Population Health; Rural Health; Spatial Data Analysis; Health Geography & Geographic Information Systems<\/p>\n
Despite decades of universal healthcare in Canada and elsewhere, there still remains pronounced inequalities in the social determinants of health and in health outcomes. These inequalities are manifest between social groups across a range of factors, such as income, education, or ethnicity. At the same time, these inequalities are spatially evident, with differences between provinces, regions, villages, and neighbourhoods. Perhaps counterintuitively, the patterns and processes of these inequalities can be measured using large data sources, sometimes termed “big data.” The focus of my research is on these persistent social and structural inequalities of health in small places and small spaces.<\/p>\n
The substantive areas of my research are varied, but they are connected methodologically by the use of linked administrative and survey data, whether analysing problems manifest in small areas, or in small places. I prefer research projects that are collaborative in nature and engage with diverse international colleagues across disciplines and domains. My active research projects include development of the Canadian Accessibility and Remoteness Index (CARI+), Postal Code geocoding, small-area rate variation for high health system users in rural areas and, data methods for modelling environmental health. Each of these projects is grounded in a commitment to conduct research informed by the communities and the subjects under study.<\/p>\n
Visit the Spatial Determinants Lab<\/a>\u00a0to learn more!<\/p>\n McGaughey T, Kephart G, Dang U, & PA Peters. (2025) \u201cCreating an Inclusive Definition for High Resource Inpatient Hospital Users Between and Within Rurality.\u201d International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health<\/em> 22(3), 381. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/ijerph22030381<\/a><\/p>\n Golestani R, Farahani K, & PA Peters. (2025) \u201cExploring Barriers to Accessing Health Care Services by Young Women in Rural Settings: A Qualitative Study in Australia, Canada, and Sweden.\u201d BMC Public Health<\/em>. 25:213. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1186\/s12889-025-21387-2<\/a>.<\/p>\n McGaughey, T. & Peters, P. A. (2024) \u201cWhere should we go – Estimating travel times for modelling accessibility to 24-hour emergency departments in Canada.\u201d Scientific Data<\/em> 11, 853. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1038\/s41597-024-03691-5<\/a>.<\/p>\n Dissanayake A, Dupuis A, Burton CL, Soreni N, Peters PA, Gajaria A, Arnold P, Crosbie J, & R Schachar. (2024) \u201cRacial\/Ethnic Disparities in Youth Mental Health Traits and Diagnoses within a Community-based Sample.\u201d Canadian Journal of Psychiatry<\/em>. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1177\/07067437241233936<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sheppard-Perkins M, McGaughey T, Peters PA & F Darroch. (2024) \u201cExploring the Use of Geographic Methods to Understand Sexual- and Gender-based Violence: A Scoping Review.\u201d Gender, Place & Culture<\/em>. 1-29. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/0966369X.2024.2307583<\/a>.<\/p>\n Petrie S & PA Peters. (2023) \u201cHealth Service Implementation and Antifragile Characteristics in Rural Communities: A Dirt Research Approach.\u201d International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health<\/em>. 20(14): 6418. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/ijerph20146418<\/a>.<\/p>\n LeBlanc M, McGaughey T, & PA Peters. (2023) \u201cCharacteristics of High-Resource Health System Users in Rural and Remote Regions: A Scoping Review.\u201d International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health<\/em>. 20(7): 5385. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/ijerph20075385<\/a>.<\/p>\n Petrie S, Carson D, Peters PA, Hurtig A-K, LeBlanc M, Simpson H, Barnabe J, Young M, Ostafichuk M, Hodge H, Glademan J, Smale M, & M Gonzalez Garcia. (2021) \u201cWhat a Pandemic Has Taught Us About the Potential for Innovation in Rural Health: Commencing an Ethnography in Canada, the United States, Sweden, and Australia.\u201d Frontiers in Public Health<\/em>. 9: 768624 https:\/\/10.3389\/fpubh.2021.768624<\/a>.<\/p>\n Petrie S & PA Peters. (2020) \u201cUntangling complexity as a health determinant: Wicked problems in healthcare.\u201d Health Science Inquiry<\/em>. 11(1):131-135. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.29173\/hsi299<\/a><\/p>\n LeBlanc M, Petrie S, Paskaran S, Carson DB, & PA Peters. (2020) \u201cPatient and Provider Perspectives of Rural eHealth Interventions.\u201d Rural and Remote Health<\/em>. 20(3): 5754. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.22605\/rrh5754<\/a><\/p>\n Peters PA, MT Hidalgo, & E Skop. (2020) \u201cBuilding a Just City: A Retrospective of Social Segregation in Metropolitan Lima.\u201d Journal of Latin American Geography<\/em>. 19(4): 269-279. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1353\/lag.2020.0088<\/a><\/p>\n Asher K & PA Peters. (2020) \u201cMeat reduction, vegetarianism, or chicken avoidance: U.S. omnivores\u2019 impressions of three meat-restricted diets.\u201d British Food Journal<\/em>. 123(1): 387-402. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1108\/BFJ-04-2020-0307<\/a><\/p>\n Asher K & PA Peters. (2020) \u201cGo the Whole Nine Yards? How Extent of Meat Restriction Impacts Individual Dietary Experience.\u201d Ecology of Food and Nutrition<\/em>. 59(4): 436-458. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1080\/03670244.2020.1737043<\/a><\/p>\n Johnson M, Brook J, Brook R, Oiamo T, Luginaah I, Peters PA, & JD Spence. (2020) \u201cTraffic-Related Air Pollution and Carotid Plaque Burden in a Canadian City with Low-Level Ambient Pollution.\u201d Journal of the American Heart Association<\/em>. 9(e013400). https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1161\/JAHA.119.013400<\/a><\/p>\n Harris MA, MacLeod J, Kim J, Pahwa M, Tjepkema M, Peters PA, & PA Demers. (2020) \u201cUse of a Canadian Population-Based Surveillance Cohort to Test Relationships Between Shift Work and Breast, Ovarian, and Prostate Cancer.\u201d Annals of Work Exposures and Health<\/em>. 64(4): 387-401. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1093\/annweh\/wxaa017<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\nSelect Recent Publications:<\/h4>\n