Mind The Disruption

What can we do to promote culturally safe places and spaces across the health system? Listen to this episode to learn about how Dr. Terri Aldred, the Academic Lead for the National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health, disrupts dominant narratives about Indigeneity. Terri shares stories from her journey to become an Indigenous physician, outlines concrete actions practitioners can take to foster cultural safety, and encourages us all to work together for a brighter future. 

Episode Guest: Dr. Terri Aldred is Carrier from the Tl’Azt’En Nation located north of Fort St. James. Dr. Aldred has a Bachelor of Health Science Degree and a Doctor of Medicine Degree from the University of Alberta. In 2013 she completed her residency in the UBC Indigenous Family Medicine Program in Victoria. At present, Dr. Aldred is the Academic Lead for the National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health, Executive Medical Director for Primary for FNHA, Family Physician for Carrier Sekani Family Services, the Indigenous Lead for the RCcBC. In 2018 she won the First Five Years in Practice Achievement award through the BCCFP, in 2021 she won the RDoC Mikhael Award for Medical Education, and in 2022 was recognized with a Rising Star UofA Alumni Award. She is passionate about Indigenous health, physician well-being, and medical education.

Learn more:

National Collaborating Centre for Indigenous Health

Indigenous cultural safety - An environmental scan of cultural safety initiatives in Canada (NCCIH, 2023)

Understanding Indigenous health inequalities through a social determinants model (NCCIH, Loppie & Wien, 2022)

Indigeneity is healing (Aldred, 2024)

‘We’re racially profiled as drunk Indians’ – experiences of Indigenous rural British Columbians accessing health care (Aldred et al., 2025)

Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada: 94 Calls to Action (2015)

Episode Credits: This episode was produced by Pemma Muzumdar and Rebecca Cheff (NCCDH). Mind the Disruption is hosted by Pemma Muzumdar and led by Rebecca Cheff, with technical production and original music by Chris Perry. Promotion by Caralyn Vossen (NCCDH). Artwork by comet art + design. Special thanks to Bernice Yanful and Carolina Jimenez for contributing to the development of this season.

How can public health work with migrant farmworkers to ensure healthy and just housing conditions? Listen to this episode to learn about how our current system allows for unsafe housing conditions for migrant farmworkers. Kit Andres, long-time organizer with Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, shares recommendations developed by migrants themselves and opportunities for public health to be part of the solution.

Episode Guest: Kit Andres is a farmworker organizer with Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, which serves as secretariat for the Migrant Rights Network, the country’s largest migrant-led coalition. Kit is a 3rd generation white settler in the Niagara region of Dish with One Spoon treaty territory. As a citizen worker, they are united with their migrant, refugee, and undocumented neighbours to win full rights, dignity, and liberation for all.

Learn more: 

Determining Health: Migrant health issue brief (NCCDH, 2025)

Migrant Rights Network

Migrant Workers Alliance for Change

Decent & Dignified Housing for Migrant Farmworkers (Migrant Rights Network, 2020)

Episode Credits: 

This episode was produced by Rebecca Cheff and Pemma Muzumdar. Mind the Disruption is hosted by Pemma Muzumdar and led by Rebecca Cheff, with technical production and original music by Chris Perry. Promotion by Caralyn Vossen (NCCDH). Artwork by comet art + design. Special thanks to Bernice Yanful and Carolina Jimenez for contributing to the development of this season. Mind the Disruption is a podcast by the National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health. NCCDH is hosted by St. Francis Xavier University and funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of the PHAC.

What makes a public green space healthy for everyone? Listen to this episode to hear how Dr. Nadha Hassen is disrupting the status quo through intersectional and anti-racist approaches in research and community collaborations. Nadha speaks with host Pemma Muzumdar, sharing unique insights on why public green spaces are a critical part of public health infrastructure.

Episode Guest: Dr. Nadha Hassen is a public health and environmental studies scholar focused on healthy, just, and equitable places and environments. Dr. Hassen’s research explores health and social equity and takes an interdisciplinary approach with a focus on intersectional anti-racism. Her research and evaluation work is community-engaged and participatory where she collaborates with marginalized communities to address the social, structural, and environmental determinants of health. As an interdisciplinary health researcher, she has worked at both policy and community levels, with experiences spanning grassroots and nonprofit organizations, hospitals, provincial government, and think tanks. Dr. Hassen has a PhD from the Faculty of Environmental and Urban Change at York University and a Master of Public Health from the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto, specializing in Social and Behavioural Health Sciences.

Learn more:

Park Perceptions and Racialized Realities

Narratives of exclusion: A photovoice study towards racial equity and justice in public urban greenspaces

Methodological desire lines: Engaging with feminist and anti-racist approaches to researching health and place

Rx For Social Connection: Public space as a strategy to combat loneliness

Measuring Health, Wellbeing, and Equity in Greenspaces: A Toolkit & Common Indicators Framework

Core competencies for public health in Canada: Release 2.0

Episode Credits: This episode was produced by Pemma Muzumdar and Rebecca Cheff (NCCDH). Mind the Disruption is hosted by Pemma Muzumdar and led by Rebecca Cheff, with technical production and original music by Chris Perry. Promotion by Caralyn Vossen (NCCDH). Artwork by comet art + design. Special thanks to Bernice Yanful and Carolina Jimenez for contributing to the development of this season. Mind the Disruption is a podcast by the National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health. NCCDH is hosted by St. Francis Xavier University and funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of the PHAC.

Welcome back! In the fourth season of Mind the Disruption, we focus on healthy and just places and spaces. 

We’ll explore topics such as the natural and built environment, belonging, a safe and secure place to call home, and cultural humility and safety. Join us as we reflect on opportunities for people in public health to work with others to create healthy and just places and spaces for everyone. Season 4 includes four episodes released starting in April 2026.  

This season of Mind the Disruption is hosted by Pemma Muzumdar, and is produced by Rebecca Cheff and Pemma Muzumdar. The Mind the Disruption project team is led by Rebecca Cheff, with technical production and original music by Chris Perry. Special thanks to Bernice Yanful and Carolina Jimenez for contributing to the development of this season. Mind the Disruption is a podcast by the National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health. Visit our website to learn more about the podcast and our work.

In response to rising tensions and unmet needs in its downtown core, the City of Edmonton’s RECOVER Urban Wellbeing team and partners questioned assumptions and embarked on a journey of deep listening and co-creation of solutions with residents to cultivate connectedness and well-being. Check out this episode, featuring former RECOVER project manager Sue Holdsworth, to discover how RECOVER’s well-being framework can be used to transform how we design, deliver and evaluate programs and services to foster essential, but often overlooked, non-material aspects of health and well-being.     
(00:00) Introduction
(2:10) Interview with Sue Holdsworth
Episode Guest:
With two interdisciplinary degrees, Sue Holdsworth has worked for three local governments and an NGO as an urban planner, a social planner and a project manager. From 2020-2024, she was the project manager for RECOVER Urban Wellbeing at the City of Edmonton. It focused on people living on the margins and used social R&D to find and test new solutions. Sue has a love for learning and systems thinking, and she is drawn to complex, transformative projects.  
Learn more:
City of Edmonton's Recover: Edmonton's Urban Wellness Plan 
The Soulful City Report (includes Framework for a Culture of Wellbeing of page 146) (2020)
Soloss
Episode Credits:
This episode was produced by Pemma Muzumdar, Rebecca Cheff and host Bernice Yanful (NCCDH). The Mind the Disruption project team is led by Rebecca Cheff, with technical production and original music by Chris Perry. Promotion by Caralyn Vossen (NCCDH). Artwork by comet art + design. Mind the Disruption is a podcast by the National Collaborating Centre for Determinants of Health. NCCDH is hosted by St. Francis Xavier University and funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada. The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent those of the PHAC.