Professor Pier-Luc Turcotte and his students study the sociopolitical aspects of occupational therapy practice among marginalized populations. He is responsible for occupational therapy program courses related to psychosocial factors contributing to individual and community well-being. His teaching is based on a decade of clinical experience in community, institutional and psychiatric settings, as well as in Indigenous communities.
Part of his research has dealt with community occupational therapy practice with people from low-income neighbourhoods living with various disabilities and relying on community services to support their social participation. One of his projects, funded by SSHRC, studies the experience of persons with respiratory difficulties in environments where the air has become unbreathable for them, for example, due to forest fires or industrial and urban pollution. Affiliated with the University Research Chair in Forensic Nursing, Professor Turcotte is also conducting an ethnographic study regarding the role of occupational therapists in defining the risk represented by persons found not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder. His research relies on a participatory approach, using critical theories to reveal the sociopolitical aspects and underlying power dynamics in these social practices.
Among his areas of involvement, Professor Turcotte is collaborating on the development of a “social occupational therapy” component within the Clinique interdisciplinaire de droit social de l’Outaouais. Professor Turcotte is also production editor of Aporia: The Nursing Journal and associate editor of the Brazilian Journal of Occupational Therapy. As well, he is a member of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research’s College of Reviewers.
Professor Turcotte is accepting new students for thesis supervision.