CANTRAIN & Michael Smith Health Research BC Internship/Practicum for Clinical Research Professionals Program 2023-24

Sherry Sandhu is a research assistant in the Department of Addiction Medicine and Substance Use Services at the Fraser Health Authority. She supports a research program called ‘Rahi’, which means ‘a companion along a path’ in Panjabi and Hindi. The principal investigator leading the project is Dr. Nitasha Puri, an addiction medicine physician and medical lead at the Roshni Clinic which is an addictions clinic tailored for the South Asian population in the Fraser Health region. Rahi aims to develop and test the feasibility of a culturally resonant intervention to treat substance use disorder among Panjabi men in British Columbia’s Lower Mainland. The first phase of this BC-based project was to design an intervention and was co-led and co-created with people who have lived and living experience using substances (PWLLE). As the team prepares for the next phase of testing the intervention, Sherry was awarded with a unique opportunity to gain clinical research  that she can bring back to her team. Sherry was one of two recipients in BC to win the CANTRAIN & Michael Smith Health Research BC Internship/Practicum for Clinical Research Professionals Program 2023-24. The clinical research internship program is an initiative of the Canadian Consortium of Clinical Trial Training (CANTRAIN), a national platform funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). Michael Smith Health Research BC is a proud partner of CANTRAIN’s clinical research internship program. Sherry will use the important clinical research skills she gains through this award, to guide her team as they go on to test this community-led intervention. This research will be vital in changing the landscape of culturally tailored health care for South Asians across BC.

End of Award Update – September 2025

Results

After the CANTRAIN internship, Sherry led the writing of a protocol for a pilot feasibility trial of a 16-week group intervention for Panjabi men with substance use disorder and their family caregivers, which was designed entirely by people with lived and living experience.  

Impact

The most profound value of the Rahi research program lies in its impact on PWLLE, research team members, and the local Panjabi diaspora in Surrey, BC, on whom the project has bestowed the essence of community, belonging and continues to highlight the need for compassionate companions in recovery and life.  

Potential Influence

Our work sets precedent in integrating anti-racist and anti-oppressive practice to engage people with lived and living experience from racialized populations in leading community designed interventions using culturally informed methods.  

Although our work is focused on people of Panjabi ancestry, we believe it is generalizable to other racialized men with SUD or other mental health issues, that are often struggle with similar structural contexts as described in our qualitative explorations including but not limited to: immigration stressors, toxic patriarchy, and acculturative stress. As such, the proposed project has potential for profound impact for across Canada.  

Next Steps

The next steps of this project are to pilot the 16-week group intervention called, the “Rahi Care Program” in a feasibility study. Other than that, our team is focused on sharing the insights gleaned from the co-design process of the project with the larger community. Using an integrated knowledge translation approach, our dissemination efforts are guided entirely by the lived experience of the peer researchers on our team.