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School of Nursing

Dr. Ingrid Handlovsky

Dr. Ingrid Handlovsky wearing a black sweater

Assistant Professor

School of Nursing

Accepting graduate students

Contact:
Office: HSD A440
Credentials:
PhD, RN
Area(s) of expertise:
Health equity, social environments/circumstances and health practices, experiences and outcomes, gender and sexual identity, individuals, groups and populations subject to disadvantage due to structural circumstances (with a focus on discrimination) and nursing practice thereof, mental health, substance use, harm reduction, critical theory, grounded theory

Biography

I joined the School of Nursing as an Assistant Professor in 2020. I hold a Bachelor of Science from McMaster University, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Toronto, and a Master’s and PhD from the University of British Columbia. My doctoral dissertation focused on advancing equity related to gender and sexual identity and was supported by a CIHR Doctoral Award, the UBC Four Year Fellowship (4YF), and the CIHR-funded Intersections of Mental Health Perspectives in Addictions Research Training (IMPART) fellowship.

My research is grounded in a commitment to health equity, with a particular emphasis on conceptualizing structural and interpersonal discrimination as key determinants of health. Through this lens, I examine meaningful and effective approaches to enhancing the health and well-being of equity-owed populations. I am the co-founder of the AdJust Research Collective, alongside Dr. Allie Slemon, an affiliate of the Institute on Aging and Lifelong Health (IALH), and the current coordinator of the Master of Nursing – Nurse Educator (NUED) program at the University of Victoria.

 

I am a community-engaged researcher who works in close partnership with community members, community organizations, health and social service providers, and health system representatives to advance the health and well-being of equity-owed groups. My research is grounded in a commitment to health equity, with a particular focus on conceptualizing structural and interpersonal discrimination as key determinants of health. I examine how complex social environments—including historical, political, and cultural dynamics—shape health practices, perspectives, and experiences of well-being, with particular attention to 2S/LGBTQ+ individuals. Drawing on social justice and critical perspectives, my work attends to the structural conditions that produce inequities while also foregrounding and learning from the strengths and capacities of individuals, communities, and populations.

Current Projects:
I am currently co-leading several projects pertaining to exploration of a novel 2S/LGBTQIA+ Liaison Nurse recently implemented in the Island Health Authority:

  • 2025-2030 Exploring a novel 2S/LGBTQIA+ Liaison Nurse Role: A community-engaged mixed-methods study (CIHR project grant, $1, 021, 276)
  • 2025-2026 Enhancing equity in our communities: a community-engaged, mixed-methods feasibility project of a 2S/LGBTQIA+ Liaison Nurse role (Micheal Smith Health Research BC Health Equity Grant, $12, 500)
  • 2025-2026 The power of presence: exploring the lived experiences of 2S/LGBTQIA+ people with affirming and inclusive health service providers (SSHRC Explore Grant, $7,000)
  • 2025-2026 Exploring a novel 2S/LGBTQIA+ Liaison Nurse role in the healthcare system: a focused ethnography (UVic Internal Grant, $4, 080)

I am also co-leading a project investigating nursing student experiences of discrimination, including developing a disclosure pathway for nursing students at the University of Victoria

  • 2025-2026 Enhancing equity: addressing discrimination in Canadian nursing schools (SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant with CASN, $25, 000)
  • 2025-2026 Developing a discrimination disclosure pathway (University of Victoria School of Nursing Violence Prevention Funding, non-competitive)

I am also in the process of wrapping up/completed several projects specific to exploring the impact of the collective trauma of HIV/AIDS on the health perspectives and experiences of well-being of older, gay men

  • 2024-2025 The meaning and impact of community: older gay men’s perspectives and implications for well-being (SSHRC Partnership Engage Grant with the Vancouver Island Persons Living with HIV/AIDS Society (VPWAS), $23, 278)
  • 2022-2024 A qualitative exploration of the processes foundational to promoting psychological well-being (PWB) amongst older, gay men (SSHRC Insight Development Grant, $64, 818)
  • 2021-2023 Examining the sociohistorical context of HIV and older gay men’s health practices (UVic Internal Grant, $4, 975)
  • 2021-2023 Examining the influence of pre-treatment HIV experiences on older gay men’s contemporary constructions of quality of life (QOL) (UVic Internal Grant, $6, 599).

Graduate Courses

  • NUED 573: Nurse Educator Practice I
  • NUED 570: Engaging with Pedagogy: Teaching and Learning in Nursing Education
  • NURA 518: Health Policy and Practice & NUED 574 Nursing Education Practice and Curriculum Design
  • NURS 524: Evidence for Advanced Practice Nursing

Undergraduate Courses

  • NURS 341: Nursing Inquiry
  • NURS 456: Nursing within Communities and Health Systems
  • NURS 350: Health and Healing VII: Promoting Community and Societal Health
  • NURS 430: Professional Practice V: Leadership in Nursing

2023     NNPBC Excellence in Teaching Award 

2016     Irene Goldstone HIV/AIDS Social Justice Scholarship

2014      University of British Columbia 4 Year Fellowship (4YF)

2013      Inductee Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing

2012      CIHR Doctoral Award