Government of Canada invests in research to assess the health of Francophone communities outside of Quebec

Project will create online observatory of data on the health of Francophone minority communities

OTTAWA, Nov. 1, 2017 /CNW/ - The Government of Canada is committed to ensuring that Canadians are able to access health care services in their official language of choice. Today while participating in the opening session of the Rendez-vous Santé en français conference, Mona Fortier, the Member of Parliament for Ottawa-Vanier, on behalf of the Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Minister of Health, announced a $100,000 grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to study the health of Francophone minority communities outside of Quebec.

The grant has been awarded to University of Ottawa professor of sociology and anthropology Dr. Louise Bouchard. Dr. Bouchard will use the funds to create an online observatory where her team can gather, analyze, and present to decision-makers health information from Francophone communities outside of Quebec.

Specifically, her team will bring together statistics and information about residents' health status, their access to the social determinants of health, and how often health services are offered or requested in French, including whether residents have access to health professionals in their language of choice.

Quotes

"Coming from New Brunswick, I have a great appreciation of the importance of accessing health services that have been linguistically and culturally adapted to meet the needs of official language minority communities. I congratulate Dr. Bouchard on her grant and look forward to seeing her results."

The Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Minister of Health

"It is a pleasure to attend the Rendez-vous Santé en français conference and announce funding for this vital research project, which will provide decision-makers with the information they need to ensure that Francophone communities living in minority settings have access to health services and professionals in their language of choice."

Mona Fortier, Member of Parliament for Vanier

"In the absence of access to organized and reliable linguistic data, this project is the first step towards creating this one-stop-shop for information in order to answer questions from users, the public and decision-makers about the determinants of health, as well as the offer of and request for, and access to, French-language services and health professionals who can offer services in an official language minority setting."

Dr. Louise Bouchard, Professor of Sociology and Anthropology, University of Ottawa

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Research project: Creating an observatory of health information for Francophone communities outside of Quebec

Researcher	Institution	Project Description	Grant	Year(s)
Dr. Louise Bouchard	University of Ottawa	Operating Grant: Modelling knowledge on population health – Official Language Minority Communities   Dr. Bouchard's research project is the development of a web-based platform focused specifically on minority Francophone populations. This observatory will bring together statistics and other health data geo-referenced to Francophone communities outside of Quebec to assess to what extent these communities have access to health services and health professionals in their official language of choice.   This information will then be shared with community groups and decision-makers to give a true picture of the health of Francophone communities outside of Quebec and identify gaps and ways to fill them.	$100,000	2017-18

The grant was awarded to Dr. Louise Bouchard and is the product of a pan-Canadian group of experts, including:

• Eric Forgues, Director, Institut canadien de recherche sur les minorités linguistiques
• Josée Guignard Noël, Institut canadien de recherche sur les minorités linguistiques
• Jalila Jbilou, professor and researcher, École de psychologie, Université de Moncton, Centre de formation médicale du Nouveau-Brunswick
• Denis Prud'homme, Full Professor, École des sciences de l'activité physique, Associate Vice-President of Research and Scientific Director of the Institut de recherche de l'Hôpital Montfort
• Jacinthe Desaulniers, Director General, Réseau des services de santé en français de l'Est de l'Ontario
• Anne Leis, speech therapist, psychologist, and Department Head, Community Health and Epidemiology, University of Saskatchewan
• Mariette Chartier, professor, University of Manitoba, researcher at the Manitoba Center for Health Policy

At the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) we know that research has the power to change lives. As Canada's health research investment agency, we collaborate with partners and researchers to support the discoveries and innovations that improve our health and strengthen our health care system.

SOURCE Canadian Institutes of Health Research

Yves-Alexandre Comeau, Office of the Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Minister of Health, 613-957-0200; Media Relations, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, 613-941-4563, [email protected]