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Factor-Inwentash Social Work

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FIFSW is a leader in social work education, research & evidence-based practice. MSW, MSW-ITR & PhD programs. #FIFSW #UofT www.socialwork.utoronto.ca

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This summer, professors Franco Taverna and Raza Mirza taught a course for University of Toronto Students on Dementia Care in The Netherlands in collaboration with the University of Amsterdam.

Upon returning, they co-authored an article on the experience to share the deep learning that took place throughout the course. Today, as the United Nations recognizes the Internation Day of Older Persons, we share their reflections.

The course — HMB395Y, Living with Dementia: Innovations in Dementia Care and the Determinants of Well-being — was built on a simple but stubborn premise, say the professors: that dementia care in Canada is too often organized around risk mitigation to prevent liability at the expense of the thing that should matter most — quality of life.

➡️ Read their full article on FIFSW’s website via the link in our bio.

Franco Taverna is a professor in the Human Biology program in the Faculty of Arts & Science.

Raza Mirza is an Assistant Professor (Status Only) and Sessional Lecturer at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work and the Institute for Life Course and Aging, which is housed at FIFSW. by @uoftfifsw

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3 days ago

September 30th is Orange Shirt Day and the National Day for Truth & Reconciliation — a day to honour the experiences of residential school survivors.

All U of T community members are encouraged to wear orange on Sept. 30 as a show of solidarity and a reminder that “Every Child Matters.”

U of T students, librarians, faculty members and staff are invited to register to attend a University-wide event to commemorate Orange Shirt Day at Hart House. The event will also be streamed live online.

The commemoration is hosted by the UTM, UTSC and institutional Offices of Indigenous Initiatives, First Nations House Indigenous Student Services, Centre for Indigenous Studies, and Hart House.

Established in 1914, the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Social Work acknowledges the role it has played in a field that has caused undo harm to Indigenous communities. The abuse and violence that Indigenous families have experienced through the child welfare system has contributed to intergenerational trauma that continues to affect Indigenous communities and individuals to this day. Additionally, Canada’s colonial past and present supports systems of oppression and structural violence in ways that we are still working to understand, unlearn and address. Acknowledging these difficult truths is an important step in the Faculty’s work toward reconciliation.

Among the values that guide FIFSW’s work, as expressed in our 2025-2030 Academic Plan, is a dedication to honouring diverse perspectives — including Indigenous and decolonized ways of knowing — as essential to the creation of knowledge.

FIFSW’s goals include “promoting the expansion of social work knowledge by embracing multiple ways of knowing, and integrating lived experiences, Indigenous ways of knowing, and critical paradigms with our strengths in rigorous empirical research.”

➡️A link to details about U of T’s Orange Shirt Day commemorations can be found in our bio or via harthouse.ca/events/orange-shirt-day/ by @uoftfifsw

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TONIGHT!

FIFSW Alumni: Join FIFSW’s Alumni Association for its 2026 Annual General Meeting and stay for a presentation from Cyntha Bell, an Anishinaabe Knowledge Educator from Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory with 32+ years of experience serving Indigenous youth, families, and communities.

September 28, 6:30 to 8:00pm. Via zoom.

➡️ To learn more and register, find the event listing on our homepage: www.socailwork.utoronto.ca. by @uoftfifsw

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6 days ago

What does 2S/LGBTQIA+ health research mean for you and the communities you work with? How can we put Our Bodies, Our Health data to work in our communities?

This isn’t a sit-and-listen kind of research event. On October 29, we’re bringing together 2S/LGBTQIA+ community members, researchers, service providers, advocates, students, and others for an afternoon of research, community knowledge, conversation, and collective sense-making.

📅 October 29, 2026 | 1:00–5:00 PM ET 📍 The Westin Harbour Castle, Toronto + online 🎟️ Free to register and participate ⏰ Registration required by October 15 🔗 Registration link in bio

Can’t make the trip to Toronto? Join us virtually! Online participants will be able to take part in the Forum’s presentations and discussions. Register using the link in our bio, select virtual participation, and we’ll send you everything you need to join.

We’ll share emerging findings from Our Bodies, Our Health (OBOH) through short, evidence-based lightning talks that provide a foundation for dialogue and reflection — inviting your lived experiences and community knowledge to talk back to the research.

Facilitated breakout discussions will ask: What resonates with what you’re seeing in your community, work, or life? What feels missing? What surprises you? What else might the data mean? And where should we go from here?

📅 October 29, 2026 | 1:00–5:00 PM ET 📍 The Westin Harbour Castle, Toronto + online 🎟️ Free to register and participate ⏰ Registration required by October 15 🔗 Registration link in bio

Can’t make the trip to Toronto? Join us virtually! Online participants will be able to take part in the Forum’s presentations and discussions. Register using the link in our bio, select virtual participation, and we’ll send you everything you need to join.

The Our Bodies Our Health survey and the research presented at this event are 2S/LGBTQIA+ youth-led and community-based, developed through the Community-Based Research Centre’s ( @thecbrc ) Investigaytors and Knowledge 2eekers programs. We want to carry this community-based approach into what happens next: your knowledge and experience can help us interpret these findings, ask better ques taken in The Westin Harbour Castle, Toronto by @uoftfifsw

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9 days ago

We are thrilled to welcome a new cohort of PhD students to FIFSW this fall!

Our seven new students bring a wealth of experience and expertise to the program, with professional backgrounds in child welfare and education systems, law, homelessness services, local community organizations supporting Black youth and families, individual and group therapy — and more.

As researchers, topics our new PhD students are interested in studying include:
🍁finding solutions to refugee homelessness in Canada
💕strengthening belonging, resilience, and opportunities for underserved racialized youth
✈️mental health in the aviation industry
💛the experiences of youth exposed to community violence
🔥burnout among front line practitioners in mental health crisis settings
👩🏾‍🤝‍👨🏿Black health equity
⚖️accessibility and disability justice, and
👨‍💻the use of modern quantitative methods to inform evidence-based practice

We can’t wait to see where the program takes them.

➡️ Learn more about FIFSW’s PhD program and our students at uoft.me/FIFSWphd taken in The Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work by @uoftfifsw

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11 days ago

“How might we empower adolescents to enjoy the benefits of Internet use while avoiding its risks?” asks Linxiao Zhang, a PhD Candidate at the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work.

Zhang’s dissertation focuses on adolescents living in rural China, a population underrepresented in existing research. As Internet access continues to expand in rural communities, young people are gaining access to new opportunities online while also facing potential risks, he says. Zhang is examining the ways that Internet use can support adolescent development, while also considering how it might intensify existing challenges.

“We need to move beyond addiction-centred discourse and examine both the positive and negative influences on diverse developmental outcomes,” he argues.

➡️ Read about Zhang’s recent publications at www.socialwork.utoronto.ca by @uoftfifsw

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12 days ago

Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work PhD student Uppala Chandrasekera was among 14 exceptional Ontarian’s celebrated at the 2026 Lieutenant Governors’ Legacy Awards ceremony held September 14. Held annually, these prestigious awards recognize individuals for their leadership and lasting contributions to communities across the province.

Chandrasekera’s leadership and contributions to communities run deep. As a social worker with over 20 years of experience in the health sector, she has worked on the front lines and in program development and policy implementation. Prior to becoming a PhD student, she held executive leadership roles as Director of Public Health at Toronto Public Health from 2022 to 2025 and Director of Public Policy at the Canadian Mental Health Association, Ontario from 2013 to 2022.

“Uppala has been instrumental in developing and implementing public policy strategies that address the intersecting challenges of mental health, substance use, and gender,” says Rachelle Ashcroft, an Associate Professor at FIFSW, where Chandrasekera taught for over five years prior to starting her PhD.

Chandrasekera is one of two recipients of the Legacy Award’s Hilary M. Weston Scholarship, which recognizes graduate-level social work students for their contributions to mental health research.

Chandrasekera’s doctoral research focuses on expanding the role of social work in response to the ongoing drug toxicity crisis. Her work was recently published in the Australian Social Work Journal, tilted Social Work, Substance Use and Primary Care: Policy Barriers and Opportunities for Legislative Reform.

“At a time when our communities are facing escalating mental health challenges and a devastating drug toxicity crisis, I am especially grateful to the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario for recognizing the vital role that social workers can play in system transformation and building more equitable, accessible, and responsive approaches to health care,” says Chandrasekera.

Visit FIFSW’s website to learn more about Chandrasekera’s research and impact.

www.socialwork.utoronto.ca

#UofT #SocialWork #FIFSW by @uoftfifsw

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17 days ago

Part 2! ➡️ Our incoming Master of Social Work students share the songs they can’t stop listening to. 🎶

What songs do you have on repeat right now?

#SocialWork #UofT #FIFSW by @uoftfifsw

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24 days ago

Professor Peter A. Newman is building the MEtA-LGBTIQ Multimedia Inclusion Lab to address gaps in LGBTIQ data across Asia with support from the Canada Foundation for Innovation.

“One of the most consequential effects of marginalization — and one of the greatest barriers to advancing LGBTIQ rights and inclusion — is erasure, or the absence of data,” says Dr. Newman.

No data = No problem
No problem = No resources
No resources = No action!

“At a time when equity, human rights, and LGBTIQ communities are under siege in many parts of the world, advancing and safeguarding evidence is itself an essential form of infrastructure an dresistance,” says Newman.

The MetA-LGBTIQ Multimedia Inclusion Lab builds on 7 years of rigorous research, transdisciplinary collaboration, and digital knowledge production developed by MFARR-Asia, the SSHRC Partnership that Newman leads in Thailand, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, the Philippines, and Taiwan.

➡️ Find a link in our bio to learn more about the new MetA-LGBTIQ Multimedia Inclusion Lab.

#SocialWorkResearch #UofT #FIFSW #SocialWork by @uoftfifsw

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a month ago

Hear from our incoming Master of Social Work students about the songs they can’t stop listening to! (Part 1 of 2)

Did any of these songs make your top list this summer?

#FIFSW #backtoschool #uoft #SocialWork by @uoftfifsw

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a month ago

✨Reserve your tickets now for the 2026 Janis Rotman Distinguished Lecture Series on Mental Wellness: The evolution of boys and men’s health in Canada, with Professor Jon Oliffe of the University of British Columbia’s Faculty of Applied Science.

Dr. Ofliffe is Canada Research Chair in Men’s Health Promotion, and the founder and lead investigator of UBC’s Men’s Health Research program.

Date & Time: Wednesday, October 7, 2026

This is a hybrid event.

Doors open: 5:30
Lecture and Q&A: 6:00 to 7:15pm
Reception: 7:15 to 8:15pm

In person location: Hart House Debates Room, 7 Hart House Circle, Room 2034

Online location: Zoom

All are welcome!

➡️ find a link to learn more and register in out bio.

✨About the lecture✨

The unprecedented recent interest in the health of boys and men in Canada offers great opportunities and some inherent risks. This talk includes empirical retrospectives from the last 25 years of masculinities’ and men’s health research, thoughtfully considering the influence of #MeToo, toxic masculinity and the manosphere along with structural determinants in gauging how we might all benefit from a boys and men’s health framework/strategy in Canada. Offered also are applied research findings to guide work with boys and men, and suggestions for how we can build sustainable gender-responsive programs.

#FIFSW #SocialWork #UofT by @uoftfifsw

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a month ago

Our Student Ambassadors are getting ready to welcome new Master of Social Work students to the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work!

FIFSW Student Ambassadors are busy throughout the year providing peer support to new and returning students, fostering community through social events, and sharing resources and opportunities available on campus.

To our new students: Welcome to FIFSW! We can’t wait to see you!

#UofT #FIFSW #SocialWork #BackToSchool taken in The Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work by @uoftfifsw

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