Research Interests

Dr. Wong's research focuses on primary health care, specifically how structures (e.g., models of care) and processes (e.g., interprofessional teamwork, interpersonal communication) can enhance the delivery and organization of health services. She has specific interests in examining quality of patient care, inequities in health and disparities across groups who may be vulnerable due to factors such as poverty, speaking English as a second language, or geographic location using mixed-methods. Her current projects focus on inequities in health and disparities in access to health services.

• Measuring the outcomes of primary health care, particularly using mixed-methods to examine quality of care and innovative models of service delivery
• Examining the constructs of primary health care from consumers’ perspectives in British Columbia
• Investigating specific dimensions of primary health care, such as interpersonal communication, cancer screening and prevention, and health human resources
• Development of reliable and valid multi-dimensional measures that can be used in diverse ethno-cultural groups
• Survey development and psychometric analysis

Current Research Projects

• Areas for increase collaboration between primary care and public health
• Improving access to primary health care: lessons from two urban aboriginal health centres
• Preferences and expectations of primary health care in three provinces: BC, Manitoba, and Quebec
• Primary health care for Chinese- and Punjabi-speaking clients: What is it?
• Group medical visits: a potential model for primary health care?

Currently Recruiting Graduate Students Interested in the Following Areas

• Primary health care
• Collaboration between public health and primary care
• Health inequalities

Affiliations and Awards

• Co-Investigator NEXUS: researching the social context of health behaviour
• Investigator, Culture, Gender and Health research unit
• Career Scholar, Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research
• Distinguished Paper Presentation award, Society for Teachers of Family Medicine
• Career award, National Institute on Aging
• New Investigator, Canadian Institutes of Health Research
• Health Services Research award, American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry Foundation and the Children’s Dental Health Project

Current Graduate Students

• Sandra Regan, RN, PhD candidate

A population health-based approach to nurse human resource planning

• Laura Housden, RN, NP, Doctoral student

Interprofessional roles in implementation of group medical visits within the context of primary care

• Rheem Ali, RN, PhD candidate

Night-waking in pre-term infants

• Yuko Homma, RN, PhD candidate

Risk taking behaviors among Chinese adolescents

• Shannon Berg, PhD candidate

Interface between home and community care services and primary health care services

• Christine Ou, RN, Masters student

Chinese young adult unmet health care needs in primary care

• Sherri Kensall RN, Masters student

Chronic illness patient experiences in primary care: lessons from Chinese- and Punjabi-speaking people

• Charlene Ronquillo, RN, Masters student

Filipino nurses in Canada: then and now

• Stephanie Callahan, RN, Masters student

Using the Adolescent Health Survey to examine stigmatized youth in British Columbia

• Amery Wu, PhD, post-doctoral fellow

Examining the healthy immigrant effect using longitudinal data

• Judy Burgess, RN, PhD, post-doctoral fellow

Developing an interprofessional teamwork measure for use in primary care

Courses Currently Taught

• NURS 411H: Exploring Avenues of Nursing Practice – Population Health/Primary Health Care
• NURS 416: Health Care Policy and the Nursing Profession
• NURS 450: Introduction to Research Utilization
• NURS 505: Statistical Literacy in Nursing