Rebecca Wijers
Summary
A dedicated Health Promotion Specialist with expertise in situational assessments, community engagement, and designing evidence-based health initiatives. With a strong background in public health research and clinical practice, excel in mobilizing communities, fostering partnerships, and developing inclusive health promotion strategies. Skilled at bridging cultural and linguistic gaps to improve healthcare accessibility for diverse and underserved populations. My strengths lie in evaluating health systems, building organizational capacity, and advocating for equitable policies to address barriers in healthcare delivery.
Overview
5
5
years of professional experience
Work History
Health Promotion Specialist
City of Hamilton
05.2023 - 10.2023
- Developed an evidence-based community engagement plan for perinatal mental health pathway which allowed to develop accessible tools and spaces for pregnant people seeking mental health help
- Developed evaluative tools by analyzing literature reviews and gray literature to understand the lived experiences of perinatal mental health to understand the differences and barriers due to language, culture and literacy which allowed to improve PMH services
- Built an inventory of services, resources and training across Hamilton and Canada for perinatal mental health patients and health care professionals to understand the tools that are free and available to the perinatal community in Hamilton (english, spanish, french and arabic)
- Established relationships with community partners to collaborate on a workgroup for the PMH pathway which helped endorse the development of our pathway
- Developed an online survey to evaluate and co-design a pathway in Hamilton and develop health promotion actions for Perinatal people in priority populations that supported the understanding of lived experiences in the community
Research Assistant III
Chanchlani Research Centre/SCORE!
09.2023 - Current
- Co-designing with the community a Health Promotion program for Newcomer Families to to increase their healthy active living
- Working with diverse populations to understand their risk factors to develop chronic diseases, and develop community based action for prevention.
- Helped in the development of policy round tables to open discussion about prevention plans/programs with the City of Hamilton
- Leading recruitment, enrollment and baseline visits for cohort study analyzing chronic diseases in newcomer population
- Developed data collection tools and helped programming in RedCap to collect data for qualitative and quantitative studies
- Leading community engagement as well as engagement with stakeholders and liaising with companies like food banks and non-profit organizations to expand and support the team and the research program
- Assessed and analyzed data collected from communities over 12 months, identifying facilitators and barriers in activity bundles designed by focus groups to address community needs, including health inequities in priority populations.
Public Health Research Associate
McMaster University in collaboration with University of Montreal
09.2023 - 05.2024
- Led communication exchange and led meetings with scientific and academic authorities at other institutions interested in joining the project which help develop trust based relationships for future community works
- Planned and delivered information sessions to stakeholders offering suggestions and plans of action for launching the study at their institutions to help grow our research project
- Developed engagement plans to recruit and enroll “hard to reach participants” including refugees, non-english speaking people, ESL, single parents, low literacy population
- Coordinated community engagement events with Latin community activities to understand first hand their difficulties in the education and health system to develop appropriate surveys and create new interventions at a policy level
- Migrant Parents: Transnationalism and Psychosocial well-being
Rural Community Doctor
Centro de Salud Urbano (Public Health Clinic)
01.2020 - 01.2021
- Provided specialized medical care for pregnancy, ETS diseases, preventive medicine, perinatal care and chronic illnesses
- Planned, organized, and delivered health awareness talks and workshops and programs for children between the ages of 8 to15 at schools
- Collected, classified, and arranged epidemiological data on the population in the area to plan programs of health promotion according to community needs solving problems in the day-to-day basis the community (i.e no fresh water, lack of vaccination or loss of power)
Education
Master's of Public Health -
McMaster University
Hamilton, ON12.2023
Bachelor's Degree As Medical Surgeon -
Fundación Universidad De Las Américas Puebla (UDLAP)
06.2021
Skills
- Designed evidence-based community engagement plans to address perinatal mental health pathways, enhancing accessibility and inclusivity for diverse populations
- Developed and implemented evaluative tools to analyze barriers in healthcare services related to culture, language, and literacy
- Established and maintained collaborative relationships with community partners, facilitating workgroups and stakeholder engagement
- Conducted literature reviews and developed data collection tools for mixed-methods research (qualitative and quantitative)
- Programmed surveys and databases using RedCap, ensuring robust and accurate data collection
- Analyzed chronic disease trends and evaluated activity-based interventions in underserved populations
- Conducted workshops and awareness campaigns on preventive health in remote and marginalized communities
- Coordinated community engagement events and stakeholder meetings, tailoring strategies to reach "hard-to-reach" populations, including refugees and low-literacy groups
- Fluent in Spanish (Native), German (C1 Certified), and English (C1 IELTS)
- Expertise in RedCap, SPSS, RStudio, and Microsoft Office Suite for data management and analysis
- Skilled in virtual tools like Zoom and Microsoft Teams for remote collaboration and presentations
- Certifications in Good Clinical Practice (CITI Program),Phlebotomy and Venipuncture (Canadian Ultrasound Institute), Indigenous Cultural Safety Training (Ontario CORE ICS Health)
Languages
English
Native or Bilingual
Spanish
Native or Bilingual
German
Native or Bilingual
French
Elementary
Timeline
Research Assistant III
Chanchlani Research Centre/SCORE!
09.2023 - Current
Public Health Research Associate
McMaster University in collaboration with University of Montreal
09.2023 - 05.2024
Health Promotion Specialist
City of Hamilton
05.2023 - 10.2023
Rural Community Doctor
Centro de Salud Urbano (Public Health Clinic)
01.2020 - 01.2021
Master's of Public Health -
McMaster University
Bachelor's Degree As Medical Surgeon -
Fundación Universidad De Las Américas Puebla (UDLAP)
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