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Creating a better future for communities through research

Joanna Ochocka, Executive Director

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M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology
joanna@communitybasedresearch.ca; Tel: (519) 741-1318 ext. 222

Joanna Ochocka has been Director of CCBR since 1996. She is a faculty member in the Department of Sociology and the Department of Social Development Studies at the University of Waterloo and in the MA and PhD program in Community Psychology at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. Joanna is one of the leaders in the use of the participatory action research approach and she uses research as a tool for social change. She was a recipient of the Award for Teaching Excellence for 2005 at Wilfrid Laurier University.

Research and Action Interests

Joanna's research and action is focused on community mental health for people with serious mental health issues, on cultural diversity and immigration issues and on community supports for marginalized populations. Many of the research projects she has led include multi-phases, multiple methods and complex partnerships. In 2010, she and her CCBR colleagues gathered data at international site visits in China, the Philippines and India. She is the author of 40 academic articles and co-author of the book: "Shifting the paradigm in community mental health."

Recent Projects

CURA Director: Community University Research Alliance: Taking Culture Seriously in Community Mental Health

  • A five year multidisciplinary and mixed-method research study to explore, pilot, develop and evaluate community mental health services and supports to be effective for people from culturally diverse backgrounds. Includes a large evaluation component.

Research Advisor: Community Based Research Ethics

  • A needs assessment and feasibility study to clarify the need for a community based research ethics process and to determine an appropriate and feasible response that will facilitate ethically sound community based research in Waterloo Region and Toronto.

For a full listing, please search for Joanna Ochocka as a Leader or a Member/Leader in our  projects directory.

Sample Publications

Ochocka, J. & Janzen, R. (2007) Blending commitment, passion and structure:  Engaging cultural linguistic communities in collaborative research.  In A. Williamson & R DeSouza (Eds.) Researching with Communities: Grounded perspectives on engaging communities in research (pp.323-337). Mud Creek Press.  Waitakere City, New Zealand.

Janzen R., Ochocka, J., Jacobson, N., Maiter, S., Simich, L., Westhues, A., Fleras, A. & the Taking Culture Seriously Partners (2010).  Synthesizing Culture and Power in Community Mental Health: An Emerging Framework.  Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health, 29/1, 51-67.

Ochocka, J. & Janzen, R. (2008) Immigrant parenting:  a new framework of understanding. Journal of International Migration and Integration, 6(1), 85-112.

View full CV

Other Interests

Joanna loves the outdoors. She is a mountaineer (the Himalayas five times), a skier, sailor and hiker. Joanna and her family love to travel to diverse places around the world: Cambodia, Peru, Cuba, Europe and Algonquin Park being among recent adventures. But home in Waterloo is where they are most content, where they play tennis and basketball, and enjoy foreign films at the Princess Cinema.