Cultural Humility and Social Work in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside

In this episode, we speak with Rebecca Hargreaves and Sandra Fox about community-engaged research, cultural humility, and social work practice in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Rebecca recently completed her Master of Social Work at the University of British Columbia, where her thesis explored cultural humility and social work practice among Downtown Eastside primary healthcare teams. Sandra is from the Musqueam Indian Band and works with the Indigenous Health Research Unit at the Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute, supporting researchers who engage with Indigenous communities in health research.

Together, they reflect on the relationships, mentorship, and community-engaged process that shaped the research. They discuss how uncomfortable reflexivity became a guiding practice, how Sandra's role as an advisory group member helped foster a more relational and accountable approach, and how creating space for dialogue strengthened both the research process and the people involved. The conversation also explores social work's role within systems that have caused harm and the importance of engaging in cultural humility as an ongoing ethical practice.