Mary Kestler
Biographic Data
| ID | 5223278 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Mary Kestler |
| GIVEN NAMES | Mary |
| FAMILY NAME | Kestler |
| SIGNATURE | KESTLER M |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of British Columbia |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3466-4265 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 21 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 6 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 21 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2017 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Socio-structural barriers to mental health services among women living with HIV in Metro Vancouver, Canada
Women living with HIV experience high levels of mental health conditions and gendered social and systemic inequities to healthcare services access. This study therefore examined the prevalence and socio-structural factors associated with being unmet need for mental health services among women living with HIV. Data were drawn from Sexual Health & HIV/AIDS: Longitudinal Women's Needs Assessment (SHAWNA), an open longitudinal community-based study a…
HIV disclosure without consent linked to increased violence against women living with HIV in a Canadian setting
Our study examined the association between HIV disclosure without consent and verbal and/or physical violence due to HIV status among women living with HIV (WLWH). This study draws on baseline data of a sample (N = 316) from SHAWNA, a longitudinal community-based open cohort with WLWH in Metro Vancouver, Canada (2010-2019). Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression was used to investigate factors associated with physical and/or verbal viole…
Pandemic-related challenges accessing food and primary healthcare among sex workers during the Covid-19 pandemic
Findings provide insight about the potential role community-based healthcare delivery settings (e.g., community clinics) can play in ameliorating access to basic needs such as food among those who are highly marginalized. Future pandemic response efforts should also take the most marginalized populations' needs into consideration by establishing strategies to ensure continuity of essential services providing food and other basic needs. Lastly, po…
Stigma, Discrimination and Other Social-Structural Factors Associated with Barriers to Counselling or Therapy among Women Living with HIV Who have Experienced Violence in Metro Vancouver, Canada
Precarious Housing Associated with Unsuppressed Viral load, sub-optimal Access to HIV Treatment and Unmet Health care Needs, Among Women Living with HIV in Metro Vancouver, Canada
Do Bugs Need Drugs
Do Bugs Need Drugs (DBND) is a school-based programme through the British Columbia (BC) Centre for Disease Control (1). The aim is to teach children hygiene measures, the difference between bacteria and viruses and wise antibiotic use. In partnership with the University of British Columbia (UBC), approximately 300 first year medical students visit elementary schools each year to teach deliver the programme to grades 1–3 classes across BC. Due to …
Public health community engagement with Asian populations in British Columbia during Covid-19
A greater emphasis on collaboration is key to the provision of health services and information for these demographic groups. Setting priorities according to community need, in direct collaboration with community representatives, and further integrating pre-existing bonds of trust within communities into public health communication and engagement strategies would facilitate the provision of more equitable health information and services. This mode…
Transforming Disruption Into Innovation
The COVID-19 pandemic caused substantial disruptions in medical education. The University of British Columbia (UBC) MD Undergraduate Program (MDUP) is the sixth-largest medical school in North America. MDUP students and faculty developed a joint response to these disruptions to address the curriculum and public health challenges that the pandemic posed. After clinical activities were suspended in March 2020, third- and fourth-year MDUP students f…
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,…
Integrating a Covid‐19 volunteer response into a Year‐3 md curriculum
they had felt engaged, and 92.9% strongly agreed that they would like to continue participating in virtual COVID Rounds. All students strongly agreed that they would recommend COVID Rounds
Violence and other social structural factors linked to incarceration for women living with HIV in Metro Vancouver
Despite women living with HIV (WLWH) being disproportionately criminalized and overrepresented within correctional facilities, there remains limited longitudinal research with WLWH examining factors that make WLWH vulnerable to incarceration. Data are drawn from SHAWNA (Sexual health and HIV/AIDS: Women's Longitudinal Needs Assessment), a community-based research cohort with cisgender and transgender WLWH in Metro Vancouver, Canada. Multivariable…
Sexual Anxiety Among Women Living with HIV in the Era of Antiretroviral Treatment Suppressing HIV Transmission
Recent Incarceration as a Primary Barrier to Virologic Suppression Among Women Living with HIV
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…
Realizing Women Living with HIV’s Reproductive Rights in the Era of ART
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…
Access and engagement in HIV care among a national cohort of women living with HIV in Canada
Attrition along the cascade of HIV care poses significant barriers to attaining the UNAIDS targets of 90-90-90 and achieving optimal treatment outcomes for people living with HIV. Understanding the correlates of attrition is critical and particularly for women living with HIV (WLWH) as gender disparities along the cascade have been found. We measured the proportion of the 1425 WLWH enrolled in the Canadian HIV Women's Sexual and Reproductive Heal…
Substance Use, Violence, and Antiretroviral Adherence
Envisioning Women-Centered HIV Care
Contraceptive Choice and Use of Dual Protection Among Women Living with HIV in Canada
Future research should explore how sustained ART and broader contraceptive options can support women's sexual and reproductive health care needs
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…
Love with HIV
Access and engagement in HIV care among a national cohort of women living with HIV in Canada
Attrition along the cascade of HIV care poses significant barriers to attaining the UNAIDS targets of 90-90-90 and achieving optimal treatment outcomes for people living with HIV. Understanding the correlates of attrition is critical and particularly for women living with HIV (WLWH) as gender disparities along the cascade have been found. We measured the proportion of the 1425 WLWH enrolled in the Canadian HIV Women's Sexual and Reproductive Heal…
Substance Use, Violence, and Antiretroviral Adherence
Envisioning Women-Centered HIV Care
Contraceptive Choice and Use of Dual Protection Among Women Living with HIV in Canada
Future research should explore how sustained ART and broader contraceptive options can support women's sexual and reproductive health care needs
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…
Realizing Women Living with HIV’s Reproductive Rights in the Era of ART
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…
Recent Incarceration as a Primary Barrier to Virologic Suppression Among Women Living with HIV
Love with HIV
Integrating a Covid‐19 volunteer response into a Year‐3 md curriculum
they had felt engaged, and 92.9% strongly agreed that they would like to continue participating in virtual COVID Rounds. All students strongly agreed that they would recommend COVID Rounds
Violence and other social structural factors linked to incarceration for women living with HIV in Metro Vancouver
Despite women living with HIV (WLWH) being disproportionately criminalized and overrepresented within correctional facilities, there remains limited longitudinal research with WLWH examining factors that make WLWH vulnerable to incarceration. Data are drawn from SHAWNA (Sexual health and HIV/AIDS: Women's Longitudinal Needs Assessment), a community-based research cohort with cisgender and transgender WLWH in Metro Vancouver, Canada. Multivariable…
Sexual Anxiety Among Women Living with HIV in the Era of Antiretroviral Treatment Suppressing HIV Transmission
Transforming Disruption Into Innovation
The COVID-19 pandemic caused substantial disruptions in medical education. The University of British Columbia (UBC) MD Undergraduate Program (MDUP) is the sixth-largest medical school in North America. MDUP students and faculty developed a joint response to these disruptions to address the curriculum and public health challenges that the pandemic posed. After clinical activities were suspended in March 2020, third- and fourth-year MDUP students f…
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,…
Do Bugs Need Drugs
Do Bugs Need Drugs (DBND) is a school-based programme through the British Columbia (BC) Centre for Disease Control (1). The aim is to teach children hygiene measures, the difference between bacteria and viruses and wise antibiotic use. In partnership with the University of British Columbia (UBC), approximately 300 first year medical students visit elementary schools each year to teach deliver the programme to grades 1–3 classes across BC. Due to …
Public health community engagement with Asian populations in British Columbia during Covid-19
A greater emphasis on collaboration is key to the provision of health services and information for these demographic groups. Setting priorities according to community need, in direct collaboration with community representatives, and further integrating pre-existing bonds of trust within communities into public health communication and engagement strategies would facilitate the provision of more equitable health information and services. This mode…
Precarious Housing Associated with Unsuppressed Viral load, sub-optimal Access to HIV Treatment and Unmet Health care Needs, Among Women Living with HIV in Metro Vancouver, Canada
HIV disclosure without consent linked to increased violence against women living with HIV in a Canadian setting
Our study examined the association between HIV disclosure without consent and verbal and/or physical violence due to HIV status among women living with HIV (WLWH). This study draws on baseline data of a sample (N = 316) from SHAWNA, a longitudinal community-based open cohort with WLWH in Metro Vancouver, Canada (2010-2019). Bivariate and multivariable logistic regression was used to investigate factors associated with physical and/or verbal viole…
Pandemic-related challenges accessing food and primary healthcare among sex workers during the Covid-19 pandemic
Findings provide insight about the potential role community-based healthcare delivery settings (e.g., community clinics) can play in ameliorating access to basic needs such as food among those who are highly marginalized. Future pandemic response efforts should also take the most marginalized populations' needs into consideration by establishing strategies to ensure continuity of essential services providing food and other basic needs. Lastly, po…
Stigma, Discrimination and Other Social-Structural Factors Associated with Barriers to Counselling or Therapy among Women Living with HIV Who have Experienced Violence in Metro Vancouver, Canada
Socio-structural barriers to mental health services among women living with HIV in Metro Vancouver, Canada
Women living with HIV experience high levels of mental health conditions and gendered social and systemic inequities to healthcare services access. This study therefore examined the prevalence and socio-structural factors associated with being unmet need for mental health services among women living with HIV. Data were drawn from Sexual Health & HIV/AIDS: Longitudinal Women's Needs Assessment (SHAWNA), an open longitudinal community-based study a…
Medicine (21 works) · HIV/AIDS Research and Interventions (16 works) · Psychology (13 works) · Family medicine (12 works) · HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk (11 works) · Psychiatry (10 works) · Public health (10 works) · Environmental health (9 works) · Gerontology (9 works) · Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV (9 works)