About
In my career I have been actively engaged in research and advocacy in health promotion with a particular focus on the experiences of disadvantaged groups. I am interested in how a person's social context and status influence his or her health and well-being. In my program of research I focus on health inequalities, community development, access to leisure and recreation, and community-based research. I have taught and worked towards "democratizing" research, or, in other words, increasing the ways that people use and engage in research so that the research itself is relevant, meaningful, and action-oriented.
Education and credentials
- PhD, British Columbia
- MA, British Columbia
- BA, Queen’s
- BPHE, Queen’s
Research summary
Prior to my time at Douglas I spent four years as a postdoctoral researcher in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Simon Fraser University. I am an Adjunct Professor, and supervise graduate students, at UBC, SFU and Dalhousie University. Since 2013 I have been principal investigator on 2 community based research projects in partnership with therapeutic recreation practitioners:
- Imagining Inclusion: Creating Upstream Change in Community Mental Health: www.imagininginclusion.ca
- The Imagination Network: Raising the Curtain on the Lived Experience of Dementia: https://deercrossingtheartfarm.org/raising/
These research projects have strong participatory and knowledge translation components with high levels of student and community involvement. Together with these research teams I have developed Therapeutic Recreation program protocols, written research manuscripts, presented at conferences, hosted art and photo exhibits, and produced an interactive play.