Disability Dialogues

Ontario’s crisis response system often relies on police as the first point of contact for people experiencing mental health or substance-related distress. This approach can criminalize individuals instead of addressing the deeper issues—such as poverty, housing insecurity, and discrimination—that shape many crises. Community-led crisis models offer a different path. By centering lived experience, equity, and trauma-informed care, these services provide health and social responses rather than defaulting to law enforcement. With mobile teams, crisis lines, short-term housing supports, and partnerships across sectors, these models create low-barrier, accessible ways for people to seek help.In this episode of Disability Dialogues, Researcher, Criminology Professor and affiliate fellow Jessica Evans is joined by the Executive Director of the Gerstein Crisis Centre, Susan Davis, to discuss the limitations of current crisis response systems in Ontario. Which often involve police and criminalize individuals experiencing mental health or substance use crises. Jessica, and Susan, advocate for community-led crisis responses that are built on equity, dignity, and anti-oppressive principles. The conversation underscores the importance of individualized care, addressing social determinants of health, and the need for more accessible and non-coercive mental health services. At the heart of this approach is dignity, choice, and autonomy—meeting people where they are and recognizing that mental health care is not just medical, but deeply tied to social conditions. Investing in these alternatives has the potential to transform crisis response into something that truly supports wellbeing.Here are three reasons why you should listen to this episode:Explore ways to increase funding and resources for community-based, non-coercive mental health crisis response services.Advocate for a greater focus on upstream solutions, such as improving access to housing, income support, and mental health care, to prevent the need for crisis intervention.Discover the information about the Gerstein Crisis Centre,'s services and how to access them, including the crisis line for yourself or someone you know in need.ResourcesExplore the CERC in Health Equity and Community Wellbeing’s ⁠Website⁠Jessica Evans and Susan Davis: WebsiteDr. Karen Soldatic: ⁠LinkedIn⁠ | ⁠CERC Profile⁠Toronto Metropolitan University: ⁠Website⁠SSHRC – Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council: ⁠Website⁠ CIHR – Canadian Institutes of Health Research: ⁠Website⁠ NSERC – Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada: ⁠WebsiteEnjoyed this Episode?If you did, be sure to subscribe and share it with your friends! Disability Dialogues is a podcast that explores bold ideas, community-led research, and inclusive practices shaping the future of healthcare and wellbeing.Post a review and share it! If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review. Share it with friends and colleagues. Let’s inspire more people to co-create change.Find out more about the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Health Equity and Community Wellbeing at https://www.torontomu.ca/cerc-health-equity/Thank you for tuning in!

AI moderation often fails marginalized groups, especially disabled women and girls, because existing datasets ignore their lived experiences, leading to missed abuse, over-censorship, and reinforced bias. Researchers advocate for co-created, intersectional datasets and contextual AI that understands nuance, intent, and transparent explainable systems to build trust. Addressing data scarcity, bias, and accessibility requires community-driven design, continuous feedback, and survivor-centered policies that prioritize safety, accountability, and wellbeing.In this episode of "Disability Dialogues," Dr. Karen Soldatic and Researcher Glaucia Melo discuss how contextual AI can help detect and prevent technology-facilitated violence against disabled women and girls. They explore a research project that develops AI models using data based on lived experiences to reduce bias and better recognize nuanced online abuse. The conversation highlights the importance of community-driven, inclusive AI, challenges in data collection, and the need for stronger policies and digital literacy to ensure safer, more equitable online spaces for marginalized groups.This episode offers a compelling vision for the future of online safety—one where contextual AI, co-created with marginalized communities, can detect and prevent technology-facilitated violence in all its forms. By centering lived experience, embracing nuance, and demanding accountability, we can build digital environments that are not only safer but also more just and inclusive.Definitions: AI: The development of machine-based systems that can perform tasks typically requiring human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, and decision-making, often with a degree of autonomy.Ethical AI: Artificial intelligence that adheres to well-defined ethical guidelines regarding fundamental values, including such things as individual rights, privacy, non-discrimination, and non-manipulation.Data sets: A collection of related sets of information that is composed of separate elements but can be manipulated as a unit by a computer.Technology-facilitated violence: behaviours where technology is used to cause virtual and/or in-person harm.Metadata: Dr. Karen Soldatic sits down with researcher Glaucia Melo to discuss technology-facilitated violence against disabled women and girls, and the efforts underway to address and combat this issue.Here are three reasons why you should listen to this episode:Learn about the role of contextual AI in understanding the nuances of online communication.Understand the importance of datasets based on lived experiences to avoid biases in AI.Discover the use of emerging technologies, particularly contextual artificial intelligence (AI), to detect and prevent online abuse.ResourcesExplore the CERC in Health Equity and Community Wellbeing’s ⁠Website⁠Glaucia Melo WebsiteDr. Karen Soldatic: ⁠LinkedIn⁠ | ⁠CERC Profile⁠Toronto Metropolitan University: ⁠Website⁠SSHRC – Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council: ⁠Website⁠ CIHR – Canadian Institutes of Health Research: ⁠Website⁠ NSERC – Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada: ⁠WebsiteEnjoyed this Episode?If you did, be sure to subscribe and share it with your friends! Disability Dialogues is a podcast that explores bold ideas, community-led research, and inclusive practices shaping the future of healthcare and wellbeing.Post a review and share it! If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review. Share it with friends and colleagues. Let’s inspire more people to co-create change.Find out more about the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Health Equity and Community Wellbeing at https://www.torontomu.ca/cerc-health-equity/Thank you for tuning in!

The voices of Youth lend an important addition to community research, in every stage from design to dissemination. Centering co-design, training, accessibility, and lived experience ensures marginalized voices are included and systemic barriers are addressed. This approach builds confidence and trust while creating tangible impacts on policy, practice, and community wellbeing.In this episode of Disability Dialogues, Dr. Karan Soldatic introduces the Tracking Pathways project, which partners with marginalized youth to co-design inclusive healthcare research. Senior Research Associate Dr. Mikyung Lee interviews Nastacia Crowe-Missens, a nursing student and youth leader, who shares their experience shaping the project through lived expertise, collaborative survey design, and specialized training. Nat highlights the importance of centering youth voices and addressing root causes of health inequities. The episode demonstrates how genuine youth engagement makes research more relevant, accessible, and impactful for communities facing systemic barriers.The Tracking Pathways project, as highlighted in this episode of Disability Dialogues, sets a new standard for inclusive, community-driven research. By centering youth—especially those from marginalized backgrounds—as co-designers and leaders, the project not only produces more relevant and impactful findings but also empowers the next generation of change-makers.For researchers, practitioners, and community leaders, the message is clear: meaningful youth engagement and co-design are not just ethical imperatives—they are essential for creating research that truly addresses the needs and aspirations of diverse communities.Here are three reasons why you should listen to this episode:Learn about the experiences of a youth leader involved in the project and their journey into research.Understand the co-design approach in research, emphasizing collaboration between youth and researchers.Explore the role youth voices have in shaping research questions and ensuring relevance.ResourcesExplore the CERC in Health Equity and Community Wellbeing’s ⁠Website⁠Doctor Mikyung Lee and Nastacia Crowe-Missens: WebsiteDr. Karen Soldatic: ⁠LinkedIn⁠ | ⁠CERC Profile⁠Toronto Metropolitan University: ⁠Website⁠SSHRC – Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council: ⁠Website⁠ CIHR – Canadian Institutes of Health Research: ⁠Website⁠ NSERC – Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada: ⁠WebsiteEnjoyed this Episode?If you did, be sure to subscribe and share it with your friends! Disability Dialogues is a podcast that explores bold ideas, community-led research, and inclusive practices shaping the future of healthcare and wellbeing.Post a review and share it! If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review. Share it with friends and colleagues. Let’s inspire more people to co-create change.Find out more about the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Health Equity and Community Wellbeing at https://www.torontomu.ca/cerc-health-equity/Thank you for tuning in!

Current disability supports in Canada keep people surviving, not thriving. Thriving means more than financial security — it includes wellbeing, belonging, autonomy, and growth. Policies must shift from deficit-based to person-centered, expanding real financial supports, ensuring accessibility, and valuing all forms of participation, guided by the voices of people with disabilities.In this episode of "Disability Dialogues," research student Justin Manning sits down with Dr. Eun Jung to talk about the “Thriving versus Surviving" project. They discuss the limitations of current disability supports in Canada, emphasizing the need to move beyond basic survival toward true inclusion and flourishing. Justin shares insights from his research on policy and lived experience, highlighting the importance of autonomy, belonging, and meaningful participation for people with disabilities. The conversation challenges deficit-based models and calls for holistic, equity-driven approaches to disability policy and community wellbeing.The project challenges us to reimagine disability policies in Canada. It calls for a shift from a system that merely prevents hardship to one that actively enables flourishing. By centering the voices and experiences of people with disabilities, investing in holistic.Here are three reasons why you should listen to this episode:Learn about the "Thriving versus Surviving" project and its objectives.Understand the gaps in the current disability support systems and their impact on quality of life.Discover the relationship between poverty reduction strategies and employment for people with disabilities.ResourcesExplore the CERC in Health Equity and Community Wellbeing’s ⁠Website⁠Justine Manning and Dr. Eun Jung WebsiteDr. Karen Soldatic: ⁠LinkedIn⁠ | ⁠CERC Profile⁠Toronto Metropolitan University: ⁠Website⁠SSHRC – Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council: ⁠Website⁠ CIHR – Canadian Institutes of Health Research: ⁠Website⁠ NSERC – Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada: ⁠WebsiteMCCSS –  Building a strong foundation for success: Reducing poverty in Ontario WebsiteMLITSD – 2024 annual report: Poverty reduction strategy Government of Ontario WebsiteEnjoyed this Episode?If you did, be sure to subscribe and share it with your friends! Disability Dialogues is a podcast that explores bold ideas, community-led research, and inclusive practices shaping the future of healthcare and wellbeing.Post a review and share it! If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review. Share it with friends and colleagues. Let’s inspire more people to co-create change.Find out more about the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Health Equity and Community Wellbeing at https://www.torontomu.ca/cerc-health-equity/Thank you for tuning in!

While digital technologies promise empowerment and inclusion, they also introduce new risks—especially for those at the intersection of gender and disability. Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV) is abuse carried out through digital tools, disproportionately affecting women and girls with disabilities due to reliance on assistive tech, socioeconomic barriers, and caregiver or peer control. While risks include harassment, surveillance, and limited access to safe devices, digital spaces can also empower through advocacy, self-expression, and economic opportunities. In this episode of "Disability Dialogues," Research Associate Eunice Tunggal hosts a conversation with Researcher in Disability and Rehabilitation Studies Babalwa Tyabashe-Phume about the risks and opportunities of digital access for women and girls with disabilities in the Global South. They discuss technology-facilitated gender-based violence, unique vulnerabilities, barriers to research, and the empowering potential of digital platforms. The episode highlights both the dangers—such as online abuse and control by caregivers—and the positive impact of technology for advocacy, economic opportunity, and community support, emphasizing the need for inclusive, accessible digital spaces.The conversation underscores a critical truth: digital inclusion and safety must go hand in hand. For women and girls with disabilities in the Global South, technology is both a lifeline and a potential source of harm. By centering their voices, addressing intersectional risks, and investing in accessible, community-driven solutions, we can co-create a digital future that is truly inclusive and safe for all.Here are three reasons why you should listen to this episode:Learn the concept and definition of technology-facilitated gender-based violence (TFGBV).Understand the intersection of ableism and gender inequality in the context of digital violence.Discover the challenges in researching the experiences of women with disabilities due to the digital divide and socioeconomic barriers.ResourcesExplore the CERC in Health Equity and Community Wellbeing’s ⁠Website⁠Eunice Tunggal and Babalwa Tyabashe-Phume: WebsiteDr. Karen Soldatic: ⁠LinkedIn⁠ | ⁠CERC Profile⁠Toronto Metropolitan University: ⁠Website⁠SSHRC – Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council: ⁠Website⁠ CIHR – Canadian Institutes of Health Research: ⁠Website⁠ NSERC – Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada: ⁠WebsiteEnjoyed this Episode?If you did, be sure to subscribe and share it with your friends! Disability Dialogues is a podcast that explores bold ideas, community-led research, and inclusive practices shaping the future of healthcare and wellbeing.Post a review and share it! If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review. Share it with friends and colleagues. Let’s inspire more people to co-create change.Find out more about the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Health Equity and Community Wellbeing at https://www.torontomu.ca/cerc-health-equity/Thank you for tuning in!

What does it really take to make healthcare equitable for marginalized communities? For millions living with disabilities, racialized demographics and women, accessing healthcare can feel more like an obstacle rather than something helpful. It’s neither built for them nor with them in mind. Despite good intentions, many services remain inaccessible, unresponsive, and disconnected from the realities of the people they serve. We often talk about health in terms of medicine and policy. However, seldom do we explore structural bias, digital exclusion, and lack of community participation. In this episode of Disability Dialogues, CERC in Health Equity and Community Wellbeing Chair Dr. Karen Soldatic speaks with Tarndeep Pannu, the Strategic & EDI+Accessibility Communications Specialist at the CERC. Together, they explore how responsible research by design can challenge existing norms and propose new frameworks that prioritize health equity and community wellbeing. They dive into four key pillars, social determinants of health, accessibility, Indigenous health, and digital health, that serve as the foundation for radically rethinking how inclusivity is built into healthcare systems. This conversation shows why health equity needs more than good intentions. Walk away knowing how co-design puts community voices at the center of change. Learn how the four pillars work together to dismantle systemic barriers. Finally, hear what it takes to build healthcare systems that are inclusive by design, not as an afterthought.Here are three reasons why you should listen to this episode:Understand how the social and structural determinants of health impact marginalized communities and how inclusive research reframes these challenges.Learn actionable strategies for co-designing healthcare services with Indigenous and disabled communities at the center.Explore the complexities of digital health solutions and why accessibility goes far beyond having internet access.ResourcesExplore the CERC in Health Equity and Community Wellbeing’s WebsiteTarndeep Pannu: LinkedIn | CERC Profile Dr. Karen Soldatic: LinkedIn | CERC Profile Toronto Metropolitan University: WebsiteSSHRC – Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council: Website  CIHR – Canadian Institutes of Health Research: Website  NSERC – Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada: WebsiteEnjoyed this Episode?If you did, be sure to subscribe and share it with your friends! Disability Dialogues is a podcast that explores bold ideas, community-led research, and inclusive practices shaping the future of healthcare and wellbeing.Post a review and share it! If you enjoyed this episode, please leave us a review. Share it with friends and colleagues. Let’s inspire more people to co-create change.Find out more about the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Health Equity and Community Wellbeing at https://www.torontomu.ca/cerc-health-equity/Thank you for tuning in!

Welcome to Disability Dialogues, a podcast about co-creating inclusive healthcare and wellbeing with communities brought to you by the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Health Equity and Community Wellbeing at Toronto Metropolitan University.If this trailer sparked something in you, don’t let it stop here. Visit torontomu.ca/cerc-health-equity and check out our Knowledge Mobilization Hub to explore more accessible research, resources, and tools you can share with your community.

Content note: This episode contains discussions of suicide and medical assistance in dying (MAiD) for mental illness.This special release explores the complexities and emotional terrain of MAiD through a personal and reflective lens, inviting listeners to consider what it means to navigate life, loss, and autonomy within academic and institutional spaces.