“The Art of Health Justice,” presented by Dr. Nisha Sanjnani.

The Yosif Al-Hasnawi Memorial Lecture Series: Promoting Racial Justice in Health Care is named in memory of a first-year Medical Sciences student who died in the service of another in 2017. Yosif Al-Hasnawi had dreams of becoming a doctor and hoped to one day make a difference in the world.

Thursday, October 31, 2024, from 4:00pm to 6:00pm
Goodman Atrium at Brock University

Sponsored by the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, the President’s Advisory Committee on Human Rights, Equity, and Decolonization (PACHRED), Social Justice and Equity Studies MA (SJES), and the Centre for Women’s and Gender Studies (WGST) at Brock University.

Learn more about the presenter and event below:

Nisha Sajnani, PhD is Associate Professor and Director of the Graduate Program in Drama Therapy, Chair of the Creative Arts Therapies Consortium, and faculty advisor in the Rehabilitation Sciences doctoral program at New York University. She is the founding co-director of the Jameel Arts & Health Lab, established in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO) where she leads a Lancet global series on the health benefits of the arts. Her artistic and written scholarship reflects interests in process and outcome research in the arts and health within a context of health justice. An award-winning author, educator, and advocate, her body of work explores unique ways in which aesthetic experience can inspire equity, care and collective human flourishing across the lifespan.

As a movement, health justice seeks to recognize and build the power of individuals and communities affected by health inequities to create and sustain conditions that support health and justice. Artistic media such as visual and digital arts, performance, and storytelling intertwines creativity and advocacy to amplify racialized and otherwise excluded voices, shed light on disparities in healthcare, and engage communities and decision-makers alike in collectively clarifying and addressing systemic inequalities in healthcare access and outcomes towards a more inclusive and equitable healthcare system.

There is clear evidence that disparities in access to health care and successful outcomes are strikingly different for racialized communities in Canada. There is a pressing need for us to name racism as a specific barrier for racialized communities in our healthcare system. Our ability to engage in a discussion of racism and racial equity in healthcare will not only ensure optimal service provision and quality care but the preservation of racialized lives.