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Dr. O’Leary received his Ph.D. from the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto and his MSW from the School of Social Work at York University. His research and teaching interests are deeply informed by over 20 years of front-line social work practice, including roles as a prisoners’ rights advocate, community mental health worker, and hospital-based social worker. Dr. O’Leary’s research focuses on harm reduction and substance use, equitable healthcare practices and services, and the construction of identity.
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2025 –2027 |
Provincial HIV Mental Health Integration Across Hospital and Community. Funder: Ontario HIV Treatment Network. Co-Investigator. |
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2023 –2025 |
Intersectionality of aging, poverty, mental health, and substance use: Identifying equity informed research priorities relevant to people who are aging on the fringes. Funder: Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Principal Investigator. |
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2022-2025 |
Striving to include and retain gay, bisexual, and men who have sex with men with crystal meth use lived experience in social health programming and services; Funder: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Principal Investigator. |
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2022 –2025 |
Assessing for suicide and self-harm: Developing a question guide. Funder: Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention (CASP). Co-Investigator. |
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2021 –2025 |
Developing an innovative approach to treating methamphetamine use disorder among gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men; Funder: Ontario HIV Treatment Network. Co-Investigator. |
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2020 –2021 |
Engaging people living with HIV/AIDS who use drugs and other stakeholders in community-based knowledge generation to guide harm reduction service design and delivery; Funder: Ontario HIV Treatment Network. Co-Investigator. |
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2016 –2021 |
Day Health Programs for complex care delivery: Using implementation science and participatory methods to evaluate success and ethical care delivery for people living with HIV; Funder: Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Co-Investigator. |
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2016 –2018 |
At the intersection of clinical ethics and harm reduction: Clinician perspectives on reducing discharges against medical advice for substance using patients; Funder: Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Co-Investigator. |
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O’Leary, W., Brennan, D.J., & Ashcroft, R., Chan Carusone, S., Guta, A., & Strike, C. (2024). Analysis of hospital-based healthcare provision for people living with HIV who use drugs in Ontario, Canada: “Beyond my Scope!” Cogent Social Sciences, 10(1), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2023.2294562 |
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Rudzinski, K., O’Leary, W., Perri, M., Guimond, T., Guta, A., Chan Carusone, S., & Strike, C. (2023). Community reinforcement approach (CRA) supported with structured recreation therapy: Experiences of people living with HIV in a pilot substance use treatment program at a specialty hospital. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.josat.2023.208974 |
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O'Leary, W., Brennan, D.J., & Ashcroft, R., Chan Carusone, S., Guta, A., & Strike, C. (2022). A structuration theory guided analysis of the hospitalization experience for people living with HIV who use drugs: My rules and their rules. International Journal of Drug Policy. doi: 10.1016/j.drugpo.2022.103743 |
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Rudzinski K., Ceranto A., Strike C., Azmila A., Baltzer Turje R., Cardow A., Guta A., O’Leary W., Hyshka E., Ibáñez-Carrasco F., Kucharski E., McDougall P., McKnight I., Medina, C., Morley L., Murcia Monroy D., Sipione J., Valentine D., Vose, K., and Chan Carusone S. (2022). Twelve characteristics of client-centred supervised consumption services (SCS): A toolkit for service design, delivery, and evaluation. Toronto. Report available at: Twelve-characteristics-of-client-centred-SCS-toolkit.pdf (catie.ca) |
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Rudzinski, R., Chan Carusone, S., Ceranto, A., Ibáñez-Carrasco, F., Valentine, D., Guta, A., Hyshka, E., O’Leary, W., Cardow, A., & Strike, C. (2022). Philanthropic donor perspectives about providing harm reduction services for people living with HIV/AIDS in a hospital setting. Harm Reduction Journal,19(124). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12954-022-00711-8 |
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Rudzinski, K., Xavier, J., Guta, A., Chan Carusone, S., King, K, Switzer, S., O’Leary, W., Baltzer Turje, R., Harrison, S., de Prinse, K., Simons, J., & Strike, C. (2021). Feasibility, acceptability, concerns, and challenges of implementing supervised injection services at a specialty HIV hospital in Toronto, Canada: perspectives of people living with HIV. BMC Public Health 21(1482). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-11507-z |
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Strike, C., Robinson, S., Guta, A., Tana, D., O'Leary, W., Cooper, C., Upshur, R., Chan Carusone, S. (2020). Illicit drug use while admitted to hospital: patient and health care provider perspectives. PlosOne 15 (3):e0229713. |
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Chan Carusone, S., Guta, A., Robinson, S., Tan, D. H., Cooper, C., O’Leary, W., & Strike, C. (2019). “Maybe if I stop the drugs, then maybe they’d care?” - Hospital care experiences of people who use drugs. Harm Reduction Journal, 16(1), 16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12954-019-0285-7 |
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Miscovic, M., Chan Carusone, S., Guta, A., O’Leary, W., dePrinse, K., & Strike, C. (2018). Distribution of harm reduction kits in a specialty HIV hospital in Canada. American Journal of Public health, 108(10), 1360-1365. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2018.304600 |
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O’Leary, W., Strike, C., Sagar Rohailla, R., Barnes, M., McDougall, P., Baltzer Turje, R., & Chan Carusone, S. (2018). Perspectives of healthcare workers about the delivery and evaluation of harm reduction services for people living with HIV who use substances. Cogent Medicine, 5(1), doi.org/10.1080/2331205X.2018.1461005 |