Hussain, PhD students Rumia Owaisi and Peter Sheffield, and Associate Professor Keith Adamson. Nele Feryn, Deepy Sur, Jennifer Rayner, Catherine Donnelly, and Judith Belle Brown are also co-authors.   

Citation: Ashcroft, R., Feryn, N., Lam, S. et al. Enhancing comprehensive in primary care: results of a cross-sectional survey of primary care social workers in Ontario, Canada. BMC Prim. Care27, 116 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12875-026-03226-4 

Related:

• Outcomes from the National Summit on Social Work in Primary Care
• Primary health care teams can help solve Canada’s health care crisis – and social work will play a key role
• Rachelle Ashcroft and co-authors publish “5 principles for action on primary health-care teams”

Documentary sponsored by MFARR-Asia highlights the complex journey towards family acceptance of same-sex marriage in Taiwan

This year, MFARR-Asia, a SSHRC Partnership led by Professor Peter A. Newman, has been working with Master of Science, Sustainability Management students at the University of Toronto. Under Professor Newman’s supervision, the students have been conducting multimedia research at the forefront of MFARR’s work on LGBTQ+ marriage equality and family acceptance in Taiwan — the first Asian jurisdiction to legalize same-sex marriage. FIFSW PhD alumni, Professor Desmond Chuang, at the Graduate Institute of Social Work at National Taiwan Normal University provided key support.

In February, the students — Valeria Widjaja, Jake Sajko, and Jordan Chang — presented their work to Yi-Peng Liang, the Director General of the Taipei Economic & Cultural Office, hosted at the Munk School. Widjaja was also honoured with a 2026 Student Award under Newman’s supervision from SDGs@UofT, an Institutional Strategic Initiative (ISI) created at U of T to catalyze research that advances United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Sustainable Development Goal 10 (SDG10): Reduced Inequalities, and the promise to “leave no one behind” are among them.

The student researchers have also become filmmakers, creating a documentary to more broadly share the experiences of those who participated in their study and were among the first to engage in same-sex marriage in Taiwan. Professor Newman argues that sharing this research has become more critical than ever given the United States’ mass defunding of global programs supporting LGBTQI+ health equity and equality, and the promotion of homophobic and transphobic policies.

The documentary, After, Still. Navigating Same-Sex Marriage in Taiwan, will premier on April 15th at Imagine Cinemas Market Square in Toronto. The screening will be followed by a live Q&A with the researchers and filmmakers.

Write the researchers:

In 2019, Taiwan became the first jurisdiction in Asia to legalize same-sex marriage; today, it is changing the world order by advancing inclusion and human rights of LGBTQ+ individuals across the continent and beyond. But beyond the law, the journey toward acceptance continues in everyday life, especially within families and long-held cultural traditions. Our team travelled to Taiwan to document these lived experiences, capturing powerful personal stories of love, identity, and resilience.

We’re so excited to share these with you through the screening of our documentary After, Still: Navigating Same-Sex Marriage in Taiwan, exploring the intersections of family, culture, and LGBTQ+ selfhood. Through intimate narratives, the film sheds light on how concepts like filial piety and “saving face” shape relationships and acceptance within families.

Tickets to the documentary film screening are available through Eventbrite.

Learn how MFARR-Asia’s research on LGBTIQ inclusion in Asia is advancing human rights

Visit MFARR-Asia’s website.

The GLO app for 2SLGBTQI+ youth is up for a Webby Award and you can vote for it to win

GLO — an interactive app designed to support the mental health and wellbeing of queer youth — has been nominated for a Webby Award!

Created in partnership with It Gets Better Canada, Professor Shelley Craig developed the curriculum for the mobile-based app, drawing from her years of research dedicated to fostering the resilience of 2SLGBTQI+ youth. Craig is the Director of INQYR, The International Partnership for Queer Youth Resilience, and holds the Canada Research Chair in Sexual and Gender Minority Youth.

“Queer young people are under significant threat in the current political climate, but being online, even on social media, can offer a safe space where 2SLGBTQI+ youth build relationships and develop their identities,” says Craig. “With fewer and fewer offline safe spaces and safe people for them, harnessing the connectedness of online access and resources is needed more than ever.”

The international Webby Awards honours excellence on the internet. Members of the public are invited to vote for their favourite among the nominees. The GLO app is up for an award in the Education, Culture & Learning category.

Visit the Webby’s website to vote!

Learn more about the GLO app on FIFSW’s website.

Related:

The International Partnership for Queer Youth Resilience (INQYR) invites researchers, students, practitioners, community organizations, and young people to join INQYR Beyond Limits: The Conference 2026, October 2, 2026.

Call for proposals: Community partners, practitioners, students, academics, and scholars are invited to share work that challenges disciplinary, geographic, methodological, and institutional boundaries. Visit INQYR’s website to learn more about the conference and how to submit an abstract. Deadline: April 30, 2026

FIFSW field instructors honoured for their sustained and valuable contributions to the U of T community

The University of Toronto’s Arbor Awards recognize U of T volunteers who, through their exemplary generosity of time and talent, make sustained and valuable contributions to the U of T community. Each year the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work recognizes individuals who elevate and enrich our programs and initiatives.

FIFSW volunteers play a key role in helping us achieve our mission to educate ethical and skilled social work leaders and change-makers. We are so grateful for their sustained partnership and support.

This year, FIFSW was pleased to honour Elizabeth M. Creel and Danielle M. Grandmaison for their contributions to field education.

Left to right: Elizabeth Creal, Dean Charmaine Williams, and Danielle Grandmaison at the University of Toronto’s 2025 Arbor Awards reception

Elizabeth M. Creal

Liz has supported the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work and its students for more than 30 years as a field instructor. At the Fred Victor Centre and Casey House, she guided Master of Social Work students in supporting marginalized populations, including people living with HIV and clients at the end of life, while fostering skills in healthcare navigation and interdisciplinary care planning. Her contributions exemplify the vital role of field instructors in the education and development of social work students.

Danielle M. Grandmaison

Danielle has been a valuable support for the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work since 1993. As a field instructor with the Community Health Centre, she has overseen nearly two-dozen Master of Social Work students over the years, providing them the valuable mentorship and hands-on work experience needed to succeed in their studies and careers. Danielle’s tireless volunteer efforts also extend to counselling other field instructors, thus greatly strengthening the program itself and the profession of social work.