Focusing on strategies addressing the social distancing struggles of apartment-dwelling immigrants

Sepali Guruge, professor at the Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing (DCSN) and Research Chair in Urban Health, and her team will examine social isolation during COVID-19 among immigrant families living in high-density, high rise communities. Economic and social realities mean that many immigrants live in small apartments in multigenerational family contexts. Physical and social distancing in these contexts is challenging, and is especially difficult for older immigrants who may rely on other family members for their daily activities. Guruge will engage these underserved communities to explore how they are responding to the crisis. In partnership with South Riverdale Community Health Centre, external link, the research team will identify effective strategies to help Torontonians living in high-density contexts maintain social distancing and mitigate the spread of the virus. The findings will be invaluable to social agencies serving immigrant communities. "The goal of this study is to identify innovative solutions that were co-created by immigrant families to apply social distancing, and to collate, analyze, and widely-share them with other immigrant families and a range of services providers across Toronto," says Guruge. Along with Guruge and the South Riverdale Community Health Centre, the research team will include Souraya Sidani, Canada Research Chair - Tier 1, Charlotte Lee, and Charlene Ronquillo, of the DCSN.