Dr. Ruth Elwood Martin
Clinical Professor
School of Population and Public Health
University of British Columbia
Academic Collaborator
Dr. Ruth Elwood Martin is a family physician who worked in British Columbia’s provincial correctional centres starting in 1994.
In 2005 she became the Inaugural Director of the UBC Collaborating Centre for Prison Health and Education (CCPHE), a network of academic, community and prison persons interested in improving the health of individuals in custody, their families and communities. She introduced the unique concept of engaging women in prison, prison staff and academics in participatory health research (PHR) to address concerns raised by the women themselves. Over 200 women became members of the team over three years, and their work included conducting 16 peer health surveys, hosting 10 health research forums, and developing 46 health educational PowerPoints.
In 2013, she was co-principal investigator for the “Bonding Through Bars” project. In March 2014, Dr. Martin and CCPHE developed best practice evidence-based Guidelines for the Implementation of Mother-Child Units in Canadian Correctional Facilities.
