Our projects
Our research portfolio examines aspects of primary health care in the era of globalization and of the challenges faced by “the front line” of health systems. The aim is to improve populations’ health and to reduce health inequities. Below, our current projects, completed projects and collaborations with other research teams.
Insecurity and access to health care in the Sahel.
ISEASS is a project conducted in partnership with researchers in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger on insecurity in these three Sahelian countries and its consequences for maternal and child health.
The project builds on the experience of a previous study conducted in Burkina Faso in 2019, which demonstrated that the use of maternal healthcare decreased in communities targeted by attacks against civilians. With ISEASS, the aim is to examine the evolution and effects of repeated attacks in communities through a comprehensive approach that uses mixed methods. The objective is to identify the process through which the observed effects are generated, in order to indicate some possible solutions, adapted to the context, to preserve access to healthcare.
The project brings together a multidisciplinary team with expertise in global health, evaluation, spatio-temporal analyses, political sciences and gender studies. In each country there are a co-investigator and a partner research organization, who contribute to engaging other local stakeholders (such as the Ministry of Health) in the project. The Afrafra research network (Fragility and French-speaking Africa) in Mali and SERSAP (Society for studies and research in public health) in Burkina Faso, complete the team and serve as crucial anchors for effective knowledge translation.
Principal investigator: Thomas Druetz (CReSP/UdeM)
Co-PIs:: Mohamed Ag Ahmed (Afrafra, Mali), Aristide Bado (IRSS , Burkina Faso), Abel Bicaba (SERSAP, Burkina Faso), Kadidiatou Kadio (IRSS, Burkina Faso), Matthew Ian Mitchell (Université de Saskatchewan), Abdoul Moumouni Nouhou (GRADE Africa, Niger).
2024-2026
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
Evaluation of public policies and programs to fight malnutrition in all its forms, in Burundi.
Burundi, like other low- and middle-income countries, is facing a double nutritional burden, as malnutrition coexists with obesity and overweight. Child malnutrition remains a major problem, while non communicable diseases are estimated to cause one third of deaths.
This project aims to analyse the level of implementation of public policies aiming to improve the healthy food environment, in order to support the development of recommendations for the government. These recommendations will help strengthen national nutritional public policies and improve their impact on population health.
Principal investigator: Francine Sinzinkayo (Master student)
Research director: Thomas Druetz (ESPUM/CReSP)
Research co-director: Jean-Claude Moubarac (Département de Nutrition de l’Université de Montréal)
Collaborators: Fidèle Nkezabahizi (Integrated National Program of Food and Nutrition, Ministry of Public Health and of Fight against AIDS, Burundi)
2023-2025
Quebec Population Health Research Network(RRSPQ)
The project will occur in two phases:
A mixed method approach to developing a women’s centered index to measure quality of maternal health services in Burkina Faso.
In Burkina Faso, although elimination of direct payments for pregnant women had improved access to maternal health care, many women still have poor perception of quality of health care. This barrier compromises the efforts employed to reduce maternal mortality and complications of delivery.
We have developed an exploratory sequential mixed-methods study, to identify the key factors that women associate with the quality of maternal care. In the first phase, we will conduct a qualitative research study using fuzzy cognitive mapping with women of reproductive age. The data will be used, in a second phase, to elaborate an index of perceived quality of maternal health care which will be applied to existing Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). The last phase of the study will evaluate the effects before and after the policy of free health care on perceived quality of maternal health care.
In integrating women’s perception in a robust measurement tool, this study aims to provide valuable insights for improving maternal healthcare in Burkina Faso, filling the gaps between healthcare access, utilisation, and perceived quality.
Team: Sarah Cooper (PhD Candidate), Thomas Druetz (Director), Alice Bila (SERSAP, Burkina Faso), Nadej Bila (SERSAP, Burkina Faso), Kadiatou Kadio (Institute de Recherche en Sciences de la Santé, Burkina Faso), Frank Bicaba (SERSAP, Burkina Faso).
2023- 2025
Doctoral scholarship Fonds de recherche du Québec- Santé (FRQS), Queen Elizabeth Scholarships (West Africa and Democratic Republic of Congo).
The unmet needs in family planning in the context of a security crisis in Burkina Faso.
In 2017, about 20% of women of reproductive age in Burkina Faso had unmet needs (UN) for family planning (FP). Now, studies suggest that these UNs in FP could be worsened by the increasing security crisis that the country is experiencing. In fact, terrorist attacks have led to a collapse of the healthcare system, reducing access to healthcare and increasing social inequities. These inequalities have long been studied as separate social categories, without considering their possible intersections.
The project employs an explanatory sequential mixed method approach. The quantitative aspect utilises data from Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), the National Health Information System (SNIS) and Armed Conflict Location and Event Data (ACLED) project, which will be analysed through interrupted time series, spatial analyses and multilevel regressions. Interviews and focus groups with women of reproductive age, will constitute the qualitative aspect of the study, aiming to further examine the phenomenon through the lens of intersectionality.
Cheick Oumar Tiendrebéogo (PhD Candidate), Thomas Druetz (Director), Abel Bicaba (SERSAP, Burkina Faso), Frank Bicaba (SERSAP, Burkina Faso).
2020-2025
International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Fonds de recherche du Québec- Santé (FRQS).
This project has the following objectives:
Evaluation of the effects of abolishing healthcare fees for maternal and child care in Burkina Faso (Synergie)
Since 2016, Burkina Faso has implemented a national policy abolishing user fees for maternal healthcare and for children less than 5 years old. The research project Synergie contributed to evaluating this visionary strategy. The project, which also included components on capacity building and gender studies, was conducted in close collaboration with the Society for the Study and Research in Public Health ( SERSAP) in Ouagadougou. The project has produced the several papers (see Publications tab) and has been an environment for research internships and theses for several master’s students.
The project had the following objectives:
In 2020, a component was added to measure the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on a set of maternal and child health indicators, in particular food security and vaccination coverage.
Principal investigator: Thomas Druetz (ESPUM/CReSP)
Co-PIs:: Abel Bicaba (SERSAP, Burkina Faso), Kadidiatou Kadio (IRSS, Burkina Faso), Véronique Plouffe (Montréal, Canada).
2017-2021
International Development Research Centre (IDRC)
The decision-making process regarding the retention of beneficiary attendants amidst the COVID-19 crisis in long-term care residential nursing centers in Montreal.
In Quebec’s aging society, where 19% of the population is 65 years or older, beneficiary attendants (BA) who work in residential and long-term care centers for the elderly (CHSLD) play a fundamental role. Despite the importance of their role, the working conditions for BAs are precarious and were worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the beginning of the pandemic (1st wave), there was a massive resignation of BAs in Montreal’s CHSLDs and a peak in mortality among the residents.
The objective of this qualitative study was to understand the factors which had influenced the decision of BAs to continue working (or not) during the COVID-19 crisis in Montreal’s CHSLDs.
The study aimed to provide data to improve retention policies for BAs during crises and to highlight the role of the health system and of its limits in the experiences of BAs.
Principal investigator: Saidou Sabi Boun
Supervisor: Thomas Druetz (CReSP/UdeM)
Co-supervisor: Grégory Moullec (ESPUM)
2020-2021
The study is based on semi-structured interviews with different categories of BAs, who worked in Montreal’s CHSLDs between March and June 2020. A thematic analysis has been conducted following the methodology proposed by Braun and Clarke. The student-researcher who led the study, relied also on his own observations while he worked in a CHSLD at the beginning of the pandemic. His work (Master’s thesis) was published in the journal Critical Public Health..
improving rEsilieNce and Social cohEsion through transformed coMmunity and BuiLt spacEs.
This project aims to document and compare the implementation of community spaces designed to improve the social cohesion in large cities.
Principal investigator: Marie-Christine Therrien
Duration: 2023-2026
Funding: Fonds Nouvelles Frontières en Recherche
This pilot project aims to improve the community health and the equitable empowerment of women and girls who live in disadvantaged regions of Senegal and Burkina Faso, where the prevalence of zoonotic diseases, at the human-animal-environment interface is high.
Principal investigator: Hélène Carabin
Duration: 2023-2028
Funding: Global Affaires Canada
A participatory action-research program, with the principal objective of reducing the health risks for humans, while preserving the benefits in terms of human and animal well-being, at the human-dog interface in northern Canadian communities.
Principal investigator: André Ravel
Duration: 2017-2023
Funding: Canadian Institutes of Health Research(CIHR)
Physical address
Office 3151 (3rd floor)
7101 av. du Parc, Montréal
Postal address
Montreal University (Université de Montréal)
C.P.6128, City center branch,
Montréal, Québec
H3N 1X9
