The Faculty of Arts is fortunate to host Dr. Robin McCrary, Fulbright Canada Research Chair in Anti-racism and BIPOC Communities. Based at Syracuse University where he is an associate teaching professor in the Writing and Rhetoric Major and the Health Humanities Integrated Learning Major, McCrary’s research while at Waterloo is focused on improving patient trust in healthcare.
“My main goal is to discern how we might use health humanities in undergraduate health professions education to address trust gaps in care,” he says.
McCrary points to post-pandemic research showing an increased likelihood of patients feeling distrust in healthcare, especially those from marginalized communities. As a Fulbright Canada Research Chair, McCrary is working with both academics and local community members to advance understanding of what trust means in family and community health, in clinical practice, and in public health.
“I hope to envision reconciliation and repair in health(care) relationships," says McCrary, "while also practicing models of shared health advocacy, agency, and even activism toward improving outcomes for marginalized patient communities most commonly experiencing the trust gap.”
The draws to Waterloo for pursuing the Fulbright Chair, he says, are the interdisciplinary Health Humanities Diploma, based at St Jerome’s University, and scholars across campus, including, from the Department of Communication Arts, Drs. Smita Misra, Shana MacDonald, and Emma Brandt (AMTD postdoctoral fellow), from the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies, Drs. Lisbeth Berbary and Kimberly Lopez, and from St Jerome’s, Drs. Andrew Deman and Sylvia Terzian – “all of whom have helped me think more deeply about patient trust.”
McCrary is also teaching Cross-Cultural Care Traditions (HHUM 312/COMMST 491), which is part of the Health Humanities program and is open to any Waterloo student and non-degree students such as healthcare professionals. “Because UWaterloo benefits from a diverse learner population, in class we’ve had many rich opportunities to discuss how care looks where so many people and their families have come from.”
Completing his Fulbright Canada Research Chair in early May, McCrary says “I’d like to add how grateful I feel to the folks at Fulbright Canada, the University of Waterloo, and St. Jerome’s University, all of whom have helped me so far.”