The current evidence on marginalized adolescents: an intersectoral approach to inequalities, health, and public policy
October 19th, 2022
Pizza served from 12:00-12:30; Lecture from 12:30-13:30 EST
Hybrid Event
School of Population and Global Health
2001 McGill College Avenue
room 1140
Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3A 1G1
or via Zoom
Abstract:
Centered around a child-rights framework, this talk will provide recent evidence on social positions, their intersectionality, their inequalities, and their association with adolescent well-being; as well as provide current evidence that evaluates the role of structural and social actors in these domains.
Social inequalities span social conditions such as gender, race, ethnicity, poverty, material possessions, and visible minority status, among others. From an age-perspective, science is a homogeneous field where research is conducted by adults on children and adolescents; however, few include the adolescent’s perspective, voice, or contribution. Recent evidence indicates that there are social conditions that are specific to adolescents that place them at a health disadvantage. These include conditions such as relative deprivation, absolute income inequalities, living in a single-parent household, being involved in bullying behaviours, negative body size perceptions, citizenship status, disability status, and high smartphone use, to name a few. Disadvantageous social positions overlap in combinations making adolescent’s experiences and relationship with their health, unique. Although these social positions seem to be individual conditions of concerns, structural determinants, social policies, government ideologies, and international actors play prominent roles in social inequalities. When addressing social equity and justice, these adult-governed entities will need to consider new and different approaches to achieve healthier, more equitable societies.
Speaker:
Nour Hammami
Assistant Professor, Child and Youth Studies Trent University Durham
Biography:
Nour Hammami currently holds an Assistant Professor position in Child and Youth Studies at Trent University Durham in Ontario, Canada. The focus of her research lies at the intersection of investigations between social inequalities and adolescent’s health and well-being using innovative epidemiological designs and quantitative methods.
At the IHSP, Nour was a postdoctoral researcher focused on social inequalities in health among marginalized children and youth. She investigated the distinct mental and physical health disadvantage that marginalized social groups of youth are at, relative to the rest of the population. The groups of youth included: victimized and victimizing youth, youth living in low socioeconomic position, living in single-parent households, and non-majority groups including gender minorities, racial groups, visible minorities, etc. She used a variety of analytical skills in both cross-sectional and prospective study designs with Canadian and international study populations. Nour completed her PhD in Public Health and Health Systems at the University of Waterloo.
A central area of her research remains investigating disparities in health and understanding the structural, social, behavioural determinants that cause and that narrow these gaps using an equitable and inclusive approach. Nour acts as a reviewer for several journals and is a stakeholder with Health Canada.