Contact
School of Public Health
- c.gillies@ualberta.ca
Overview
Area of Study / Keywords
Community health promotion Social and structural determinants of health Participatory approaches Qualitative methods Mixed methods
About
Christina is an applied anthropologist and Lead Scientist in in Cancer Prevention and Screening Innovation (CPSI), Provincial Population & Public Health (PPPH) at Alberta Health Services (AHS). Her work bridges the gap between scientific public health research and the lived experiences of communities with a focus on improving equitable health outcomes through health promotion initiatives.
Research
Christina engages in applied research that explores the social and structural determinants of health through community-based participatory research approaches and ethnographic, qualitative, and mixed methods. In collaboration with stakeholders, she designs, implements, and evaluates initiatives to improve population health outcomes and reduce health inequities. In particular, she is interested in research concerning nutrition, food, and health.
She has been fortunate to learn from and work in close collaboration with Indigenous, refugee, and immigrant communities in Alberta and her research has included:
- improving supportive environments for health in rural and urban contexts using the Healthy Communities approach,
- the development, implementation, and evaluation of school nutrition interventions,
- improving cultural competence in health care settings,
- critical reflection on health promotion values
Featured Publications
International Journal of Health Promotion and Education. 2024 January; 10.1080/14635240.2022.2042712
Journal of Rural and Community Development. 2024 January;
Christina Gillies, Rosanne Blanchet, Rebecca Gokiert, Anna Farmer, Noreen D. Willows
Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research. 2022 September; 10.3148/cjdpr-2021-039
International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being. 2021 January; 10.1080/17482631.2021.1942416
Christina Gillies, Rosanne Blanchet, Rebecca Gokiert, Anna Farmer, Jessica Thorlakson, Laura Hamonic, Noreen D. Willows
BMC Public Health. 2020 December; 10.1186/s12889-019-8120-3
Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research. 2020 January; 10.3148/CJDPR-2019-026
First Nations students’ perceptions of school nutrition policy implementation: A mixed methods study
Nutrition & Dietetics. 2018 November; 10.1111/1747-0080.12499
Christina Davey, Helen Vallianatos
Journal of International Migration and Integration. 2018 August; 10.1007/s12134-018-0562-4
View additional publications