Devon.MacFarlane@viha.ca
Manager of Community Development and Service Integration at Island Health
President-Elect at Canadian Professional Association for Transgender Health
Areas of Interest:
- Access and Resources to Health Care
- Addictions
- Food Security
- Housing
- LGBTQ Health
Highlighted work:
Devon is trained in community development and organizational leadership and change. Currently, he works at Island Health as the Manager of Community Development and Service Integration where he engages partners in change to ensure that vulnerable populations and population health are considered in health systems transformation.
Devon is serving as the President-Elect for the Canadian Professional Association for Transgender Health . As well, he serves as a Board Member (and past Co-Chair) at the Catherine White Holman Wellness Centre.
Devon is passionate about social justice and population health. Issues facing LGBT2SQ communities have been his primary focus, recognizing that LGBT2SQ communities include newcomers to Canada, people with disabilities, youth, older adults, people experiencing addiction & mental health concerns, homelessness, etc. Devon has a significant degree of knowledge specific to trans populations. He has facilitated trainings on LGBT2SQ addiction and mental health issues, issues relating to housing and homelessness, and has working with trans survivors of violence and abuse, etc. His approach to this work has been through the lens of patient and community engagement, to ensure that any action is grounded in people’s needs, and in community (and organizational) development – bringing diverse groups of stakeholders together to create change that none could achieve on their own, and building capacity in communities (and organizations) in order to continuously become more effective in addressing health issues.
Opportunities for Involvement:
- Mentorship
- Educational lectures/seminars
- Experiential learning (e.g. practicum)
- Research opportunities may be available in the future for community-based participatory action research projects.
- Volunteering opportunities may be available through the Canadian Professional Association for Transgender Health (www.cpath.ca) such as participation on committees and working groups.