Isabelle Marcoux

Isabelle Marcoux holds a doctorate in community psychology from UQAM. Her thesis dealt with people’s attitudes towards euthanasia and possible confusion between euthanasia and other end-of-life practices. She then completed a first postdoctoral fellowship at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, in the Netherlands, on factors that could cause a change of mind after a euthanasia request. She continued her postdoctoral training at the Université de Nantes, in France. It dealt with issues in communication and decision-making related to the diagnosis of a rapidly progressing incurable disease. A professor at the University of Ottawa’s Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences since 2010, she was invited to contribute her expertise to the preliminary work on medical assistance in dying legislation in Quebec in 2010 and at the federal level in 2015.

• Medical assistance in dying, palliative care and end-of-life care
• Attitudes, knowledge and professional practices: scope and associated factors
• Population-based surveys and provincial and international comparisons
• Compassionate communities and public health approaches to palliative care
• Communication and decision-making issues
• Methodological challenges in end-of-life research (mainly in quantitative and mixed methods)

Isabelle Marcoux’s research deal with knowledge, attitudes, experiences and professional practices related to medical assistance in dying (MAID), palliative care and end-of-life care. She is also interested in implementation of initiatives to improve conditions related to end of life, death and mourning, such as compassionate communities. She is currently the co-leader of the Consortium interdisciplinaire de recherche sur l’AMM, which brings together 75 researchers (from Quebec, elsewhere in Canada and abroad), along with clinicians, partner patients and relatives, representatives of affiliated organizations and graduate students. The consortium’s mandate is to determine the factors associated with a significant increase in MAID use in Quebec and around the world. This research involves five streams and 14 different methodologies.

• Boivin, A., Gauvin, F.P., Garnon, G., Marcoux, I., Néron, A., Lehoux, P. (2017) Que doit-on savoir sur l’aide médicale à mourir ? Comprendre les besoins d'information et les enjeux du partenariat avec les patients, les proches aidants et les professionnels de la santé. Centre d’excellence sur le partenariat avec les patients et le public, Montréal : Canada.
• Marcoux, I., Boivin, A., Mesana, L., Graham, I., Hébert, P. (2016). Medical end-of-life practices with Canadian physicians: a pilot study. CMAJ Open, 4(2):E222-E229.
• Chao, Y-S., Boivin, A., Marcoux, I., Garnon, G., Mays, N., Lehoux, P., Prémont, M-C., van Leeuwen, E., Pineault, R. (2016). International changes in end-of-life practices over time: a systematic review. BMC Health Services Research, 16(1): 539
• Marcoux, I., Boivin, A., Arsenault, C., Toupin, M., Youssef, J. (2015). Healthcare professionals' comprehension of the legal status of end of life practices in Quebec: A study by clinical scenarios. Canadian Family Physician, 61, e196-203.
• Boivin, A., Marcoux, I., Garnon, G., Lehoux, P., Mays, N., Chao, Y-S., Prémont, M-C., van Leeuwen, E., Pineault, R. (2015). Comparing end-of-life practices in different policy contexts: a scoping review. Journal of Health Services Research and Policy.
• Marcoux, I., Rududura, E-G. (2014). La souffrance morale : un concept fourretout, une entité à part ou un constituant parmi d’autres de la souffrance globale? Psycho-Oncologie, 8, 209-214.
• Boivin, A., Marcoux, I., Garnon, G., van Leeuwen, E., Mays, N., Pineault, R., Prémont, M., Lehoux, P. (2014). Independent research needed to inform end-of-life policy choices. CMAJ: Canadian Medical Association Journal, 186(81), 3.
• Marcoux, I. (2012). «Avoir le moral» après l'annonce d'un cancer: une étude auprès des personnes atteintes d'une tumeur cérébrale de haut grade», Psycho-Oncologie, 6, 209-216.
• Marcoux, I. (2012). Étude prospective du processus communicationnel lié à l ‘annonce d’une maladie incurable, Bulletin du Cancer, 99(2), 137-146.
• Marcoux, I. (2011). Euthanasia: a confounding and intricate issue. In Josef Kure (Ed.), The Good Death: Controversy in Humans and Animals. p.45-62.
• Marcoux, I., Austin, S. (2011). La recherche en psychologie communautaire: fondements et applications. Dans Thomas Saïas, Introduction à la psychologie communautaire. Dunod: Paris. p. 173-186.
• Marcoux, I., Angelique, H., & Culley, M.R (2009). La psychologie communautaire en Amérique du Nord : Historiques et applications. Pratiques Psychologiques, 15(1), 17-27.
• Marcoux, I. (2008). Dans quelles conditions est-il acceptable ou non de mourir par euthanasie ? Frontières, 20(1), 69-75.
• Marcoux, I., Mishara, B.L., & Durand, C. (2007). Confusion between euthanasia and other end-of-life decisions: Influences on public opinion poll results. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 98(3), 235-239.
• Cohen, J., Marcoux, I., Bilsen, J., Deboosere, P., van der Wal, G., & Deliens, L. (2006). Public attitudes towards euthanasia in 33 European countries. Sociodemographic and cultural factors associated with the acceptance of euthanasia. Social Science and Medicine, 63(3), 743-56.
• Cohen, J., Marcoux, I., Bilsen, J., Deboosere, P., van der Wal, G., & Deliens, L. (2006). Trends in acceptance of euthanasia among the general public in 12 European countries (1981-2000).European Journal of Public Health, 16(6), 663-669.
• Marcoux, I., Onwuteaka-Philipsen, B.D., Jansen-van der Weide, M.C., & van der Wal, G. (2005). Withdrawing an explicit request for euthanasia or physician-assisted suicide (EAS): The influence of mental health status and other patient characteristics. Psychological Medicine, 35(9), 1265-74.