Grant: Health System Impact Fellowships - PostDoc Central Canada 2-year

People with visual impairments (blind or low vision) remain under-represented in the fields of health and science, due to barriers that prevent full participation, including disability-related stigma. Research to reduce barriers in these fields is vital to ensure that future researchers, policymakers and practitioners better reflect the diversity of the populations they serve. The goal of this research is to identify the barriers encountered by postsecondary students with visual impairments in health and science, and to develop, implement and evaluate solutions to reduce identified barriers. Focus groups will be conducted with postsecondary students with visual impairments, rehabilitation and education professionals, to identify facilitators and barriers in health and science programs, including key priorities and perceived solutions to guide sustainable inclusion. An expert panel (students with lived experience, vision rehabilitation service providers and higher education professionals) will develop objectives and themes to integrate into two training modules, based on insights gained from the focus groups. The first module aims to empower incoming postsecondary students with visual impairments in health and science disciplines with the knowledge and skills to navigate barriers in accessibility and inclusion. The second module will enable faculty in health and science programs to better integrate inclusion into instruction and reduce common disability misconceptions. The training modules will be piloted and evaluated with an initial group of recruited participants. Feedback before and after the training will be collected to determine changes in knowledge, skills and attitudes, strengths and limitations of the modules, and the initial extent to which knowledge gained is implemented to reduce the identified barriers. By exploring these themes from both the student and faculty perspective, this research will contribute vital evidence to move inclusion efforts forward.