Jane McCusker
St. Mary’s Research Centre
Principal Scientist
McGill University
Professor Emerita
Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health
Contact informations:
Email: Jane.mccusker@mcgill.ca
Phone number : 514-345-3511 ext. 5060
Keywords: Health services for older populations, Depression, Delirium, Emergency services, Primary care
Research themes:
- Mental health of older and chronically ill adults
- Emergency department care of older adults
- Clinical epidemiology
- Health services research
Research interests:
Jane McCusker is a Professor Emerita in the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health, McGill University. She is a Principal Scientist at St. Mary's Research Centre. The purpose of her research is to improve the delivery of healthcare services to vulnerable older people and their family members. Her research during the past 25 years has focussed on 4 broad areas: care of vulnerable older adults in the emergency department; delirium in older adults; depression in older adults; and family caregiving.
Currently, Dr. McCusker is leading a research program on the feasibility and effectiveness of a depression self-care intervention for adults with chronic physical illnesses in primary care (Project DIRECT-sc), including a trial of an intervention for cancer survivors (CanDirect). She is also leading the development of a quality assessment tool for the care of older adults in the emergency department. Other ongoing research is on self-management of multimorbidities (more than one chronic disease), in collaboration with health care professionals, patients, caregivers, researchers, and policy makers across Canada, and on a intervention to support the family caregivers of hospitalized older adults during the transition back to their homes.
Publications
Selected Publications
- McCusker J, Tousignant P, Borges Da Silva R, Ciampi A, Levesque JF, Vadeboncoeur A, Sanche S. Factors predicting patient use of the emergency department: a retrospective cohort study. Canadian Medical Association Journal. 184(6):E307-E316, 2012.
- McCusker J, Cole M, Voyer P, Vu TTM, Ciampi A, Monette J, Champoux N, Belzile E, Dyachenko A. Environmental factors predict the severity of delirium symptoms in long-term care residents. Journal of the American Geriatric Society, 61(4):502-511, 2013.
- McCusker J, Cole MG, Voyer P, Monette J, Champoux N, Ciampi A, Vu M, Belzile E. Six-month outcomes of co-occurring delirium, depression and dementia in long-term care. Journal of American Geriatrics Society, 62(12):2296-2302, December 2014. DOI: 10.1111/jgs.13159.
- McCusker J, Cole MG, Yaffe M, Strumpf E, Sewitch M, Sussman T, Ciampi A, Lavoie K, Platt RW, Belzile E. A randomized trial of a depression self-care toolkit with or without lay telephone coaching for primary care patients with chronic physical conditions. General Hospital Psychiatry. 2015;37(3):257-265.
- McCusker J, Vadeboncoeur A, Cossette S, Veillette, N, Ducharme F, Minh Vu T.T, Ciampi A, Cetin-Sahin D, Belzile E. Changes in emergency department geriatric care in Quebec and correlates of these changes. Journal of American Geriatrics Society, In press
Other Scientific Publications : indexed on
Related website : CanSMART,
Research Grants
Principal Investigator
- SPOR Research Network for self-management of multi-morbidities (LOI)”, Funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). March 2015 – October 2015.
- La prise en charge de la dépression chez les adultes atteints de maladies physiques chroniques (management of depression among adults with chronic physical illnesses). Funded by: Fonds de la recherche du Québec-santé (FRQ-S) May, 2013 – April, 2016. Extension of the grant Management of depression among adults with chronic physical illnesses. Funded by: Fonds de la recherche du Québec-santé (FRQ-S), 2009–2014.
- Évaluation des changements apportés dans les services d’urgence pour une approche adaptée à la personne âgée et développement d’un outil de mesure des services de soins offerts à l’urgence pour la clientèle âgée.(Evaluation of changes in elder friendly emergency department care and development of a quality assessment tool) Funded by: Fonds de la recherche du Québec-santé (FRQ-S) October, 2012- September, 2015.
- Utilisation du département d’urgence au Québec: perspective populationnelle. Concours Ouvrage Réseau de Recherche en Santé des Populations du Québec. April, 2012 – March, 2013.
Co-Investigator:
- Implantation d’un processus interdisciplinaire en 3 temps (du repérage au diagnostic) visant à améliorer la reconnaissance et la prise en charge du delirium en soins de courte durée. (Implementation of an interdisciplinary process at 3 times (from detection to diagnosis) aiming to improve the recognition and management of delirium in acute care) Principal investigator: Phillippe Voyer. Funded by: Fonds de soutien aux chercheurs du Centre d’excellence sur le vieillissement de Québec, November 2014 – October 2015.
- Translating knowledge to organizational change: Exploring the role of video ethnography to promote clinical learning and health system improvement”, Funded by: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). Principal investigator: Peter Nugus. July, 2014- June, 2015.
- Self-care tools to treat depression in patients with age-related macular degeneration: A randomized controlled clinical trial. Funded by: Fonds de la recherche du Québec-santé (FRQ-S)– Réseau de recherche en santé de la vision. Principal investigator: Ellen Freeman. March, 2014 – February, 2015.
- Patterns of mental illnesses in the elderly: the case of delirium, Funded by: Competition Attracting Research Excellence (C.A.R.E.) St Mary’s Hospital Center. 2011-2012. Principal Investigator: Antonio Ciampi. April 2012- March 2013.
- Identifying states and courses of a mental disorder from longitudinal data: Delirium as an example”. Funded by: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). Principal Investigator: Antonio Ciampi. February, 2012 – March, 2015.
- RADAR: A new screening tool to improve the recognition of delirium among older persons”. Principal investigator: Philippe Voyer. Funded by: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). April, 2010- March, 2014.
- Partial recovery or no recovery from delirium or subsyndromal delirium in older hospital inpatients: a study of frequency, risk factors and putative causes”. Principal investigator: Martin Cole. Funded by: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). April, 2010–March, 2013.
Research team
Eric Belzile, Statistician
Manon DeRaad, Project coordinator
Mona Magalhaes, Project coordinator
Deniz Sahin, Project coordinator