Academic Background & Research Interests

• Health geography
• Rural and remote health care issues
• Population aging in resource-based communities
• Place integration
• Community-based networks

My research interests are in the field of health geography, focusing on rural and remote health and health care issues. I received my undergraduate degree at Ryerson University, and my Masters and PhD at Queen's University. Prior to coming to UNBC, I was a CIHR postdoctoral fellow with the School of Health Services Administration at Dalhousie University. My current interests are in health care transformation, health professional recruitment and retention, and population health in rural and small town places. My research looks at issues such as primary health care integration, community and household level responses to population aging, and the impacts of distributed medical education on physician and health care workforces in traditionally underserviced places. 

Research Projects:

Principal Investigator 

• Partnering for Change: Understanding the Contribution of Social Entrepreneurship to Primary Health Care Transformation. I am a Co-PI along with Martha Macleod (Nursing, UNBC), Margot Greenwood (Social Work, UNBC), Suzanne Johnston (Director of Clinical Research, Northern Health), and Cathy Ulrich (CEO, Northern Health). Standard Operating Grant, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, 2011-2015, $672,000.

• The Impact of the Northern Medical Program on Physician Recruitment and Retention in its Host Community: The Role of Social Capital. Standard Operating Grant, British Columbia Medical Services Foundation, 2006-07, $50,000

• Restructuring Welfare Services, Remaking Place: The Territoriality of Health Care Reform in "Remote" British Columbia. Research Grant, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, 2003-06, $69,800

• The Dynamics of Distance: Employing GIS to Address Health Delivery Challenges in Northern British Columbia Communities. Research Grant, Northern Land Use Institute, 2003-04, $8,000

• Secondary Care Away from Home: How Much Occurs in Nova Scotia for Specific Procedures and Profiles of its Consumers. Operating Grant, Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation, 2000-03, $26,000.

Co-Investigator

• Nature of Nursing Practice in Rural and Remote Canada, Part Two (Principal Investigators: Dr. Martha MacLeod, University of Northern British Columbia, Dr. Judith Kulig, University of Lethbridge, and Dr. Norma Stewart, University of Saskatchewan). Operating Grant, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, 2013-2016, $204,000.

• Healthy Aging in Rural and Small Town Places (Principal Investigator: Dr. Greg Halseth, University of Northern British Columbia). Operating Grant, Vancouver Foundation, 2012-2015, $228,000.

• The Transformative Role of Voluntarism in Aging Resource Communities: Integrating People, Place and Community (Principal Investigator: Dr. Mark Skinner, Trent University). Insight Development Grant, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, 2012-2014, $71,110.

• Preliminary development of a decision-support framework for locating regional palliative care hubs in rural and remote British Columbia. (Principal Investigators: Valorie Crooks, SFU, and Nadine Schuurman, SFU). BC Medical Services Foundation, Open Grants, 2008-09, $50,000

• Rural and Northern Youth Sexual Health Team: Building Interdisciplinary Research Capacity to Reduce Health and Social Disparities. (Principal Investigator: Jean Shoveller, University of British Columbia). Interdisciplinary Capacity Enhancement (ICE) Grant Programme, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, 2006-11, $820,000.

• Rural and Northern Practice and its Development. (Principal Investigators: Martha MacLeod, UNBC and Cathy Ulrich, Northern Health). Health Services and Policy Research Support Network Investigative Teams Program, Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, 2006-09, $500,000.

• Integrated Study of the Social Dimensions of Rural Health (Principal Investigators: Dr. Aleck Ostry and Dr. Clyde Hertzman, University of British Columbia). Rural and Northern Health Research New Emerging Teams Programme, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, 2004-09, $1,343,000.00

• The Working Relationships of Public Health Nurses and High Priority Families in Northern Communities (Principal Investigator: Dr. Martha MacLeod, University of Northern British Columbia). Rural and Northern Health Research Operating Grant, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, 2004-07, $288,200.

• Mackenzie and Area Seniors’ Needs Overview (Principal Investigator: Dr. Greg Halseth, University of Northern British Columbia). Targeted Research Grant, Northern Land Use Institute, 2004, $5,000.

• Assessing Organization, Health System and Societal Impacts of Telehealth Programs: Lessons from Nova Scotia (Principal Investigator: Dr. David Persaud, School of Health Services Administration, Dalhousie University). Operating Grant, Nova Scotia Health Research Foundation, 2001-03, $60,000.

• Aging Across Canada: Comparing Service Rich and Service Poor Communities (Principal Investigator: Dr. Mark Rosenberg, Department of Geography, Queen's University). Research Grant, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, 2000-04, $285,000.

• Preventable Drug-Related Morbidity in Older Adults in Nova Scotia: Identification of Risk Factors and Relationship to Health Care Resource Utilization (Principal Investigator: Dr. Neil MacKinnon, College of Pharmacy, Dalhousie University). Research Grant, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, 2000-02, $295,000.