top of page

Medical Racism Project

Close-up of a Filipinx woman wearing headphones and a filtering face mask, framed by leaves all around. She is looking downwards.

Medical Racism/Ableism 
in Healthcare Review

To begin our work, we asked the Research Shop at McMaster University's Office of Community Engagement to look into the existing research literature around Medical Racism and Ableism in medical settings in Ontario. 

​​

"The purpose of this research is to review existing literature on Black and disabled peoples’ experiences of medical racism. The research was requested by the Disability Justice Network of Ontario (DJNO), an organization that advocates for disabled individuals in Ontario and aims to make Ontario more accessible. DJNO was interested in the extent to which medical racism and ableism shapes the experiences and health outcomes of Black disabled individuals."

​

​ A One Page Summary of the Report (will be posted soon).

​

Copies of the Review are below:

Citation: Goraya, Navdeep, Sajroop Mann, Sahra Siyad, Luxiga Thanabalachandran, Raghava Neelapala. 2023. “Black disabled people's experiences of ableism and medical racism in healthcare: A scoping review.” September 2023.  http://hdl.handle.net/11375/29041

A Disability Justice Perspective in Addressing Medical Racism: 
Experiences and Recommendations from the Community

Since 2022, the DJNO hosted focus groups sessions to hear directly from racialized and disabled people across Ontario about their experiences with the healthcare sector. The purpose of this toolkit is to highlight those experiences as well as share the recommendations that have been provided by those who we have interviewed throughout our focus group process.

 

For the medical racism and ableism project team, our research project was about a few things: 
 

  • Connecting the dots: We were looking to highlight a pattern of common experiences among Black and other racialized disabled people's experiences within the healthcare sector. 
     

  • Justice and accountability: We were considering the ways that we can hold institutions and individuals accountable for the conditions they create in the process of improving the outcomes for marginalized groups accessing healthcare. 
     

  • Proactive and restorative approaches: We are aiming to put together tools and resources that can be used and promoted in the healthcare setting to prevent negative experiences based on medical racism and ableism.
     

Copies of the Toolkit are below:​​​​​​

This Project was funded by the Government of Ontario. The views expressed in the publication are the views of the Recipient (DJNO) and do not necessarily reflect those of the Province.
 

Further, the Government of Ontario and its agencies are in no way bound by any recommendations contained in this document.

Four disabled people of color gather around a table during a meeting. A Black woman sitting on a couch speaks with a neutral expression while the three others (a South Asian person sitting in a wheelchair and taking notes, a Black non-binary person sitting in a chair with a tablet and cane, and a Black non-binary person standing with a clipboard) listen.
A Black woman tests her hearing aids after putting them on. Her right hand is on her right ear while her left hand holds the hard case for the hearing aids. The woman is wearing black and her hair is pulled back by a scarf.

Medical Racism and ODSP

As part of our work, we asked the Research Shop at McMaster University's Office of Community Engagement to look into the existing research literature around the intersection of Medical Racism and Social Assistance in Ontario. 

​

"While our review indicates possible systemic barriers at various stages of interaction with the ODSP system, the most substantial evidence of racism-specific impacts appears to emerge in the appeals process for unsuccessful applicants. These preliminary findings suggest the value of conducting a more comprehensive investigation into potential racial disparities throughout all stages of the ODSP application and system processes."

 

​ A One Page Summary of the Report (will be posted soon).
 

Copies of the Report are below:​​​​​​

Citation: Karaceper, Senem, Prabjot Dhugga, Poornima Goudar, Robin Komarniski, and Naveera Zaki. 2025. “Denied at Every Turn: A Literature Review of the Barriers in the ODSP Application Process.” January 2025. http://hdl.handle.net/11375/31382 

What's Next for
the Project

Through our current work, we've shared the stories and experiences of our communities while identifying some critical gaps in our healthcare and adjacent systems. Further, we've identified some initial ways to address these systems—but there remains much work to do. 

​

Watch this space for further updates on the Medical Racism Project and how we intend to further the storytelling, research, and policy perspectives of Black, Indigenous, and racialized disabled peoples in these spaces.

​

​

All photos used on this page are part of the  Disabled And Here project. Please visit their site for further attribution details.

​

© 2023 by Disability Justice Network of Ontario.

  • Facebook - White Circle
  • Twitter - White Circle
bottom of page