The initial idea for this project was seeded several years ago, based on my experiences as a family caregiver, homecare worker, and tech tutor. With the support of my advisors and committee, the project has been refined and re-imagined into the current iRespite Services iRépit research program.
For my doctoral research, we co-designed with families and nurses, a proof-of-concept of a smartphone app for coordinating trusted and flexible respite care services to families coping with advanced cancers.
For my postdoctoral research, we are: (1) adapting iRespite to the needs of older adults living with Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders, as well as the needs of their family caregivers; and (2) conducting a multiple case-study to explore the feasibility of sustainably implementing iRespite, or supporting the uptake of the iRespite design principles with related homecare organizations.
Team: Our research team, based in Montreal, includes: Canada Research Chair in Care for Older People professor Anne Bourbonnais, RN, PhD; cancer care and nursing expert Argerie Tsimicalis, PhD RN; Canada Research Chair in Inclusive Social Computing computer scientist Karyn Moffatt, PhD; cancer mHealth expert and Opal platform co-developer John Kildea, PhD; and Jewish General Hospital nursing and palliative care clinician scientist Bessy Bitzas, RN PhD.
Funding: I am currently supported by a CIHR postdoctoral fellowship (Priority area: Aging; 2025-2028).
For my PhD work, I was supported by a FRQS doctoral bursary (2019-2023), a Ministère d’enseignement supérieur (MES; 2023-2024), the Canadian Nurses Foundation Dr. Kathryn J. Hannah Nursing Informatics Scholarship (2020), graduate student bursaries from the College of Registered Nurses of Newfoundland and Laborador, and a 2020 studentship funded by the Canadian Centre for Applied Research in Cancer Control (ARCC). The ARCC receives core funding from the Canadian Cancer Society (grant no. 2015-703549).
This project was partly funded with generous support from the Rossy Cancer Network’s Cancer Care Quality and Innovation Program (2020) and an operating grant from the McGill Nursing Collaborative for Education and Innovation in Patient-and-Family-Centered Care (Winter 2023).
This research was also supported by the Teresa Dellar Scholarship in Nursing (Palliative Care), and the McGill University Ingram School of Nursing Summer Bursary Programs of 2020 and 2024.
You can read more about our research using the menu navigation pane, or the following links: Project Updates, Study Protocol, and Study Flyers.
See this link for ongoing project updates.
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