Our Goals

 We aim to conduct research that supports: 
  • The development, implementation and scale-up of effective, equitable and innovative digital and sexual health services in British Columbia 
  • Improving the access to safe and appropriate digital and sexual health services for communities where barriers to services are greatest, across geographic and social locations, including historically marginalized communities. 
  • Transforming the foundations and systems within which digital and sexual health services are implemented and addressing factors determining inequities in obtaining the benefits of these services. 

Our Approach  

We use an implementation science approach, with our research informing and being informed by the ongoing work of implementing digital and sexual health services, and engagement with servicer users and communities.   

 

We ask: 

  • What services work, for who do they work, and under what circumstances? 
  • When services are scaled up, how do they improve health equity? 

Our Values  

  • Improving health equity: We care about improving access to digital and sexual health services so people who need them the most can achieve their best possible health and wellbeing. 
  • Engaging communities: We learn about and acknowledge the history, culture and experiences of communities we work with, focus on building relationships which are reciprocal and trusted, and involve communities in decision-making. We aim to amplify community voices within our work.  
  • Committing to the work of Truth and Reconciliation: We acknowledge and continue to learn about the harm that has been done and continues to be done to Indigenous peoples in BC, and strive to build mutually respectful relationships between settlers and Indigenous peoples within our team and our work, stopping any harms arising from our work, and incorporating Indigenous ways of knowing and being into our work.  
  • Supporting Indigenous-led research: We recognize Indigenous people’s authority and power to determine their own priorities for research and to control how research is conducted in their communities.  
  • Challenging racism: We recognize that racial groups are socially constructed and inherently equal, and that any inequalities are the result of BC’s colonial and racist systems. Within our team, we strive to foster an anti-racist culture and processes, including efforts to specifically address anti-Indigenous racism.  
  • Co-designing our methods and interventions: We do this by actively and meaningfully include diverse people in our decision-making processes, asking for feedback on the decision-making process, and thinking critically about who may be missing. 
  • Being person-centred: Our programs and interventions are guided by, and focused on upholding the preferences, needs and values of the people we serve.  
  • Being accountable: We will take responsibility for our words, actions, and impacts. We are accountable to each other, and to the people who participate in our research and the communities they come from.  
  • Building relationships: We recognize that building trusted relationships is fundamental to achieving our goals, across multiple communities, organizations and sectors. We do this through a commitment to collaboration, inclusion, and respect.  
  • Being adaptable: We adapt our research to match the pace of implementation and meet new and emerging priorities for digital and sexual health. We also commit to ongoing learning as a team to build our capacity to meet new challenges.