Michelle Driedger, BA, MA, PhD

Research themes

• New and emerging health risks
• Health risk communication
• Public health and primary care
• Indigenous health

Keywords

• Qualitative methods
• Vaccine hesitancy
• Risk communication
• Risk perception
• Métis health
• Public health
• Science policy
• Knowledge translation

Research affiliations

• Ongomiizwin Institute of Health and Healing - Research

Research groups

• Monarch Collaboration - An international collaboration looking at immunization and migrant and refugee health
• Social Sciences and Humanities Network, Canadian Immunization Research Network

Research summary

Dr. Driedger’s research program focuses on public health and primary care health risk communication, risk perception, and knowledge translation under conditions of uncertainty.

Drawing primarily on qualitative methods, her research focus involves the study of how new and emerging risk and public health controversies develop in science, policy and public forums. She is particularly interested in how public health risk communicators can meaningfully engage public audiences to enable informed decisions about risk recommendations including protective behaviours that can be adopted for themselves and their family.

Her research examines these issues in areas of vaccine and other health communication with an emphasis of the important role between health providers and the people they serve in clinical encounters. 

Her research and teaching interests intersect throughout: decolonizing methodologies in community based research with Manitoba Métis, engaging different affected audiences through participatory methods, and partnership development with relevant knowledge users to ensure research results are meaningful. Her research uses a variety of data sources: interviews, focus groups, documents (e.g., policy, reports), traditional news media and, more recently, social media.

Dr. Driedger has several projects looking at vaccine decision-making processes, both in terms of routine immunizations and COVID-19 with a keen interest in examining the interplay of factors that lead to acceptance, or not, of a vaccine. Embedded within this work are the information needs and preferences of different groups. 

Dr. Driedger also works in close partnership with the Manitoba Metis Federation (MMF) Health and Wellness Department. Some of her projects include engaging Métis youth in health promotion messaging through culture camps as an intervention. Youth are brought together with elders and Métis community members for exposure with traditional on the land skills while also exploring health concerns of importance to them in their community. The aim is to develop interventions for testing within specific communities with youth as co-leads. She is also working in partnership on MMF led grants regarding opioids, cannabis and tobacco.

Last, Dr. Driedger is exploring tensions in doctor-patient conversations regarding unnecessary tests or procedures with both general population Manitobans and Métis Citizens.  

A copy of her survey consent form is available here (PDF). This document will be made available in an alternate format on request.