Community service has been an essential component of Ping Zou’s (MN-Clinical 2011, PhD 2015) professional life as a nurse and scholar for many years. Her research which is centered on immigrant health, particularly within the Chinese Canadian community, has led her to develop innovative health interventions that integrate culturally responsive approaches to care within her community.
For Zou, using her nursing knowledge to better support her community and their wellbeing, is something she feels compelled to do.
“For a nurse to use their professional knowledge and skills to engage in a community is I believe, a component of our lived experience as nurses,” says Zou. “Even when you are off duty, you are living and working within your community, and empowering your community is, I feel, a part of our duty.”
As a Chinese Canadian immigrant herself, Zou is driven to support immigrant populations as they navigate the complexities of the Canadian healthcare system. She regularly provides health education sessions on topics such as healthy eating, physical activity, and cardiovascular disease prevention. It is this specific type of community engagement that prompted her PhD research under the supervision of Professor Monica Parry, and led to the creation of a nursing-led intervention to address hypertension risks among the Chinese Canadian community.
“This population is known to have a higher risk of hypertension, and their first instinct is to try and manage the condition through diet,” says Zou.
But the focus of diet interventions such the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension guidelines also known as DASH, the golden standard, provides a western approach to medicine focusing heavily on serving sizes and portion control. Zou says that in her interactions with community members, this type of guideline was not so useful to them.
“They wanted to know what kinds of food to eat that reflect their culture, like hot foods or cold foods, and include a perspective more grounded in traditional Chinese medicine,” says Zou.
Developing culturally appropriate guidelines for the community
Zou knew it was important to find a solution that was evidence-based. She conducted extensive literature reviews to understand traditional Chinese medicine and evidence for hypertension control, compared principles of traditional Chinese medicine with elements already found in the DASH diet. The results of her research led her to create the Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension and Sodium Reduction for Chinese Canadians (DASHNa-CC), an intervention that combined key aspects of DASH and Canada’s Food Guide, with recommendations for each food group based on traditional Chinese medicine.
“Being able to recommend a specific food or herb that is safe and effective, made the community feel like their culture was being reflected in this educational tool,” says Zou. “It made it easier for them to implement and accept.”
Since graduating from Bloomberg Nursing, Zou has continued to deliver community presentations using her research findings from the DASHNa-CC study. She has also expanded her research to include the South Asian community, and is also focusing on immigrant women’s health particularly in relation to menopause.
“My research has always been grounded in the needs of the community, they give me ideas about what they need. As a teacher of future nurses, I also feel it is important to not only speak about managing chronic illness in the community, but to demonstrate how it can be done by nurses,” says Zou.
U of T’s lifelong impact
Her time at Bloomberg Nursing as a student in both the master’s and PhD program shaped her approach to nursing and to her future career as a nurse educator and researcher she says, because of the support she received from her supervisors and faculty, including former Dean Linda Johnston.
“I’ve never forgotten Professor Johnston’s encouragement and the connection and support I received from faculty at Bloomberg Nursing, especially my supervisor, Professor Monica Parry,” says Zou.
She credits her education at Bloomberg Nursing for providing her with a good foundation for her current role at Nipissing University, and a platform to connect with other disciplines in pursuit of further research.
“Bloomberg Nursing and U of T continue to have a life-long impact on me,” says Zou. “It has shaped how I engage as a nurse and as a scholar with the communities I serve.”