Biography
San teaches SOCI 3701 (Social Policy Analysis) and SOCI 3721 (Non-Profit Organizations). She also teaches in the Interdisciplinary Health Studies program. She specializes in community-based research, program evaluation, organizational development and health policy, with HIV prevention, sexual health and harm reduction as her areas of focus.
San has a passion for social justice and equity and plays an active role professionally and personally in many forms of volunteerism, advocacy, and activism. San is a board member of the Nova Scotia Health Equity Fund and was a founding member HaliFIX, Atlantic Canada's first overdose prevention site.
Publications
Abidi, C., Patten, S., Houle, S., Reeves, K., Belanger, S., Nazarov, A., & Wells, S. (2025). ‘Trying to Fix What is Broken’: Experiences of Encountering Children in Armed Conflict During Military Service. International Peacekeeping, 1–29. https://doi.org/10.1080/13533312.2025.2521345
Baillie Abidi C, Patten S, Houle S, Hoffer K, Reeves K, Bélanger S, Nazarov A, Wells S Canadian Armed Forces Veterans’ Perspectives on the Effects of Exposure to Children in Armed Conflict During Military Service: Protocol for a Qualitative Study, JMIR Res Protoc 2024;13. DOI: 10.2196/57146
Houle, S.A., Baillie Abidi, C., Birch, M., Reeves, K., Younger, W., Conradi, C., Patten, S., Bélanger, S., Richardson, J.D., Nazarov, A., Wells, S. (2024). The nature and impacts of deployment-related encounters with children among Canadian military Veterans: A qualitative analysis. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 15(1), 2353534. doi: DOI: 10.2196/57146
Kiepek, N., Beagan, B., & Patten, S. (2022). Reflecting on conceptualisations of ‘meaning’ in occupational therapy, Cad. Bras. Ter. Ocup.; 30. https://doi.org/10.1590/2526-8910.ctoARF24193156
dela Cruz, A., Maposa, S., Patten, S., Abdulmalik, I., et al. (2022). “I die silently inside”. Qualitative findings from a study of people living with HIV who migrate to and settle in Canada, Journal of Migration and Health; 5. doi: 10.1016/j.jmh.2022.100088
Kiepek, N., Ausman, C., Beagan, B., & Patten, S. (2022). Uncovering complexities of meaning in substance use and daily occupation. Brazilian Journal of Occupational Therapy / Cadernos Brasileiros de Terapia Ocupacional. https://doi.org/10.1590/2526-8910.ctoAO23023037
Touesnard, N., Patten, S., McCrindle, J., Nurse, M., Vanderschaeghe, S., Noel, W., Edward, J., & Blanchet- Gagnon, M.-A. (2021). Hear Us, See Us, Respect Us: Respecting the Expertise of People who Use Drugs (3.0). Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5514066
Kiepek N., Beagan B., Ausman C., Patten S., Harris J. (2021) “A reward for surviving the day”: Women professionals’ substance use to enhance performance. Performance Enhancement & Health; 10(2). DOI:10.1590/2526-8910.ctoao23023037
Holmes D, Numer M, Hammond C, Joy P, Sinno J, Patten S & Leblanc MA (2021): Wired Sex Assemblages Among Men Who Have Sex with Men: Sexualized Drug Use, Hookup Apps, and HIV Service Provision, Journal of Homosexuality. DOI: 10.1080/00918369.2021.1999122dela Cruz A.,
Patten S., Abdulmalik I., Harrowing J., Hall M., Afzal A.R., Demeke Abate T., Amulaku P., Carter A., Spies P., Mapfumo S., Caine, V. (2020). Mandatory HIV screening, migration and HIV stigma in Canada: exploring the experiences of sub-Saharan African immigrants living with HIV in western Canada. Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention in Canada 40(2):38-46. DOI: 10.24095/hpcdp.40.2.02
Patten S., Doria N., Joy P., Sinno J., Spencer R., Leblanc M-A., Holmes D., Numer M. (2020). Sexualized drug use in virtual space: A scoping review of how gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men interact online. The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality; 29(1), 106-126. https://doi.org/10.3138/cjhs.2019-0052
Education
- MSc. Community Health Sciences, University of Calgary
- BSc. Zoology, University of Calgary
Teaching
Part-Time Instructor – instructor for SUST 1001: Environment, Sustainability and Society; SUST 2000: Local Governance, Citizen Engagement and Sustainability; SUST 3953: Communicating Sustainability – Media and Messaging; SUST 3104: Sustainability and the Non-Profit Sector; SUST 4103: Climate Change and Human Health. College of Sustainability, Dalhousie University, September 2016 - present.
Part-Time Lecturer – Sociology, specializing in Social Policy and Sociology of the Non-Profit Sector. August 2009 – present. Instructor in Interdisciplinary Health Studies, Foundations in Health Inquiry, January 2022 to present. Mount Allison University.
Sessional Instructor – instructor of SPH 517: Strategies in Health Promotion Practice for the School of Public Health, University of Alberta, January 2015 – April 2019.
Sessional Instructor – instructor of OCCU 6002: Social Influences of Occupation for the School of Occupational Therapy, Dalhousie University, August 2013 and August 2017.
Research
- Community-based research
- Participatory action research
- Program evaluation
- Foresight Scenario planning
- Strategic planning
- Areas of interest: HIV prevention, sexual health, harm reduction, mental health, moral injury
Grants, awards & honours
Honours:
CANAC Honourary Award, 2022. “On occasion, CANAC honours an individual outside the field of medicine whose work has, over the years, provided great benefit to the discipline of nursing.” Canadian Association of Nurses in AIDS Care
Grants:
Dalhousie University, Centre for Learning and Teaching: Change One Thing Challenge Grant: ”The Un-Promptable Exam: Reclaiming Growth and Academic Integrity Through 15-Minute Conversations”, 2026.
Dalhousie University, Centre for Learning and Teaching: Change One Thing Challenge Grant: “Service Learning on Non-Profit Leadership in Sustainability”, 2021.
Mount Allison University Part-Time Faculty Research Stipend, 2009, 2018, 2021, 2023.
Canadian Institutes of Health Research: HIV/AIDS Community-Based Research Operating Grant – New Technologies and Chemical Culture: Examining Deployment and Effects Among MSM, April 1, 2018 – March 31, 2021.
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Insight Development Grant – Co-Applicant, Ecological momentary assessment of substance use and professional socialization, February 2017.
Canadian Institutes of Health Research – Co-Investigator of Community-Based Research Operational Grant, Resonance Project: Emerging Biomedical Discourses and Decisions within Gay Men’s Knowledge Networks, April 2013 to March 2016.
The CIHR Social Research Centre in HIV Prevention – Research Project Grant – Co-Applicant, Positive Sex Project, April 2013 to March 2014.
The CIHR Social Research Centre in HIV Prevention - Research Project Grant – Principal Applicant, Rhetoric or Reality Project, February 2011 to January 2012.
Canadian Institutes of Health Research – Co-Investigator in CIHR Centre in HIV Prevention Social Research, held by University of Toronto. June 2009 – May 2013.
Professional Education Research Centre Fellowship, sponsored by the Calgary Health Region, Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research, and the University of Calgary, December 2003 – November 2006.
Community Health Research Travel Grant for International AIDS Conference (Bangkok, Thailand), Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research, July 2004.
Community Health Research Travel Grant for International AIDS Conference (Barcelona, Spain), Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research, July 2002.
Health Canada Masters Fellowship, National Health Research and Development Program, September 1997 - February 1999.