Counseling Psychology MA Student Receives BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute Award
Nushaiba Nanjiba has received the Brain, Behavior and Development Trainee Boost Award from the BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute (BCCHR). Under the supervision of Dr. Emily Cameron, Nushaiba’s research focuses on the lived experiences (e.g., mental health, parenting, relationships, social support) of South Asian fathers of young children. While South Asian populations report the highest rate of unmet mental healthcare needs and perceived barriers to accessing mental health care, South Asian fathers experience heightened psychological distress because of structural barriers and acculturation stressors.
Nushaiba’s MA thesis project aims to address these gaps through interviews with South Asian fathers who have been in Canada less than 10 years. Her questions seek to understand how cultural norms, migration, and masculinity shape the parenting roles, supports, and unmet needs of South Asian fathers in Canada. Notably, with translation and interpretation support from BCCHR, a critical aspect of this project is a commitment to conduct the interviews in the participants’ preferred languages. Only 2% of qualitative studies have language accommodations, highlighting a significant knowledge gap in the literature.
This research will also contribute to promoting equitable and socially informed research that highlights the lived experience of South Asian fathers, a group historically ignored in research. Knowledge translation efforts following this research will include collaborative efforts with community partners to inform culturally grounded support services for South Asian fathers. The findings will also directly inform intervention development in the Family Foundations Lab to address unmet needs in culturally diverse fathers in Canada.
Nushaiba and Dr. Cameron plan to collaborate with community partners to support recruitment, translation, and the mobilization of findings. The BCCHR, with which Dr. Cameron is affiliated, is offering research support and translation services for this project.
We congratulate Nushaiba Nanjiba on her award and wish her the best as she completes this important research.