Equity-Driven Research Innovation: Inside the ACCESS Lab
As society continues to shift away from capturing people’s authentic voices, the importance of storytelling has grown exponentially. In research, keeping inclusivity and accessibility in focus is important, but it can be challenging to clearly communicate how these ideas intersect. And incorporating people’s diverse lived experiences remains essential.
This is where Dr. Chavon Niles, PhD, Assistant Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy; Cross appointed in the Rehabilitation Science Institute; and the Principal Investigator of the ACCESS Lab comes in.
Dr. Niles is a Guyanese Canadian researcher, educator, and advocate committed to advancing equity through research, teaching, and community partnerships while fostering relationships through a commitment to equitable change.
She earned her Master of Arts in Critical Disability Studies at York University and her PhD at Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto. Through Dr. Niles’ leadership, the ACCESS lab focuses on understanding how systems, policies, and health services shape access to rehabilitation and support. Her work centres the lived experiences of Black and racialized communities, immigrants, caregivers, and disabled people with a focus on how inequities are produced, sustained, and experienced in everyday life.
Our research examines how systems, policies, and health services shape access to rehabilitation and support, particularly for Black and racialized communities, immigrants, caregivers, and disabled people, particularly during times of system strain.
The ACCESS Lab is currently leading research on emergency preparedness and response in Ontario, examining how access to health and rehabilitation services shifted during public health emergencies (e.g., COVID-19 pandemic) and other moments of system strain.
The ACCESS Lab collaborates with communities, organizations, and partners across Ontario focusing on the knowledge and lived experiences of Black and racialized communities, immigrants, caregivers, and disabled people.
This work also uses creative and community-engaged approaches, including zines (pronounced “zeens”, short for magazines). This creative approach is used to share what is being learned in ways that are accessible and grounded in people’s experiences that are useful beyond academic spaces. Additionally, it continues to inform on health and rehabilitation education focused on equity, accessibility, and accountability.
A core part of the ACCESS Lab is collaborating with people with lived experience from the beginning. This means working alongside people and crediting their knowledge, skill, and insight.
Dr. Niles uses a range of qualitative and community-engaged methods, including storytelling, interviews, and arts-informed approaches. These methods allow for a more meaningful and authentic way for people to share their experiences.
Dr. Niles implements the use of Reflexive Thematic Analysis (RTA). Since her work focuses on qualitative research methods, she explains, “this type of analysis allows for careful, iterative engagement with the data while respecting community insight. Together, these approaches support a deeper understanding of patterns across experiences, while identifying how systemic gaps are produced and maintained.”
This research was developed through years of working in collaboration with community organizations, people with lived experience, and academic institutions. Over time, Dr. Niles began noticing patterns repeating across these spaces, where Black and racialized communities, as well as disabled people, were often excluded from decisions that directly affect their daily lives.
However, these observations are not new. People who have been under-resourced have experienced these realities for a long time. This work continues the CDS conversation, with a focus on understanding how these patterns continue and how to respond to them differently.
Dr. Niles emphasizes, “Building sustainable and meaningful relationships takes time, but this is the essential part of this work.” The goal is doing work grounded in care, accountability, and authentic connections. Dr. Niles says, “my research is my heart work. Understanding why you do this work shapes how you show up, who you are accountable to, and how you move through it.”