Patient Advisors for Pelvic Health and Public Health (PH | PH) Project

The Pelvic Health and Public Health in Twentieth-Century Canada (PH | PH) Project is a five-year Canadian Institutes of Health Research project led by Dr. Whitney Wood, Canada Research Chair in the Historical Dimensions of Women’s Health at Vancouver Island University. The PH | PH project takes a historical approach to explore how pelvic health (including pelvic pain, pelvic health conditions, pelvic health activism, and pelvic health care) became a matter of growing public health concern between the late-1960s and 2000. Understanding the historical context that has shaped – and continues to shape – individual experiences of pelvic health issues can inform the efforts of individual pelvic health patients and clients, health care practitioners, and health activists to improve pelvic health services in twenty-first century Canada.

This opportunity is open to individuals (50+) who have/have had reproductive organs historically classified as “female” (i.e., a uterus) with lived experiences of pelvic pain between 1970 and 2000. Those with lived experiences of pelvic pain associated with conditions such as endometriosis, urinary tract infection, pelvic inflammatory disease, and vulvodynia, as well as those who have been involved in feminist and health activism around “women’s health” issues, are of particular interest. Residents of BC are welcome to apply, but residents of Vancouver Island will be prioritized.