Our Research

The Bruyère Research Institute focuses on finding the future of care for aging Canadians and vulnerable populations.

Our research priorities include Aging and Long-Term Care, Palliative Care, Rehabilitation and Recovery, and Social Accountability (with a focus on Primary Care and Health Equity).

Aging and Long-Term Care

Around the world, the population of people over the age of 65 is growing faster than any other age group. Our research on aging is centered around improving quality of life, supporting independence, and access to the right kind of health and social care for aging Canadians and their families and caregivers.

Bruyère RI is addressing some of the most pressing concerns for older adults, including the rising prevalence of dementia, strategies for aging in place, the future of long-term care and assisted living, and augmenting Canada’s ability to prevent and respond to infectious diseases among the vulnerable populations of the long-term care sector.

Learn more about our work in:

• Nationwide exploration of COVID-19 and vaccine effects in long-term care
• A standardized approach to driving assessments for aging Canadians
• Risk prediction and early detection of Alzheimer’s disease

Palliative Care

With a palliative approach to care, we seek to provide patients with the right treatment and care at every stage, focusing on comfort and quality of life. In the face of life-limiting illness, our research seeks to understand, address, and treat suffering and grief through novel therapies and to design and implement strategies for palliative care delivery in hospital and home.

Through nationwide collaborations, Bruyère researchers are leading the way in finding reliable ways of identifying the need for palliative care transitions to improve patient experiences and promote equitable access to care, while reducing stress on patients, their loved ones, and the health system.

Learn more about our work in:

• New models for collaborative home-based palliative care
• RESPECT, supporting end of life planning with predictive analytics

Rehabilitation and Recovery

Recovery from acute medical conditions is a process devoted to enhancing quality of life and functional ability. Bruyère researchers have been advancing the gold standard of therapies for stroke, geriatric, and neurological rehabilitation, from virtual reality programming to nationwide clinical trials on non-invasive brain stimulation. At a moment when patients seek stability, our research has paved a foundation for enhanced recovery protocols, therapeutic techniques, and remote clinical assessments.

Learn more about our work in:

• New recommendations for non-invasive brain stimulation in stroke rehabilitation
• Enhancing mobility treatment protocols to optimize post-stroke walking outcomes
• Understanding the effects of post-stroke fatigue

Social Accountability

Social accountability is our commitment as a medical and research institution to direct education, research, and service activities towards addressing the priority health concerns and well-being of the communities and regions we serve. We are dedicated not only to optimizing care today, but also teaching and empowering the next generation of socially accountable health care providers and researchers.

Primary Care: optimizing models of care delivery and accessibility to ensure that patients are achieving better health outcomes at the right time, place, and level of care.

Health Equity: investing in local and global health initiatives while pursuing equity, effectiveness, and accessibility of interventions throughout care.

Learn more about our work in:

• Tackling opioid use with a nurse-led chronic pain management program
• Internationally used workshops in polypharmacy and deprescribing
• eConsult, a digital service to connect health care providers with specialist advice