Evaluating Creativity: Arts-Based Approaches, Public Health, and Graphic Medicine with Dr. Oralia Gómez-Ramírez How do we know whether arts-based approaches are actually making a difference?In this episode of AB POR You (Arts-Based Patient-Oriented Research for You), host Candace Ramjohn speaks with Dr. Oralia Gómez-Ramírez, as they explore the intersection of evaluation, public health, creativity, and arts-based knowledge mobilization. Dr. Oralia Gómez-Ramírez, MA, PhD, Credentialed Evaluator (CE), is a sociocultural anthropologist, implementation and applied public health expert, and research methodologist currently working as an Evaluation Specialist at the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC). Through her practice, she strives to expand the evaluators’ traditional toolkit and enrich ways of doing public health evaluation by using arts- and creativity-based methods for different evaluative tasks and by fostering team-based, collaborative, and interdisciplinary-rich approaches. Drawing from her experience using photography, zines, creative writing, games, and comics in evaluation practice, Dr. Gómez-Ramírez challenges the assumption that arts-based approaches are inherently effective, emphasizing the importance of thoughtful evaluation, equity, context, and intentional design. She shares lessons learned from applying creative methods in public health settings, discusses the opportunities and challenges of evaluating arts-based initiatives, and reflects on the untapped potential of graphic medicine and comics as tools for research, communication, and learning. A thought-provoking conversation for researchers, evaluators, patient partners, knowledge mobilizers, and anyone interested in advancing arts-based approaches with both creativity and rigour. Learn more:- Personal website: www.oraliagr.com/- Mereth Li-Volmer’s website showing comics usage in public health: publichealthinsider.com/author/phcomms/- Marie-Eve Carrier-Moisan’s example of doctoral dissertation turned into graphic novel: Gringo Love - University of Toronto Press- Emily Ferris’ My Favorite Thing is Monsters: www.fantagraphics.com/collections/emil-ferris