The British Columbia Centre of Excellence has focused its work since 1996 on conducting or facilitating innovative, multidisciplinary research that examines the determinants of women’s health. While the overall mission of the Centre has remained consistent, the topical focus of our research and knowledge exchange activities has evolved and will continue to do so as opportunities and capacity evolve.
Our work is informed by our collaborations with women and girls who use health services, provide health care, and make decisions in health care systems. Our research priorities reflect the influence of partnerships with other researchers, institutions, and funding agencies, and priority setting by staff, governments at all levels, and our host institution, BC Women’s Hospital + Health Centre, an agency of the Provincial Health Services Authority.
Current Research and Knowledge Translation Interests
We currently have funding for research and knowledge exchange projects centering on the following health issues:
- Alcohol and girls’ and women’s health, and prevention of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
- Girls health promotion
- Homelessness among women with mental health concerns
- Indigenous women’s health
- Northern women’s health
- Tobacco addiction, and cessation/reduction strategies, policies and interventions
- Trauma, chronic pain and prescription drug use among women
and the following methods, health promotion approaches and translation strategies:
- Gender transformative health promotion
- Health monitoring, surveillance, and health system planning and improvement
- Sex/gender/diversity-based analysis
- Trauma-informed practice and policy
- Research training on the intersections of gender/mental health/substance use/trauma
- Virtual knowledge translation on girls’/women’s health issues