Luke Turcotte, PhD

Assistant Professor, Health Sciences

The goal of my program of research is to improve the quality of care for older adults with complex health needs in hospital, long-term care, and community-based care settings. Using large, linked, clinical and administrative health data, I apply clinical epidemiology and health services research methods to:

  1. Compare and evaluate models of health service delivery
  2. Describe the association between person-level health attributes, service patterns, and outcomes in the form of change in health status, survival, and health service utilization
  3. Develop and evaluate clinical assessment tools and decision-support algorithms that identify the strengths, preferences, and needs of older adults

I completed an MSc in Health Studies and Gerontology and a PhD in Aging, Health, and Wellbeing in the School of Public Health Sciences at the University of Waterloo. I was awarded a 2-year Health System Impact Fellowship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and was embedded in the Advanced Analytics Branch at the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). Following my Postdoctoral training, I was employed by CIHI as a Senior Researcher and Senior Methodologist. I am an Associate Fellow with interRAI, an international not-for-profit organization that develops comprehensive health assessment and screening systems for vulnerable populations across the continuum of care.

  • Development and application of comprehensive health assessments
  • Hospital (including post-acute rehabilitation and “Complex Continuing Care”), long-term care, and home care service recipients
  • Clinical decision-support and predictive risk algorithms
  • Case-mix classification systems
  • Transitions in care and delayed discharge (i.e., alternate level of care designation)
  • Associate Fellow, interRAI
  • Affiliate Investigator, Bruyère Research Institute
  • Theory and Practice of Health Program Planning
  • Secondary Data Analysis
  • Research in Applied Gerontological Practice
  • Community Services for Older Adults

Currently accepting Health Sciences (MSc) graduate students.

Currently accepting undergraduate thesis students.