MEET THE DIRECTOR OF CO-CREATH
ABOUT
Josephine Etowa, Ph.D. RN RM FWACN FAAN Full Professor, School of Nursing, University of Ottawa OHTN Chair in Black Women’s HIV Prevention and Care. Etowa is the Lead Investigator of the Collaborative Critical Research for Equity & Transformation in Health (CO-CREATH) Lab. Her research program includes national and internationally funded studies on health equity, perinatal health, COVID-19 pandemic, HIV/AIDS, nurses’ work life and community health nursing.
She is a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing and has examined the work-life of nurses from various social locations including Black, Indigenous, other racialized and White nurses in the context of ethno-racial diversity in the workplace. Her research is informed by an intersectionality lens and Community based participatory research (CBPR) approach.
Dr. Etowa was co-chair of the Community Health Nurses of Canada (CHNC) national standards revision workgroup. She has been a national and provincial speaker on these standards and leadership in community health nursing. She is a transformational leader in health care with extensive research and publication expertise. Her co-authored book on Anti-racist health care practice is well cited in health care circles.
Dr. Etowa is a co-Editor of the Community Health Nursing (CHN): A Canadian Perspective; one of the most used CHN textbooks in the country. In collaboration with her Co-Editors, this edition has been significantly changed to integrate indigenous and health equity content to inform the education of Canadian community health nurses of tomorrow. She has over 120 publications and more than 300 scholarly presentations including several invited keynote addresses.
Prof. Etowa is past Loyer-DaSilva Research Chair in Public Health Nursing (2012-2019), a three-time holder of the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellow, and a senior investigator with the Centre for Research on Health and Nursing (CRHN). She is a founding member and past president of the Health Association of African Canadians (HAAC) and a founding member of the Canadians of African Descent Health Organization (CADHO).
She is an Affiliate Professor at the School of International Development and Global Studies, and the Institute for Science, Society and Policy at the University of Ottawa. She is also an Affiliate Coinvestigator with the WHO/PAHO Collaborating Centre on Health Workforce Planning & Research, at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada. See details at The World Health Organization/Pan American Health Organization
Inequities in health and health care access
Despite Canada’s universal health care system, inequities in health and healthcare for marginalized populations continue to exist. Health inequities along ethno-racial lines are common knowledge and are rooted in multiple factors, such as differential access to health care, which are interwoven in complex ways.
Current evidence suggests that racialized populations such as the African Caribbean and Black (ACB) and Indigenous peoples have poorer health outcomes (compared to Whites) from preventable and treatable conditions such as diabetes and COVID-19 disease.
In addition to the existence of health inequalities along ethno-racial lines, there is also evidence of racial and ethnic disparities in access to health care. Limited access and poor quality of care take a significant toll, as these marginalized populations are more likely than their White counterparts to report a delay in seeking care, and less likely to report that they have not received needed care.
Key stakeholders in health care including the public expect health scholars to provide leadership by unpacking the complexity of health inequities and identifying innovations and creating solutions to the challenge the system faces in its attempt to deliver high-quality care to a diverse society. As OHTN Chair
in Black Women’s Health and HIV Prevention and Care, Dr. Etowa is examining issues influencing the health and HIV/AIDS care in ACB communities in Ontario and beyond, including their utilization of primary health care services.
Through projects in Canada and abroad including low middle-income countries (LMICs), Dr. Etowa’s work is organized in two research themes related to health inequities. First, she works on several projects exploring the issues influencing the health and access to healthcare of disadvantaged communities including immigrant women, and racialized people in Canada.
Second, Dr. Etowa examines human resources for health with a particular focus on improving health service provision for racialized communities. This is an area that has not been well studied and has the potential for creative solutions to reduce health inequities in racialized populations.
Overall, Dr. Etowa’s program of research is contributing to a better understanding of the complex the interplay of various determinants of inequities in health and healthcare access.
She collaborates with colleagues across Canada and abroad who are working to address health inequities through research
and policy development with the goal of improving health outcomes for marginalized populations in Canada and around the world.
Research Affiliations
- — Affiliate Professor, School of International Development and Global Studies
- — Affiliate Professor, Institut de recherche sur la science, la société et la politique publique/ Institute for Science, Society and Policy
- — Affiliate Investigator, WHO/PAHO Collaborating Centre on Health Workforce Planning & Research, Dalhousie University
- — Senior Investigator, Centre for Research on Health and Nursing (CRHN): A Partnership between the Canadian Nurses Association and University of Ottawa
- — Secretary, Board of Directors of the Stephen Lewis Foundation
- — Member, International Advisory Board for African Centre for HIV/AIDS Management, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
- — Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR) College of Reviewers
- — Research Associate, Ontario Health Human Resources Network
- — Visiting Professor, College of Health Sciences, University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria
