Samantha Meyer

Research interests

My research interests include access to and uptake of preventative services in Canada; access to and social determinants of bariatric surgery; equity in access to healthcare services; food regulation and policy; and trust in food. My current major research focus is the role of trust in Canadians’ use of immunization and cancer screening programs. As a member of the Canadian Immunization Research Network and Applied Research in Cancer Control, my work also more broadly investigates barriers to vaccine uptake and participation in cancer screening programs

Graduate supervision and student opportunities

I am currently accepting applications from graduate students with research interests related to:

• Experiences of and access to bariatric surgery in Canada.
• Barriers to preventative service uptake (primarily vaccination and cancer screening but open to other clinical areas).

Graduate studies application details 

Teaching interests

• Research design
• Qualitative methods
• Health communication
• Population and Public Health
• Medical and society

Education

BA Honours Anthropology, McMaster University

PhD Public Health, Flinders University, Australia

Selected publications

See Google Scholar for full list of publications.

Meyer, S.B., Lu, S.K., Hoffman-Goetz, L., Smale, B., MacDougall, H., Pearce, A.R. A content analysis of newspaper coverage of the seasonal flu vaccine in Ontario Canada, October 2001 to March 2011. Journal of Health Communication, Accepted 18/07/2016.

Dubé , E., Gagnon, D., Ouakki, M., Bettinger, J.A., Guay, M., Halperin, S., Wilson, K., Graham, J., Witteman, H.O., MacDonald, S., Fisher, W., Monnais, L., Tran, D., Gagneur, A., Guichon, J., Saini, V., Heffernan, J.M., Meyer, S.B., Driedger, M., Greenberg, J., MacDougall, H. Understanding vaccine hesitancy in Canada: a consultation with key stakeholders. PLoS ONE, 2016 DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0156118.

Ward, P.R., Rokkas, P., Cenko, C., Pulvirenti, M., Dean, N., Carney, S., Brown, P., Calnan, M., and Meyer, S. A qualitative study of patient (dis)trust in public and private hospitals: the importance of choice and pragmatic acceptance for trust considerations in South Australia. BMC Health Services Research, 2015, 15, 297.

Brown, P. and Meyer, S.B. Dependency, trust and choice? Examining agency and ‘forced options’ within secondary-healthcare contexts. Current Sociology. 2015, 63, 5, 729-745

Ward, P.R., Coffey, C., and Meyer, S.B. Trust, choice and obligation: a qualitative study of enablers to colorectal cancer screening in South Australia. Sociology of Health and Illness, 2015, 37, 7, 988–1006.

Meyer, S. B., Booth, S., Gray, J., Hakendorf, P., McNaughton, D., Mwanri, D., Thompson, C., and Ward, P.R. A quantitative analysis of bariatric procedure trends 2001-2013 in South Australia: implications for equity in access and public healthcare expenditure. Australian Health Review, 2015, 39, 63–69.

Meyer, S.B. Investigations of Trust in Public and Private Healthcare in Australia: A Qualitative Study of Patients with Heart Disease. Journal of Sociology, 2015, 51, 2, 221-235.

Ward, P.R., Coffey, C., Wilson, C., Javanparast, S., Meyer, S.B. Institutional (mis)trust in colorectal cancer screening: a qualitative study with Greek, Iranian, Anglo-Australian and Indigenous groups. Health Expectations, 2014, 18, 2915–2927.

Meyer, S.B., Ward, P.R., and Coveney, J. A qualitative study of CVD management and dietary changes: problems of 'too much' and 'contradictory' information. BMC Family Practice, 2014, 15, 25.

Meyer, S.B. and Ward, P.R. ‘How to’ use social theory within and throughout qualitative research in healthcare contexts. Sociology Compass, 2014, 8, 5, 525-539.

Meyer, S.B. and Ward P.R. Differentiating between Trust and Dependence of Patients with Coronary Heart Disease: Furthering the Sociology of Trust. Health Risk & Society, 2013, 15, 3, 271-293.

Meyer, S.B., Ward, P.R. and Jiwa, M. Does prognosis and socioeconomic status impact on trust in physicians? Interviews with patients with coronary disease in South Australia. BMJ Open, 2012, 2, 5.

Selected professional activities and networks

• Applied Research in Cancer Control
• Canadian Immunization Research Network