Karen Wong
Karen Lok Yi Wong (she/her) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Work at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. She received her PhD in Social Work from UBC, supported by SSHRC, CIHR, and AGE-WELL doctoral awards. She also holds two master’s degrees, one in Social Work from UBC and one in Social Policy from the University of York, United Kingdom.
Karen’s research focuses on the lived experience of dementia, transnational family caregiving, elder care systems and policies, aging, culture and racialized inequities, aging and technology, and qualitative methodologies—particularly participatory action research. Her doctoral work, informed by Institutional Ethnography, examined how structural forces, including racism, shape access to formal support services among Chinese people living with dementia in Vancouver. Her recent involvement in research and knowledge exchange includes work on learning health systems in dementia care transitions, funded by CIHR, and on stigma against dementia in the Chinese community and anti-oppressive gerontological social work, funded by Michael Smith Health Research BC.
Karen is a registered social worker with diverse practice experience in elder care, including community senior services, long-term care, geriatric acute care, and rehabilitation. She has been a long-term volunteer with organizations supporting older adults and people living with dementia, including the Alzheimer Society and Gaia Cares. Her contributions have been recognized by the Inspiring Social Worker of the Year Award from the BC Association of Social Workers (2021) and the Distinguished Service Award from the Canadian Association of Social Workers (2023), acknowledging her advocacy with people living with dementia and their families from culturally and racially diverse communities.
Keywords: lived experience of dementia; stigma against dementia’ elder care services, systems and policies; critical gerontology; cultural and racial diversity in aging; translational elder care; family care-giving; collaborative action research; aging and technology