Exploring mental health issues of rural senior women residing in southwestern Ontario, Canada: A secondary analysis photovoice study

Phaedra Panazzola

qualifications: MS

contribution: original concept, original concept

position: Postgraduate student

Canada

Beverly Leipert

qualifications: PhD

contribution: contributed to drafts, contributed to drafts

position: Associate professor

Canada

I am the Chair in Rural Women's Health Research at the University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. This Chair position was created in 2003 and is supported with 2 million dollars to facilitate the advancement of research and knowledge about rural women's health. It is the first and only research position in Canada to focus on rural women. I am also an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences and Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry at the University of Western Ontario. My research interests are in the areas of the health of rural women; rural issues; practices of health care practitioners in rural areas; and policies to strengthen the health of rural people, especially rural women. My expertise is in the areas of feminist and qualitative research methodologies, research in rural and remote settings, and rural women's health. On a personal note, I grew up on a grain and cattle farm in rural Saskatchewan, and practiced as a public health nurse for 10 years in rural and remote settings in rural Saskatchewan. I have done extensive research on women's health and community health nursing in remote northern settings in Canada. I have published several articles and books and presented research at national and international conferences on the topics of health, social, and economic issues in remote northern settings, women's health in isolated settings, northern community health nursing practice, history of public health nursing in Canada, and women's health in the remote setting of outer space.