”Flipping the script” on narratives about Black communities and engagement, with Alpha Abebe and Rhonda C. George (Health Policy Series)

In this episode, we continue our Health Policy series with guests Alpha Abebe and Rhonda C. George.

Alpha and Rhonda's research foregrounds Black community experiences and insights related to health policy engagement. We're featuring their work over two back-to-back episodes. This episode focuses on the engagement work of Black communities. Our guests want to "flip the script," shifting away from a deficit model of understanding Black community engagement.

The follow up episode features Alpha and Rhonda's research on Black community engagement during COVID, and includes discussion on why they think it's valuable for Black researchers to be doing this kind of work.

Alpha and Rhonda are members of the Public Engagement in Health Policy team based at McMaster University, which aims to strengthen health policymaking in Canada by providing a platform for interdisciplinary scholarship, education and leadership in public engagement. 

This series is supported by the Public Engagement in Health Policy project, which promotes research, critical reflection and dialogue about engagement issues that have a health and health policy focus. Learn more about this Future of Canada project at engagementinhealthpolicy.ca

[download transcript]

Guest links:

Alpha Abebe

• • Profile
  • on twitter

Rhonda C. George

• • Publications
  • on twitter

Related links:

• Unpacking the ‘Public’ in Public Engagement: In Search of Black Communities
• Failure to include Black communities in health policy public engagement perpetuates health disparities

Mentioned in this episode:

• Interview Extra: Advocacy and Health Equity, feat. Biba Tinga of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of Canada 
• Equity, Diversity, and Patient Engagement – with Dr. Nav Persaud
• Public Engagement in Health Policy Project 
• The Future of Canada Project