MA Psychology student Maria Zangari was named an Ontario Women's Health Scholar for 2026 (PROVIDED BY M. ZANGARI/University of Windsor)
By Kate Hargreaves
With shortages of primary care practitioners and long wait times for health care, more Ontarians may be turning to episodic care providers such as walk-in clinics, urgent care centres and pharmacies for their medical needs.
For women who have experienced gender-based violence (GBV), however, a lack of continuity and brief encounters with providers can create barriers to receiving responsive trauma- and violence-informed care.
Maria Zangari, an MA student in clinical psychology at the University of Windsor, is researching how providers in these settings navigate encounters with women who have experienced GBV, including how they understand and provide trauma- and violence-informed care.
Drawing on her undergraduate work and previous MA in sociology, Zangari says her transition to the scientist-practitioner model in clinical psychology at UWindsor led her to further consider the role that non-emergency episodic health-care settings can play in promoting safety, support and equitable care.
“I became particularly interested in community-based non-emergency episodic healthcare settings, including walk-in clinics, urgent care centres and pharmacies, as they are increasingly important points of access for people who cannot obtain timely and/or continuous primary care, or who are unattached to a primary provider,” she explains.
“This issue has continued to escalate into a healthcare inaccessibility crisis in Canada with more than four million Ontarian’s projected to be without a primary provider by the end of 2026.”
Women who have experienced GBV frequently rely on episodic health-care services, Zangari explains.
“They can encounter barriers related to safety, confidentiality, stigma and partner interference when seeking care all while navigating intersecting structural, systemic, social, and familial factors and responsibilities.”
Zangari hopes to better understand and mitigate these barriers by examining how providers and staff apply trauma- and violence-informed principles, the barriers they face and what could help them strengthen services for women who have experienced GBV.
“My goal is to work towards identifying opportunities for healthcare systems to become more responsive, safe, and equitable, rather than placing the responsibility for navigating these challenges solely on individual service-seekers or providers,” says Zangari.
While her work is still in its early stages, beginning with an online survey of providers and staff and followed by interviews with a subset of participants, it has already been recognized for its potential impact.
Zangari was named an Ontario Women’s Health Scholar for 2026, receiving a $25,000 award funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health and Ministry of Long-Term Care in recognition of her work.
“Receiving this award was meaningful to me because it recognized a research direction that I care deeply about: improving health-care experiences and outcomes for women, particularly those who have experienced GBV,” says Zangari.
“It affirmed the value of research bringing interdisciplinary, equity- and strengths-based, trauma- and violence-informed perspectives into women's health research within non-emergency episodic healthcare settings.”
That emphasis on equity and existing strengths is central to Zangari’s work. Rather than focusing only on barriers or gaps in providers’ knowledge, she also wants to identify existing capacity and share research findings in accessible ways.
“Looking toward my future research, I am interested in expanding community-informed approaches by centring patients' lived experiences and creating opportunities for patients, providers, community members and social service workers to contribute to knowledge development,” Zangari says.
“I see this as an important step in ensuring that research findings are meaningful, accessible and responsive to the communities the research is intended to support.”
Ultimately, she hopes her research will help providers create health-care environments where everyone, including women who have experienced GBV, feels safe, respected and supported.
“This could include informing provider and staff training, organizational policies, referral pathways and approaches to communication and service delivery that promote safety, trust, collaboration and patient choice,” Zangari explains.
“I also hope the research will contribute to a broader understanding that trauma- and violence-informed care is not solely the responsibility of individual providers. It requires organizational and systemic support, including appropriate resources, workplace culture, education and policies that allow providers and staff to respond to patients' needs effectively.”