Julia Hews-Girard

Dr. Julia Hews-Girard

PhD, RN

Positions

Assistant Professor

Faculty of Nursing, Faculty

Child Health & Wellness Researcher

Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute

Contact information

Web presence

Phone number

Office: 403.220.4207

Location

Office: PF 323

For media enquiries, contact

Lynda Sea, Senior Manager - Communications

Office: +1.403.471-9762
Email: lsea@ucalgary.ca
Twitter: @ucalgarynursing

Background

Biography

Julia Hews-Girard earned her PhD in Nursing from Queen’s University with a focus on clinical epidemiology, population-level analysis and the health of all women and girls. Her post-doctoral training, conducted with Dr. Gina Dimitropoulos and Dr. Scott Patten, focused on tool validation, measurement, co-design approaches and mixed methods; mental health of emerging adults, undergraduate students, and individuals within those groups with chronic diseases; and enhancing access to healthcare services for women and girls. Julia is actively involved in professional organizations, such a OCEC EDI accelerator and INGID, contributing as a board member and executive member of research committees. She is also collaborating with ACNO on initiatives to support RN prescribing in AHS. In her leisure time, Julia enjoys running, reading and travelling with her family.

Research

Areas of Research

Mental Health, Maternal/Child health, Emerging Adults, Health Services Research, Rare Disease

 

Dr. Hews-Girard’s research program is diverse and includes understanding how youth and adults understand mental health and wellbeing and their perceptions of tools used to measure these, improving access to mental health care through peer support and digital options, understanding how and why measurement-based care is used by clinicians and clients to engage with care and improve outcomes, improving organizational supports and workplace environments for peer support workers, and improving access to care for women and girls with inherited bleeding disorders. 
Dr. Hews-Girard’s programs of research aim to change the way in which researchers and clinicians deliver care, identifying changes that make care more acceptable to youth and young adults and their families. Her research program is focused on integrated care models – focusing on integrating mental and physical health in a sustainable, youth-friendly manner – and improving transitions between pediatric and adult care settings for individuals with mental health concerns and chronic diseases. 
Through her postdoctoral work, Dr. Hews-Girard has expanded her research approaches to include mixed- and multi-methods studies, participatory research, and priority-setting methods. 

Participation in university strategic initiatives