Valerie Nicholson
Biographic Data
| ID | 326271 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Valerie Nicholson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Valerie |
| FAMILY NAME | Nicholson |
| SIGNATURE | NICHOLSON V |
| AFFILIATIONS | Simon Fraser University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3879-2483 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 29 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 24 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 29 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2014 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
HIV and drug overdose
Drug toxicity and overdose remain major public health concerns in British Columbia (BC), with People Living With HIV (PLWH) experiencing disproportionately high rates of nonfatal and fatal overdose due to intersecting social and structural inequities. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated these vulnerabilities and introduced challenges that impacted health care delivery and prevention efforts, with lasting repercussions. This qualitative study explor…
Experiences of violence and hospitalization rates among people living with HIV in British Columbia, Canada
People living with HIV (PLWH) in Canada experience high rates of interpersonal violence which may lead to adverse health outcomes that require hospitalization. Using self-reported data on experiences of violence linked to administrative health data on hospitalizations, we used Poisson regression modelling to examine and compare the associations between experiences of violence (recent [in the past 6 months], non-recent [>6 months ago], or none) an…
Difference in healthcare utilization trends associated with suicide death in people living with and without HIV in British Columbia, Canada, from 1998 to 2020
People living with HIV (PLWH) face disproportionate rates of suicide death despite improvements in quality of life with antiretroviral therapy. Effective preventative efforts necessitate an understanding of healthcare utilization trends prior to suicide death for PLWH to facilitate the identification of areas for improvement in screening and prevention. The present study aimed to identify patterns of healthcare utilization in PLWH who died by sui…
Sexual Activity, Pleasure, and Testosterone
Sexual health research comparing women with and without human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) often pathologizes women living with HIV, overlooking biopsychosocial factors that may drive differences between groups. Low testosterone levels have been reported among women living with HIV; however, how this may impact sexual health outcomes remains unclear. We compared the prevalence of sexual activity and sexual pleasure between women with and without …
Healthcare Provider Strategies and Approaches to Supporting People Living With HIV Who Are Experiencing HIV Treatment Disengagement in British Columbia, Canada
We conducted a strengths-based, qualitative study to elucidate the approaches and strategies utilized by healthcare providers (HCPs) to support HIV treatment engagement in British Columbia (BC), Canada. Healthcare providers (e.g., nurses, peer navigators, and pharmacists) across the province of BC were recruited through regional HIV programs and by word of mouth through purposive sampling strategies. An academic and community researcher co-conduc…
Associations between psychosocial factors and antiretroviral therapy outcomes differ by gender and sexual orientation among people living with HIV in British Columbia, Canada
Little is known about how the co-occurrence of psychosocial factors affect sub-populations of people living with HIV (PLWH). We used cross-sectional data from 999 PLWH, aged ≥19, accessing antiretroviral therapy (ART) in British Columbia, Canada (2007-2010) to examine associations between psychosocial factors and ART-related outcomes separately for trans/cis inclusive women; heterosexual men; and gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men…
Exploring Primary Healthcare Experiences and Interest in Mobile Technology Engagement Amongst an Urban Population Experiencing Barriers to Care
Mobile phone-based engagement approaches provide potential platforms for improving access to primary healthcare (PHC) services for underserved populations. We held two focus groups (February 2020) with residents ( n = 25) from a low-income urban neighbourhood (downtown Vancouver, Canada), to assess recent healthcare experiences and elicit interest in mobile phone-based healthcare engagement for underserved residents. Note-based analysis, guided b…
Relationship and Gender Equity Measurement Among Gender-Inclusive Young Women and Non-Binary Youth in British Columbia (RE-Imagyn BC)
Gender-based power dynamics within intimate relationships such as controlling behaviours are driven by inequitable gender norms that perpetuate intimate partner violence (IPV). Yet, the ways in which we understand and measure gender-based power dynamics focus on the relationships of monogamous, cisgender, white, heterosexual women. This paper outlines our process of planning and implementing a qualitative, youth-led, community-based research (CBR…
Intention to Receive a Covid-19 Vaccine by HIV Status Among a Population-Based Sample of Women and Gender Diverse Individuals in British Columbia, Canada
The Changing Tide
The Canadian HIV Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health Cohort Study - Positive Aboriginal Women (CHIWOS-PAW) actively Indigenizes and honours re-search by, with, and for Indigenous communities. In this study, as Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers, we weave our ways of knowing and doing together on the Ancestral, Traditional, and stolen lands of the xwmƏθkwƏýƏm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish), sƏĺilwƏtaɁɬ tƏmƏxw (Tsleil-Waututh…
Radical Pleasure
The opioid crisis is driving mortality among under-served people living with HIV in British Columbia, Canada
Overdose is - the leading cause of mortality among a cohort of under-served PLWH in BC, Canada. Public health efforts to end the HIV epidemic and support the health and well-being of PLWH are being thwarted by persistent health inequities and the enormous and persistent risks facing people who use drugs. Integrated low-barrier primary care is essential for supporting under-served PLWH, and safe drug supply is needed to support PLWH who use drugs
Help-Seeking to Cope With Experiences of Violence Among Women Living With HIV in Canada
Using baseline data from a community-collaborative cohort of women living with HIV in Canada, we assessed the prevalence and correlates of help-seeking among 1,057 women who reported experiencing violence in adulthood (≥16 years). After violence, 447 (42%) sought help, while 610 (58%) did not. Frequently accessed supports included health care providers ( n = 313, 70%), family/friends ( n = 244, 55%), and non-HIV community organizations ( n = 235,…
A Journey of Doing Research “In a Good Way”
The relationship between the First Peoples of Canada and researchers is changing as processes of self-determination and reconciliation are increasingly implemented. We used storytelling and ceremony to describe a historic event, the Indigenous Women’s Data Transfer Ceremony, where quantitative data of 318 Indigenous women living with HIV were transferred to Indigenous academic and community leaders. Relationship building, working together with a …
Building Bridges
Building Bridges' success hinged on ongoing co-learning and engagement of Indigenous peoples, service providers and researchers
Sexual Anxiety Among Women Living with HIV in the Era of Antiretroviral Treatment Suppressing HIV Transmission
Social Determinants of Health and Retention in HIV Care Among Recently Incarcerated Women Living with HIV in Canada
Awareness and Understanding of HIV Non-disclosure Case Law and the Role of Healthcare Providers in Discussions About the Criminalization of HIV Non-disclosure Among Women Living with HIV in Canada
How women living with HIV react and respond to learning about Canadian law that criminalises HIV non-disclosure
The Women, ART and the Criminalization of HIV Study is a qualitative, arts-based research study focusing on the impact of the HIV non-disclosure law on women living with HIV in Canada. The federal law requires people living with HIV to disclose their HIV-positive status to sexual partners before engaging in sexual activities that pose what the Supreme Court of Canada called a 'realistic possibility of transmission'. Drawing on findings from seven…
Love with HIV
The Importance of Sex in the Lives of Women Living with HIV
The authors explored the importance of sex for 1,289 women living with HIV in Canada. Approximately half of women viewed sex as “very” (19.6%) or “somewhat” important (32.3%) and the remaining reported “neither important or unimportant” (22.0%), “somewhat unimportant” (5.4%), or “not at all important” (20.1%). Women who had a regular sex partner, identified as African, Caribbean, or Black, were more educated, believed HIV treatment prevents trans…
Strategies for Recruiting Women Living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus in Community-Based Research
Having multiple approaches, engaging a diverse team of PRAs, ensuring flexibility, and cultivating reciprocal relationships with community stakeholders were key to recruiting a diverse and representative sample of WLWH
Supporting the Sexual Rights of Women Living With HIV
In the context of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a focus on protecting others has overridden concern about women's own sexual well-being. Drawing on feminist theories, we measured sexual satisfaction and pleasure across five relationship types among women living with HIV in Canada. Of the 1,230 women surveyed, 38.1% were completely or very satisfied with their sexual lives, while 31.0% and 30.9% were reasonably or not very/not at all satisfi…
Envisioning Women-Centered HIV Care
Awareness and understanding of HIV non-disclosure case law among people living with HIV who use illicit drugs in a Canadian setting
It’s a very isolating world’
HIV health services research conventionally defines place in terms of proximity to care. However, understandings of place must also include the social spaces that women living with HIV (WLWH) occupy which shape their experience of health and access to care. Drawing on focus group data from the Canadian HIV Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Cohort Study, we explored how 28 WLWH navigate geographic place and social space in attempting to acces…
Supporting the Sexual Rights of Women Living With HIV
In the context of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a focus on protecting others has overridden concern about women's own sexual well-being. Drawing on feminist theories, we measured sexual satisfaction and pleasure across five relationship types among women living with HIV in Canada. Of the 1,230 women surveyed, 38.1% were completely or very satisfied with their sexual lives, while 31.0% and 30.9% were reasonably or not very/not at all satisfi…
Relationship and Gender Equity Measurement Among Gender-Inclusive Young Women and Non-Binary Youth in British Columbia (RE-Imagyn BC)
Gender-based power dynamics within intimate relationships such as controlling behaviours are driven by inequitable gender norms that perpetuate intimate partner violence (IPV). Yet, the ways in which we understand and measure gender-based power dynamics focus on the relationships of monogamous, cisgender, white, heterosexual women. This paper outlines our process of planning and implementing a qualitative, youth-led, community-based research (CBR…
The Problematization of Sexuality among Women Living with HIV and a New Feminist Approach for Understanding and Enhancing Women’s Sexual Lives
Love with HIV
Hear(ing) New Voices”
Peers discussed the strengths and weaknesses of participatory methodologies in survey development
Building Bridges
Building Bridges' success hinged on ongoing co-learning and engagement of Indigenous peoples, service providers and researchers
Strategies for Recruiting Women Living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus in Community-Based Research
Having multiple approaches, engaging a diverse team of PRAs, ensuring flexibility, and cultivating reciprocal relationships with community stakeholders were key to recruiting a diverse and representative sample of WLWH
Breaking the Glass Ceiling
The meaningful involvement of women living with HIV/AIDS (MIWA) is a key feature of women-centred HIV care, yet little is known about transforming MIWA from principle to practice. Drawing on focus group data from the Canadian HIV Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health Cohort Study (CHIWOS), we explored HIV-positive women's meaningful involvement in the design and delivery of HIV/AIDS services in British Columbia, Canada. In this article, we highl…
Hear(ing) New Voices”
Peers discussed the strengths and weaknesses of participatory methodologies in survey development
It’s a very isolating world’
HIV health services research conventionally defines place in terms of proximity to care. However, understandings of place must also include the social spaces that women living with HIV (WLWH) occupy which shape their experience of health and access to care. Drawing on focus group data from the Canadian HIV Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Cohort Study, we explored how 28 WLWH navigate geographic place and social space in attempting to acces…
Envisioning Women-Centered HIV Care
Awareness and understanding of HIV non-disclosure case law among people living with HIV who use illicit drugs in a Canadian setting
The Problematization of Sexuality among Women Living with HIV and a New Feminist Approach for Understanding and Enhancing Women’s Sexual Lives
The Importance of Sex in the Lives of Women Living with HIV
The authors explored the importance of sex for 1,289 women living with HIV in Canada. Approximately half of women viewed sex as “very” (19.6%) or “somewhat” important (32.3%) and the remaining reported “neither important or unimportant” (22.0%), “somewhat unimportant” (5.4%), or “not at all important” (20.1%). Women who had a regular sex partner, identified as African, Caribbean, or Black, were more educated, believed HIV treatment prevents trans…
Strategies for Recruiting Women Living with Human Immunodeficiency Virus in Community-Based Research
Having multiple approaches, engaging a diverse team of PRAs, ensuring flexibility, and cultivating reciprocal relationships with community stakeholders were key to recruiting a diverse and representative sample of WLWH
Supporting the Sexual Rights of Women Living With HIV
In the context of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a focus on protecting others has overridden concern about women's own sexual well-being. Drawing on feminist theories, we measured sexual satisfaction and pleasure across five relationship types among women living with HIV in Canada. Of the 1,230 women surveyed, 38.1% were completely or very satisfied with their sexual lives, while 31.0% and 30.9% were reasonably or not very/not at all satisfi…
Social Determinants of Health and Retention in HIV Care Among Recently Incarcerated Women Living with HIV in Canada
Awareness and Understanding of HIV Non-disclosure Case Law and the Role of Healthcare Providers in Discussions About the Criminalization of HIV Non-disclosure Among Women Living with HIV in Canada
How women living with HIV react and respond to learning about Canadian law that criminalises HIV non-disclosure
The Women, ART and the Criminalization of HIV Study is a qualitative, arts-based research study focusing on the impact of the HIV non-disclosure law on women living with HIV in Canada. The federal law requires people living with HIV to disclose their HIV-positive status to sexual partners before engaging in sexual activities that pose what the Supreme Court of Canada called a 'realistic possibility of transmission'. Drawing on findings from seven…
Love with HIV
A Journey of Doing Research “In a Good Way”
The relationship between the First Peoples of Canada and researchers is changing as processes of self-determination and reconciliation are increasingly implemented. We used storytelling and ceremony to describe a historic event, the Indigenous Women’s Data Transfer Ceremony, where quantitative data of 318 Indigenous women living with HIV were transferred to Indigenous academic and community leaders. Relationship building, working together with a …
Building Bridges
Building Bridges' success hinged on ongoing co-learning and engagement of Indigenous peoples, service providers and researchers
Sexual Anxiety Among Women Living with HIV in the Era of Antiretroviral Treatment Suppressing HIV Transmission
Radical Pleasure
The opioid crisis is driving mortality among under-served people living with HIV in British Columbia, Canada
Overdose is - the leading cause of mortality among a cohort of under-served PLWH in BC, Canada. Public health efforts to end the HIV epidemic and support the health and well-being of PLWH are being thwarted by persistent health inequities and the enormous and persistent risks facing people who use drugs. Integrated low-barrier primary care is essential for supporting under-served PLWH, and safe drug supply is needed to support PLWH who use drugs
Help-Seeking to Cope With Experiences of Violence Among Women Living With HIV in Canada
Using baseline data from a community-collaborative cohort of women living with HIV in Canada, we assessed the prevalence and correlates of help-seeking among 1,057 women who reported experiencing violence in adulthood (≥16 years). After violence, 447 (42%) sought help, while 610 (58%) did not. Frequently accessed supports included health care providers ( n = 313, 70%), family/friends ( n = 244, 55%), and non-HIV community organizations ( n = 235,…
Intention to Receive a Covid-19 Vaccine by HIV Status Among a Population-Based Sample of Women and Gender Diverse Individuals in British Columbia, Canada
The Changing Tide
The Canadian HIV Women's Sexual and Reproductive Health Cohort Study - Positive Aboriginal Women (CHIWOS-PAW) actively Indigenizes and honours re-search by, with, and for Indigenous communities. In this study, as Indigenous and non-Indigenous researchers, we weave our ways of knowing and doing together on the Ancestral, Traditional, and stolen lands of the xwmƏθkwƏýƏm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish), sƏĺilwƏtaɁɬ tƏmƏxw (Tsleil-Waututh…
Associations between psychosocial factors and antiretroviral therapy outcomes differ by gender and sexual orientation among people living with HIV in British Columbia, Canada
Little is known about how the co-occurrence of psychosocial factors affect sub-populations of people living with HIV (PLWH). We used cross-sectional data from 999 PLWH, aged ≥19, accessing antiretroviral therapy (ART) in British Columbia, Canada (2007-2010) to examine associations between psychosocial factors and ART-related outcomes separately for trans/cis inclusive women; heterosexual men; and gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men…
Exploring Primary Healthcare Experiences and Interest in Mobile Technology Engagement Amongst an Urban Population Experiencing Barriers to Care
Mobile phone-based engagement approaches provide potential platforms for improving access to primary healthcare (PHC) services for underserved populations. We held two focus groups (February 2020) with residents ( n = 25) from a low-income urban neighbourhood (downtown Vancouver, Canada), to assess recent healthcare experiences and elicit interest in mobile phone-based healthcare engagement for underserved residents. Note-based analysis, guided b…
Relationship and Gender Equity Measurement Among Gender-Inclusive Young Women and Non-Binary Youth in British Columbia (RE-Imagyn BC)
Gender-based power dynamics within intimate relationships such as controlling behaviours are driven by inequitable gender norms that perpetuate intimate partner violence (IPV). Yet, the ways in which we understand and measure gender-based power dynamics focus on the relationships of monogamous, cisgender, white, heterosexual women. This paper outlines our process of planning and implementing a qualitative, youth-led, community-based research (CBR…
Experiences of violence and hospitalization rates among people living with HIV in British Columbia, Canada
People living with HIV (PLWH) in Canada experience high rates of interpersonal violence which may lead to adverse health outcomes that require hospitalization. Using self-reported data on experiences of violence linked to administrative health data on hospitalizations, we used Poisson regression modelling to examine and compare the associations between experiences of violence (recent [in the past 6 months], non-recent [>6 months ago], or none) an…
Medicine (25 works) · HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions (21 works) · Sociology (17 works) · Psychology (16 works) · HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk (15 works) · Family medicine (13 works) · Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV (13 works) · Gerontology (12 works) · Political science (10 works) · Demography (9 works)