As a researcher, Janelle Joseph strives to keep people, and ideas, moving.<\/p>\n
The Brock University Associate Professor of Health Sciences and Sport Management discussed how lived experiences shape health equity during the eighth annual Yosif Al-Hasnawi Memorial Lecture<\/a> on Tuesday, March 3.<\/p>\n Her talk \u2014 Movement of the People: Setting our Priorities for Racial Justice, Health and Sport \u2014 drew on qualitative research, narrative inquiry and her work as Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Racial Justice, Health and Sport<\/a>.<\/p>\n Hosted by the Department of Health Sciences, the annual lecture honours its namesake while also encouraging advocacy for justice.<\/p>\n The series was founded by Zanab Jafry (BSc \u201919) in partnership with\u00a0Yosif Al-Hasnawi\u2019s<\/a>\u00a0mother, Amal\u00a0Alzurufi, following his passing December 2017. The first-year Brock Medical Sciences student was fatally shot while intervening on behalf of a stranger being accosted on the street outside of the mosque in Hamilton where he volunteered. Paramedics who responded to the scene were later\u00a0found guilty<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0failing to provide\u00a0necessaries of life in their treatment of Al-Hasnawi.<\/p>\n During her talk, Joseph drew parallels to Al-Hasnawi\u2019s lived experience, including his love of soccer and the diverse community it fostered.<\/p>\n \u201cYosif helped create a space where people are learning about each other and about human differences while they\u2019re playing,\u201d she said during the lecture.<\/p>\n A self-described \u201cmovement researcher,\u201d Joseph sees leisure, sport,\u00a0fitness\u00a0and physical activity\u00a0as important ways to improve\u00a0social\u00a0health.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m\u00a0interested in\u00a0movement\u00a0as\u00a0physical activity,\u00a0political movements, social movements,\u00a0movements across national borders\u00a0and\u00a0the ways that people can use their communities to activate change,\u201d\u00a0she says.<\/p>\n In the lecture, Joseph explored how those involved in health and sport systems can face barriers to access, particularly when they come from racialized communities and other marginalized groups.<\/p>\n She believes storytelling and qualitative research can play an important role in addressing these challenges.<\/p>\n \u201cPeople who are making the policies need to hear about the barriers that people are experiencing,\u201d Joseph says. \u201cWe have to humanize their\u00a0stories so that people\u00a0can\u00a0make\u00a0appropriate\u00a0change.\u201d<\/p>\n