Louise Demers, Ph. D.

Education

• B.Sc. Occupational Therapy, Université de Montréal (1985)
• Diploma in Health Services Management, Université de Montréal (1990)
• M.Sc. Biomedical Sciences (Rehabilitation), Université de Montréal (1995)
• Ph.D. Biomedical Sciences (Rehabilitation), Université de Montréal (1999)
• Postdoctoral (Epidemiogy) Lady Davis Institute, McGill University (2001)

Current research projects

• AGE-WELL – Aging Gracefully across Environments through Technology for Wellness  http://www.agewell-nce.ca/.  Workpackage lead for 4 projects that aim to understand the needs of caregivers.
• FRELE: Espace de vie et cognition, une association novatrice pour mieux détecter les personnes âgées à risque de démence.
• Enhancing Community Participation in Canadians with Physical Disabilities: Development, Implementation and Evaluation of a Partnered Strategy.  http://cdpp.ca/.
• A Multi-Site Trial of the Impact of Assistive Technology with Individuals with Mobility Limitations and their Caregivers.
• Wheeled mobility for older adults team. Emerging Team Alliances in Mobility and Aging of the Canadian Institutes for Health Research. “Natural history and measurement of power mobility outcomes» involving across Canada. http://www.canwheel.ca/.

Selected publications

• Provencher, V.*, Desrosiers, J., Demers, L., Carmichae,l PH. (2016). Optimizing social participation in normal aging through the use of behavioral coping strategies. Disability and Rehabilitation, 38(10):972-978.
• Mortenson, B.*, Demers, L., Rushton, P*., Auger, C., Routhier, F., Miller, W. (2015). Exploratory validation of a multidimensional power wheelchair outcomes toolkit. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 96, 2184–2193.
• Kirby, L., Miller, W., Routhier, F., Demers, L., Mihailidis, A., Miller-Polgar, J., Rushton, P., Titus, L., Smith, C., McAllister, M., Theriault, C., Thompson, K., Sawatsky, B. (2015). Effectiveness of a Wheelchair Skills Training Program for Powered Wheelchair Users: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 96, pp 2017-2016.
• Rushton, P.*, Kairy, D., Archambault, P., Pituch, E., Torkia, C., El Fathi, A., Stone, P., Routhier, F., Forget, R., Pineau, J., Gourdeau, R., Demers L, (2015). The Potential Impact of Intelligent Power Wheelchair Use on Social Participation: Perspectives of Users, Caregivers, and Clinicians ». Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, 10, 191-197.
• Mortenson, B.*, Demers, L., Rushton, P., Auger, C., Routhier, F., Miller, B. (2015). Development and Preliminary Evaluation of the Caregiver Assistive Technology Outcome Measure. Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine, doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2015.08.430. [Epub ahead of print]
• Raymond, MH.*, Feldman, DE., Demers, L. (2015). Will low priority clients ever get their turn? Waiting list management practices for occupational therapy in home care. Health & Social Care in the Community DOI: 10.1111 | 121
• Hamasaki, T.*, Demers, L., Filiatrault, J. (2015). Test-retest reliability and responsiveness of a French Canadian Upper Limb Functional Index (ULFI-FC). Disability & Rehabilitation, 37(12):1090-6.
• Hamasaki, T.*, Demers, L., Filiatrault, J., Aubin, G. (2014). A cross-cultural adaptation of the Upper Limb Functional Index in French Canadian. Hand Therapy, 27, 247-252.
• Mortenson, B., Demers, L., Fuhrer, M., Jutai, J., Lenker, J., DeRuyter, F. (2013). Effects of an assistive technology intervention on older adults with disabilities and their informal caregivers. American Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 9, 297-306.
• Demers, L., Weiss-Lambrou, R. & Ska, B. (1996). Development of the Quebec User Evaluation of Satisfaction with Assistive Technology (QUEST). Assistive Technology, 8, 3-13.

Research interests

Dr. Demers has a long standing experience in the design, conduct and dissemination of studies involving assistive technology, older adults living with physical disability and their family caregivers, outcomes measures, and social participation.