Dr Karen Johnston is an early career researcher at the College of Medicine and Dentistry.  Karen has a strong interest in advancing health equity through research, particularly in rural and remote Australia.  She has substantial experience in health service evaluation and medical education research, working with partners across Queensland and internationally. 

Karen's current work focuses on place-based planning for health in the northern Queensland region.  She is currently working with remote communities to co-design, plan and evaluate improvements in delivery of care and other community-driven initiatives. Karen has also worked together with stakeholders in Fiji in her doctoral research, using participatory and decolonising methods to identify areas for positive change for the health and wellbeing of older people living with dementia.

Karen has experience in qualitative and quantitative research, with particular interests in participatory methodologies and the use of GIS in health research.  

Interests

Research

• Rural and remote health
• Health services
• Pacific Islands and health
• Health and services for older adults
• GIS for health research

Experience

• 2022 to present - Senior research fellow, JCU (Townsville)
• 2017 to 2021 - Senior research officer, JCU (Townsville)
• 2016 to 2019 - Research officer, THEnet Training for Health Equity Network (Townsville)
• 2012 to 2017 - Research officer, JCU (Townsville)

Research Disciplines

• Health services and systems (4203)
• Public health (4206)
• Education systems (3903)

Socio-Economic Objectives

• Evaluation of health and support services (2002)
• Specific population health (2005)

These are the most recent publications associated with this author. To see a detailed profile of all publications stored at JCU, visit ResearchOnline@JCU. Hover over Altmetrics badges to see social impact.

Journal Articles

• Lindsay D, Bates N, Callander E, Johnston K, Carlisle K, Smith D, Evans R and Larkins S (2023) Evaluating the quality and safety of the BreastScreen remote radiology assessment model of service delivery in Australia. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, 29 (3). pp. 203-210
• Topp S, Thompson F, Johnston K, Smith D, Edelman A, Whittaker M, Rouen C, Moodley N, McDonald M, Barker R and Larkins S (2023) Democratising data to address health system inequities in Australia. BMJ Global Health, 8.
• Smith D, Johnston K, Carlisle K, Evans R, Preston R, Beckett J, Geddes D, Naess H, Poole M and Larkins S (2021) Client perceptions of the BreastScreen Australia remote radiology assessment model. BMC Women's Health, 21 (30).
• Johnston K, Guingona M, Elsanousi S, Mbokazi J, Labarda C, Cristobal F, Upadhyay S, Othman A, Woolley T, Acharya B, Hogenbirk J, Ketheesan S, Craig J, Neusy A and Larkins S (2020) Training a fit-for-purpose rural health workforce for low- and middle-income countries (LMICs): how do drivers and enablers of rural practice intention differ between learners from LMICs and high income countries? Frontiers in Public Health, 8.
• Johnston K, Smith D, Preston R, Evans R, Carlisle K, Lengren J, Naess H, Phillips E, Shephard G, Lydiard L, Lattimore D and Larkins S (2020) “From the technology came the idea”: safe implementation and operation of a high quality teleradiology model increasing access to timely breast cancer assessment services for women in rural Australia. BMC Health Services Research, 20.
• Johnston K, Preston R, Strivens E, Qaloewai S and Larkins S (2020) Understandings of dementia in low and middle income countries and amongst indigenous peoples: a systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis. Aging & Mental Health, 24 (8). pp. 1183-1195
• Reeve C, Johnston K and Young L (2020) Health profession education in remote or geographically isolated settings: a scoping review. Journal of Medical Education and Curricular Development, 7.
• Anderson E, Johnston K, Gunnarsson R and Larkins S (2018) Perceptions of a research honours programme embedded in a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery degree: “the worst and best years of my life”. Focus on Health Professional Education, 19 (1).
• Larkins S, Johnston K, Hogenbirk J, Willems S, Elsanousi S, Mammen M, Van Roy K, Iputo J, Cristobal F, Greenhill J, Labarda C and Neusy A (2018) Practice intentions at entry to and exit from medical schools aspiring to social accountability: findings from the Training for Health Equity Network Graduate Outcome Study. BMC Medical Education, 18.
• Evans R, Larkins S, Cheffins T, Fleming R, Johnston K and Tennant M (2017) Mapping access to health services as a strategy for planning: access to primary care for older people in regional Queensland. Australian Journal of Primary Health, 23 (2). pp. 114-122
• Johnston K, Harvey C, Matich P, Page P, Jukka C, Hollins J and Larkins S (2015) Increasing access to sexual health care for rural and regional young people: similarities and differences in the views of young people and service providers. Australian Journal of Rural Health, 23 (5). pp. 257-264
• Larkins S, Michielsen K, Iputo J, Elsanousi S, Mammen M, Graves L, Willems S, Cristobal F, Samson R, Ellaway R, Ross S, Johnston K, Derese A and Neusy A (2015) Impact of selection strategies on representation of underserved populations and intention to practise: international findings. Medical Education, 49 (1). pp. 60-72

More

ResearchOnline@JCU stores 14+ research outputs authored by Dr Karen Johnston from 2015 onwards.

Current and recent Research Funding to JCU is shown by funding source and project.

The map shows research collaborations by institution from the past 7 years.
Note: Map points are indicative of the countries or states that institutions are associated with.