Woman with brown hair, smiling at camera

Dr. Julia Hews-Girard

RN
Pronouns: she/her/elle

Positions

Assistant Professor

Faculty of Nursing, Faculty

Affiliations

Full Member

Alberta Children's Hospital Research Institute

Full Member

Hotchkiss Brain Institute

Full Member

Mathison Centre for Mental Health Research and Education

Contact information

Location

office: PF3220

For media enquiries, contact

Lynda Sea, Senior Manager - Communications

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

Preferred method of communication

email

Background

Credentials

Registered nurse (RN), CRNA, 2003

Educational Background

PhD Nursing, Queen's University , 2022

Masters Nursing, Athabasca University , 2014

BSc Nursing, University of Alberta, 2003

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's current 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,and understanding how and why measurement-based care is used by clinicians and clients to engage with care and improve outcomes. Her 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. She is involved in research regarding peer support for youth and young adults, digital health applications and measurement-based care, school-based mental health, and the relationship between mental and physical health and wellbeing.
Dr. Hews-Girard's research approaches to include mixed- and multi-methods studies, participatory research, and priority-setting methods.

Dr. Hews-Girard is a full member of the HBI and Mathison Centre for Mental Health, a member of the OCEC EDI accelerator and an ECR member of ACHRI. She is a board member for INGID, and an executive member of the Research Committee (INGID).