University of Calgary

Añiela dela Cruz

  • Associate Professor

Currently Teaching

Not currently teaching any courses.

Profile

Añiela dela Cruz holds a PhD in Nursing and an MSc in Health Promotion Studies (University of Alberta). She has 20 years of professional experience in community and public health, health policy development, and health and program evaluation research. In her career, Añiela has worked with Alberta communities, provincial and federal government stakeholders, and non-government organizations focusing on areas of public health such as HIV/AIDS, chronic disease prevention, pre-natal nutrition, and child and youth health promotion and illness prevention. She has worked extensively with diverse and vulnerable communities in Alberta and across Canada including women, children, people living with HIV, marginalized immigrants, First Nations communities, urban Indigenous communities, and urban and rural populations. Añiela has a strong qualitative research background, contributing to the body of knowledge that concerns the health of migrants (in Canada), pre- and post- migration experiences, cultural safety, and relational ethics. In her doctoral work, Añiela used narrative inquiry as methodology to inquire into the experiences of sub-Saharan African immigrants living with HIV in Alberta.  Currently, Añiela chairs the Newcomer, HIV, Immigration, treatment Engagement and Stigma in Canada (NewHITES) Community Based Research Team.  The team comprises community leaders, people living with HIV, government, AIDS Service Organizations (ASO), community-based and academic-based researchers working together towards health and social equities within the intersections of HIV, stigma, migration and settlement. Añiela’s work with the African community affected by HIV began in 2002 in Alberta, and continues this work using community based research principles.

Research Interests

  • Population health promotion and public health
  • Social determinants of health: examining the social, political, and familial factors that shape people’s experience of health or illness
  • Infectious disease prevention, specifically the care and support of people living with HIV or AIDS (PLWHA)
  • Health of migrants, including marginalized immigrants (refugees, permanent residents, temporary foreign workers)
  • Health of Aboriginal peoples
  • Qualitative research methodology: narrative inquiry (Clandinin & Connolly, 2000)
  • Evaluation research
  • Community based research

Program of Research

  • Vulnerability, capacity building, & change: Studying the health, social, familial, & political contexts of African immigrants living with or affected by HIV in Canada & identifying ways to reduce vulnerability. See PDF for more details on program of research.

Administrative Assistant

Curriculum Vitae

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