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Dr. O’Leary is an Assistant Professor in the Lyle S. Hallman Faculty of Social Work at Wilfrid Laurier University. He earned his PhD from the Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work at the University of Toronto and holds an MSW from York University.
His research focuses on health equity among populations experiencing social and structural marginalization. A central focus of his current research is aging on the fringes: examining how poverty, housing instability, mental health challenges, substance use, and social exclusion shape experiences of aging, social health, and access to health and social services. His broader program of research examines substance use and harm reduction, equitable healthcare practices and service delivery, and approaches to strengthening health and social systems.
Dr. O’Leary’s research and teaching draw on 20 years of front-line social work experience in prison health advocacy, community mental health, and hospital-based social work. This practice background informs his commitment to reflexive practice and a community-engaged approach to research that centres the knowledge and experiences of people with lived and living experience and emphasizes collaboration with community organizations, service providers, and other partners.
Through his research, Dr. O’Leary aims to generate evidence that strengthens practice, informs policy, and contributes to health and social services that are more equitable and responsive to communities experiencing marginalization.
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2026 - 2027 |
Advancing Equity and Inclusion for Marginalized Older Adults: Aging on the Fringes Symposium. Funder: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Principal Investigator. |
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2026 - 2027 |
Advancing Equity for Adults Aging on the Fringes: A People-Centred, Partnership Oriented Knowledge Mobilization Project. Funder: Canadian Institutes of Health Research; Ontario SPOR SUPPORT Unit (OSSU). Principal Investigator. |
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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 –2026 |
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 –2026 |
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. |
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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