I’m interested in the people that health systems and social policies were designed to reach but often miss. My work explores where those gaps are, who falls into them, and what it would take to close them. In practice, I conduct quantitative research that tries to measure disparities in health and access to care, lead community-based programs that try to reach underserved populations, and engage in the slower work of translating both into policy change that can address systemic inequities.
Aging in place is one of those policy phrases that sounds uncomplicated until you ask who actually gets to. Most older adults would rather stay safely in their homes and communities, but the conditions that make that possible (appropriate housing, access to care & support) are unevenly distributed in ways policy mostly overlooks.
My doctoral research in epidemiology at McGill with Amélie Quesnel-Vallée & Isabelle Vedel looks at these gaps in Quebec, asking how social forces shape who can age in place and why a healthcare system that promises universal access leaves those disparities out of view. I work with two decades of linked survey and administrative records for 25,000 older adults, using survival analyses and count regression methods within a quantitative intersectional framework to measure how gender, education, visible minority status, and rurality combine to shape who gets left behind.
My dissertation was an entry into a wider practice on equity in healthcare. I’m a co-investigator on CIHR-funded teams studying equity in dementia care, transitions between care environments, and access to services for linguistic-minority communities. Each of these asks how seemingly equal services produce unequal results and what evidence policymakers need to close those gaps.