André Smith

Ph.D. (McGill, 2000)
Assistant Professor

Dr. André Smith is an Assistant Professor with research interests in the areas of aging, mental health, ethnicity, and qualitative methods. His research program reflects a desire to understand health and illness in relation to their social, institutional and policy contexts. He has worked on research investigating the cultural idioms of psychiatric distress and the utilization of mental health services by immigrant and refugee populations. He has also studied the diagnostic experiences of people suffering from dementia and their families and, in collaboration with Dr. Kobayashi, examined how cultural values and immigration history mediate intergenerational understandings of dementia in Japanese Canadian families.

Dr. Smith is currently investigating the social determinants of blood donation in Canada with colleagues in the Department of Sociology at UBC. As a member of the ELDERS research team (also at UBC), he is involved in research on the social determinants of oral health in elderly populations of Chinese and Punjabi origins. Another interest concerns the way institutional policies, regulatory environments, and organizational cultures influence care practices for persons with dementia. Finally, Dr. Smith is affiliated with the Centre on Aging, where he is involved in research on caregiver experience in the context of dementia treatment.

Dr. Smith is the Honours advisor and teaches courses in qualitative research methods, health and illness and mental health. He supervises several graduate students in the areas of health, mental health, and aging.

Areas of interest

Health and illness
Dementia care
Health policy
Mental illness
Qualitative methodologies
Aging
Social inequality

Publications

Refereed Journal Articles

Fisher-Cloutier, D. Kobayashi, K., Smith, A. (2011). “The subjective dimension of social isolation: A qualitative investigation of older adults’ experiences in small social support networks.” Journal of Aging Studies. DOI information: 10.1016/j.jaging.2011.03.002

Smith, A., Kobayashi, K., Chappell, N., & Hoxsey, D. (2011). “The controversial promises of cholinesterase inhibitors for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias: A qualitative study of caregivers’ experiences.” Journal of Aging Studies. DOI information: 10.1016/j.jaging.2011.03.002.

Smith, A., & Anaïs, S. (forthcoming). “Diagnostic categorization and regulation of water intoxication in a psychiatric asylum.” The Journal of Deviant Behavior.

Hier, S. P., Lett, D., Walby, K. & Smith, A. (2011). "Beyond Folk Devil Resistance: Linking Moral Panic and Moral Regulation." Criminology and Criminal Justice, 11, 3.

Smith, A., Matthews, R. & Fiddler, J. (2011). “Blood donation and community: Exploring the influence of social capital.” International Journal of Social Inquiry, 4(1)

O’Connor, D., Phinney, A., Smith, A.P., Small, J., Purves, B., Perry J.A, Drance, E., Donnelly, M., Chaudhury, H., & Beattie, B.L. (2007). “Personhood in Dementia Care: Developing a research agenda for broadening the vision.” Dementia: The International Journal of Social Research and Practice, 6(1), 121-142.

Smith, A.P. & Kobayashi, K.M. (2002) "Making sense of dementia in an intergenerational context: The case of a Japanese Canadian nisei (second generation) – headed family." Dementia: The International Journal of Social Research and Practice, 2, 213-225.

Smith, A.P & Beattie B.L. (2001) "Disclosing a diagnosis of Alzheimer disease: Patients and families’ experiences." Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences, 28: Suppl. 1- S67-S71.

Smith, A.P. (1996). "Cross-cultural inquiry into Alzheimer's disease: Review and prospects for ethnographic research." Transcultural Psychiatric Research Review, 33, 247-276.

Smith G.N., Honer W.G., Kopala L., MacEwan G.W., Altman S., & Smith A.P. (1995). "Obstetric complications and severity of illness in schizophrenia." Schizophrenia Research. 14(2), 113-20.

Honer W.G., Smith G.N., MacEwan G.W., Kopala L., Altman S., Yorkston N., Ehmann T.S., Smith A.P., & Lang M. (1994) "Diagnostic reassessment and treatment response in schizophrenia." Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. 55(12), 528-32.

Millson, R., Smith A.P., Koczapski, A., Cook, M., Kragelj, T.L., & Glackman, W.B. (1993). "Self-induced water intoxication treated with psychotherapy." American Journal of Psychiatry, 150, 825-826.

Book Chapters

Lett, D., Hier, S., Walby, K. & Smith, A. (2011). Panic, Regulation, and the Moralization of British Law and Order Politics. In S. Hier (Ed.). Moral Panic and the Politics of Anxiety. London: Routledge.

Smith, A.P. (2009). “Decision-Making as Social Practice: Exploring the relevance of Bourdieu’s Concepts of Habitus and Symbolic Capital.” In O’Connor, D. and B. Purves (eds.). Decision-making, Personhood and Dementia (pp.37-46). Jessica Kingsley Press.

Smith, A.P. & Fiddler, J. (2008). “Making the gift of life safer: The Canadian tainted blood scandal and its regulatory consequences.” In Bolaria, Singh B. & Dickinson (eds.). Health, Illness, and Health Care in Canada. Fourth Edition (pp. 491-505). Scarborough, Ont.: Nelson Thomson Learning.

Smith, A.P. (2006) "The negotiation of moral status in a dementia clinic: The experiences of patients diagnosed with no dementia." In Annette Leibing and Lawrence Cohen (Eds.). Thinking about Dementia: Culture, Loss, and the Anthropology of Senility (pp. 64-79). Rutgers, NJ: Rutgers University Press.

Smith, A.P. (2002). "Contextualizing help-seeking behavior in patients diagnosed with no dementia: Implications for clinical evaluation and disclosure." In Annette Leibing and Lilian Scheinkman (eds.) The Diversity of Alzheimer's Disease: Different Approaches and Contexts (pp. 129-148). Rio de Janeiro: Cadernos IPUB.

Kirmayer, L., Trang Dao, Thi Hong, & Smith, A.P(1998). "Somatization and psychologization: Understanding cultural idioms of distress". In S. Okpaku (ed.) Clinical Methods in Transcultural Psychiatry (pp. 233-265), Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.

Other Publications

McGowan, B.J. & Smith, A.P. (2010). She’s fast for her age! Older women and running culture.” The Arbutus Review. 1, 1-14.

Whitney, A. & Smith, A.P. (2010). “Exploring death and dying through discourse.” The Arbutus Review. 1,60-80.

Smith, A.P. (2008). “Dementia.” Encyclopedia of Social Problems. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Smith, A.P. (2009). Review of Gubrium, J.F., Holstein, J.A. (2009). Analyzing Narrative Reality. Canadian Journal of Sociology, 34(4), 1148-49.

Kirmayer, L., Gill, K., Fletcher, C., Ternar, Y., Boothroy, C., Consuelo, Q., Smith, A.P., Ferrara, N., & Hayton, B. (1994). Emerging trends in research on mental health among Aboriginal Peoples. A report prepared for the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples. Immigrant and Refugee Mental Health Work Group, Institute of Community and Family Psychiatry, Jewish Hospital, Montreal, QC.