Michelle Solomon
PhD

Research and expertise

• Background and interests

  Dr. Solomon is a registered nurse with clinical specialization in psychiatric and mental health nursing. Her research, which focuses on youth experiencing mental health challenges and health inequities, is designed to better understand how more wholistic interventions may improve the mental health outcomes of these populations. Dr. Solomon prioritizes the needs of marginalized and racialized sub-groups and utilizes multiple research methods including participatory and arts-based methods.

  Dr. Solomon completed her PhD in nursing at Western University where she used Photovoice, a qualitative, participatory, arts-based methodology to explore how youth living with bipolar disorder described their understanding of, and experiences of spirituality and how it related to their mood. Findings provided a more nuanced understanding of youth mental health, an awareness of its spiritual dimension and the importance of its integration into wellbeing. Her current research program:

  • Examines the understanding and experience of spirituality in racialized and marginalized youth experiencing mental health challenges, i.e., mood and anxiety disorders, schizophrenia, psychosis and other psychiatric illnesses.
  • Explores interdisciplinary integration of spirituality into mental health care.
  • Investigates wholistic approaches to treating mental health using micro, meso, and macro level ecosystems.
  • Uses arts-based and participatory research methodology in health research to explore concepts of spirituality in relation to mental illness, mental health, race, social determinants of health, quality of life etc.
  • Explores equity, diversity, and inclusion in mental health care.
  • Nursing epistemology.

  Dr. Solomon’s is actively involved with the Registered Nursing Association of Ontario’s Faith Community Nursing Interest Group (FCNIG) as a communication executive network officer where she works with FCNIG to help nurses integrate the spiritual dimension into nursing care. As a member of the advisory committee of the Black South Western Ontario research project led by Dr. Godwin Arku, Dr. Solomon advises on evidence-based policies and services for Black youth in Southwestern Ontario. She is the founder and former executive director of Connect for Mental Health (2007-2017), a not-for-profit organization that provided peer support to individuals living with mental health challenges and a program that applied the Transitional Discharge Model in London, Ontario. Dr. Solomon continues to support mental health initiatives in her community through online education and discussions with guests on her podcast about optimizing our mental health using wholistic approaches. Collaborating with the community to provide evidence-based recovery, oriented mental health care is her passion.

• Education
  • PhD Nursing, Western University, 2024
  • MScN Nursing, Western University, 2013
  • BScN Nursing, Western University, 2010
• Courses taught

  NURS 3701U Mental Health Nursing Theory and Practice

  Prior Teaching Experience: Professional Practice, Families and Communities; Nursing Informatics

• Publications

  For a comprehensive list of publications, please visit https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Michelle-Solomon

  Solomon, Michelle S., "A Picture of Spirituality in Youth Living with Bipolar Disorder" (2024). University of Western Ontario - Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 9865. https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/9865/

  Laura, C., Solomon, M., Longo, R., Sud, A., Katz, J., Dale, C., Stanley, M., & Webster, F. (2024). Attending to marginalization in the chronic pain literature: A scoping review. Canadian Journal of Pain. https://doi.org/10.1080/24740527.2024.2335500

  Forchuk, C., Solomon, M., & Virani Tazim. (2016). Peer Support. Healthcare Quarterly, 18 (special issue), 32-36. Retrieved from http://www.longwoods.com/content/24480

  Hall, P., Montgomery, P., Davie, S., Dickins, K., Forchuk, C., Jeng, M., Kersey, M., Meier, A., Lahey, P., Rudnick, A., Solomon, M. & Warner, L. (2015). Seeking and securing work: Individual-level predictors of employment outcomes of psychiatric survivors. WORK: A Journal of Prevention, Assessment & Rehabilitation, 52(1), 91-101. https://doi.org/10.3233/wor-141973

  Forchuk, C., Solomon, M., & Virani, T. (2021). Peer support. In C. Forchuk (Eds.), From therapeutic relationships to transitional care: a theoretical and practical roadmap (pp. 88-93). New York: Routledge. https://doi-org.proxy1.lib.uwo.ca/10.4324/9781003000853

  Solomon, Michelle S., "Barriers to Education in Homeless Youth" (2013). University of Western Ontario - Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. Paper 1201. http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/1201