{"id":1333,"date":"2026-02-09T13:02:37","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T20:02:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/swkx\/?page_id=1333"},"modified":"2026-04-27T12:06:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T19:06:24","slug":"episode-3","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/swkx\/episodes\/episode-3\/","title":{"rendered":"Episode 3"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading has-text-align-center\" style=\"font-style:normal;font-weight:400\">Rahi Care: Supporting Punjabi and South Asian Communities with Dr. Nitasha Puri &amp; Gary Thandi<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile\"><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:17px\">&#8220;<strong>Everybody will say, oh yeah, everything\u2019s wonderful, we\u2019re doing it. And I say, don\u2019t fall for the okie doke. Question it. If you\u2019re seeing a person suffering, or a family, or a community suffering, ask what kinds of services actually exist. Don\u2019t just accept it when someone says, oh yeah, we\u2019ve got this, or we\u2019ve got that. Look into it. Dig a little further. And that part, what I call the cynicism, is really lived experience that I try to pass on to new practitioners.&#8221; <\/strong>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-right has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Gary Thandi<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"499\" height=\"316\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/swkx\/files\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-05-at-2.13.23-PM.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1337 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/swkx\/files\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-05-at-2.13.23-PM.png 499w, https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/swkx\/files\/2026\/02\/Screenshot-2026-02-05-at-2.13.23-PM-300x190.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 499px) 100vw, 499px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<script async defer onload=\"redcircleIframe();\" src=\"https:\/\/api.podcache.net\/embedded-player\/sh\/f2ac19c9-a769-4adb-91fb-ad7b67558f1f\/ep\/67b4646a-5d8c-4259-923a-2a4c9674b46a\"><\/script>\n    <div class=\"redcirclePlayer-67b4646a-5d8c-4259-923a-2a4c9674b46a\"><\/div>\n    <style>\n    .redcircle-link:link {\n        color: #ea404d;\n        text-decoration: none;\n    }\n    .redcircle-link:hover {\n        color: #ea404d;\n    }\n    .redcircle-link:active {\n        color: #ea404d;\n    }\n    .redcircle-link:visited {\n        color: #ea404d;\n    }\n<\/style>\n<p style=\"margin-top:3px;margin-left:11px;font-family: sans-serif;font-size: 10px; color: gray;\">Powered by <a class=\"redcircle-link\" href=\"https:\/\/redcircle.com?utm_source=rc_embedded_player&#038;utm_medium=web&#038;utm_campaign=embedded_v1\">RedCircle<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-buttons is-layout-flex wp-block-buttons-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-accent-background-color has-background wp-element-button\" href=\"http:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/swkx\/files\/2026\/02\/Kx-Podcast_Rahi-Care_Transcript.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">TRANSCRIPT<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-accent-background-color has-background wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/episode\/1vZEysEQ6V7Gy7CFrety07?si=5f2fdb3088f3460a\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SPOTIFY<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-button\"><a class=\"wp-block-button__link has-accent-background-color has-background wp-element-button\" href=\"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/rahi-care-supporting-punjabi-and-south-asian-communities\/id1778292903?i=1000748968539\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">APPLE PODCASTS<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-columns is-layout-flex wp-container-core-columns-is-layout-8f761849 wp-block-columns-is-layout-flex\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:66.66%\">\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">About the Episode<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\">In this episode, we are joined by Gary Thandi and Dr. Nitasha Puri. Gary is a social worker with over twenty years of experience in social services and counselling, and he is the Executive Director of Moving Forward Family Services, a non-profit counselling organization. Dr. Puri is a family physician with training in addiction medicine. She works with Fraser Health, and she is also a Clinical Associate Professor in UBC\u2019s Department of Family Practice.<br><br>Their conversation centers on their decade-long partnership and the Rahi Care Program (RCP), a community co-created initiative supporting Punjabi and South Asian communities impacted by substance use. You will hear how they bring social work, primary care, and community organizations into the same room to reduce barriers; how the program is designed with community members; and how they find a way to make support happen in real life for individuals and families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Timestamps<\/strong><br>01:32 \u2013 Getting to Know: Gary Thandi<br>01:44 \u2013 Getting to Know: Dr. Nitasha Puri<br>02:21 \u2013 How they met: Punjabi-speaking clients falling through the gaps<br>04:52 \u2013 Why Gary founded Moving Forward and what research taught him<br>09:08 \u2013 \u201cPeople care. Systems don\u2019t.\u201d Finding allies for change<br>10:33 \u2013 Working across social work and family medicine<br>13:58 \u2013 Serving Punjabi communities: family systems, stigma, and access barriers<br>21:55 \u2013 How Rahi Research co-created the family and recovery group<br>38:59 \u2013 \u201cDon\u2019t fall for the okie doke\u201d: accountability and advocacy<br>41:55 \u2013 Closing reflections on partnership and hope<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-small-font-size wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Mentioned in this Episode:<\/strong><br><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rahibc.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Rahi Care Program<\/a><br><a href=\"https:\/\/movingforward.help\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Moving Forward Family Services<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"403\" height=\"141\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/swkx\/files\/2025\/06\/image.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1206\" style=\"aspect-ratio:2.858605974395448;width:154px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/swkx\/files\/2025\/06\/image.png 403w, https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/swkx\/files\/2025\/06\/image-300x105.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 403px) 100vw, 403px\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-column is-layout-flow wp-block-column-is-layout-flow\" style=\"flex-basis:33.33%\">\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Our Guests<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:17px\"><strong>Gary Thandi&nbsp;<\/strong>has his Bachelors and&nbsp;Masters in Social Work, and has over 20&nbsp;years\u2019 experience, having worked as a probation officer, counsellor, hospital social worker, program manager, researcher, and clinical supervisor. He is founder, Executive Director and Clinical Supervisor of a non-profit collaborative called Moving Forward Family Services, which provides low barrier counselling and support services to residents in BC and across Canada.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" style=\"font-size:17px\"><strong>Dr.&nbsp;Nitasha Puri<\/strong>&nbsp;is a clinical assistant professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia, and staff physician in the Department of Addiction Medicine and Substance Use Services at Fraser&nbsp;Health.&nbsp;Her research interests broadly&nbsp;centre&nbsp;upon substance use among racialized populations, healing and recovery, and health equity.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rahi Care: Supporting Punjabi and South Asian Communities with Dr. Nitasha Puri &amp; Gary Thandi &#8220;Everybody will say, oh yeah, everything\u2019s wonderful, we\u2019re doing it. And I say, don\u2019t fall for the okie doke. Question it. If you\u2019re seeing a person suffering, or a family, or a community suffering, ask what kinds of services actually [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":81253,"featured_media":0,"parent":527,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"templates\/template-full-width.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1333","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/swkx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1333","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/swkx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/swkx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/swkx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/81253"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/swkx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1333"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/swkx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1333\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1413,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/swkx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1333\/revisions\/1413"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/swkx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/527"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/swkx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1333"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}