Linda Garcia

Linda Garcia, PhD., is a Professor in the Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences and Founding Director of the Life Research Institute (LRI) at the University of Ottawa. The LIFE Research Institute (LRI) is an action-oriented research hub that takes a comprehensive approach to aging by advancing knowledge and training on the physical, mental and social issues that impact quality of life throughout the life trajectory. Linda Garcia’s personal research interests focus on the impact of physical, social, technological and clinical environments on the quality of life of individuals with neurological disorders, especially dementia. She is interested in developing interventions that include approaches based on human interactions, especially in long-term care living environments. Prior to joining the University of Ottawa in 1993, she worked for over 10 years in a large teaching hospital as a Speech-Language Pathologist. After completing her PhD with Dr. Yves Joanette and helping found the Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology Program, she created the Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences and became its first Director in 2010, prior to becoming Vice-Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences from 2014 to 2017.

She has been a member of the Steering committee for the Champlain Dementia Network for over 15 years, represents the University of Ottawa at the Council of Ontario Universities’ Ontario Interdisciplinary Council for Aging and Health, and more recently sits on the Board of the Eldercare Foundation of Ottawa, being tasked with developing the innovation plan for the foundation, which focuses on long-term care in Ottawa’s publicly funded homes.

• LIFE Research Institute

• Aging
• Dementia
• Long-term care
• Family carers of people with dementia
• Intergenerational interventions

Book 

• Garcia, L.J., McCleary, L., Drummond, N. (2020). Evidence-informed approaches for managing dementia transitions: Riding the Waves, 272 pp, Elsevier

Book chapters 

• Garcia, L., Bélanger-Hardy, L. and Lagacé, M. (2021) To care or not to care: What have we learned from COVID-19 about our attitudes toward older adults? In Maria Luszczynska (ed) Ageing and COVID-19, Routledge
• Garcia, L. J., Bélanger-Hardy, L. (2020) Including Participants who cannot communicate in research on ageing? In Maria Luszczynska, ed, Researching Ageing:  Methodological Challenges and their empirical Background (pp.274-291), Routledge, Taylor and Francis Group.
• Lagacé, M., Garcia, L., Bélanger-Hardy, L. (2020) COVID-19 et âgisme: crise annoncée dans les centres de soins de longue durée et réponse improvisée?  in Colleen M Flood, Vanessa MacDonnell, Jane Philpott, Sophie Theriault & Sridhar Venkapuram, eds, Vulnerable: The Policy, Law and Ethics of COVID-19 (pp.329-338, Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press. 

Peer reviewed articles

• The Immersive Healthcare Collaboration. (2021). The Role of Immersive Technology in Healthcare Training & Education: Three Principles for Progress. Publisher: Centre for Immersive Technologies, Leeds, UK. http://surgicalmic.nihr.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/12500_UoL_LIDA_IMMERSIVE_REPORT.pdf
• Bélanger-Hardy, Louise, Garcia, Linda, Lagacé, Martine (2020) Quelles valeurs sous-tendent nos choix politiques et sociaux à l’égard des aînés? La COVID-19 impose un questionnement essentiel. Options Politiques, 15 septembre 2020.
• ILC Canada (Margaret Gillis, Kiran Rabheru) and LIFE Research Institute (Louise Bélanger-Hardy, Linda Garcia, Martine Lagacé, Michael Mulvey) (2020) Protecting Human Rights During and After COVID-19: Challenges to the Human Rights of Older People in Canada, Report to the United Nations Human Rights Commission, June
• Fraser, S., Lagacé, M*, Bongué, B., Ndeye, N., Guyot, J., Bechard, L., Garcia, L., Taler, V., Members of the CCNA Social Inclusion and Stigma Working Group¥, Adam, S., Beaulieu, M., Bergeron, C.D., Boudjemadi, V., Desmette, D., Donizzetti, A. R., Éthier, S., Garon, S., Gillis, M., Levasseur, M., Lortie-Lussier, M., Marier, P., Robitaille, A., Sawchuk, K., Lafontaine, C., & Tougas, F. (2020). Ageism and COVID-19: What does our society’s response say about us? Age and Ageing., 49 (5), 692-695, https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afaa097
• Drummond, N., McCleary, L., Garcia, L., McGilton, K., Molnar, F., Dalziel, W., Jing Xu, T., Turner, D., Triscott, J., Freiheit, E. (2019) Assessing determinants of perceived quality in transitions for people with dementia: a prospective observational study. Canadian Geriatrics Journal, 22(1), 13-22,DOI: https://doi.org/10.5770/cgj.22.332
• Blais, S., McCleary, L., Garcia, L., Robitaille, A. (2017). Examining the benefits of intergenerational volunteering in long-term care: A review of the literature. Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, 15(3), pp-pp. 258-272 doi: https://doi.org/10.1080/15350770.2017.1330056
• DiGiacomo, G., Rabheru, K., Garcia, L., Plouffe, L., Gillis, M., Lagacé, M. (2017). Canada should lead the push for an international convention on older persons’ rights. Policy Options
• Garcia, L., McCleary, L., Emerson, V., Léopoldoff, H., Dalziel, W., Drummond, N., Cohen, C., Koehn, S., Silvius, J. (2014). The Pathway to Diagnosis of Dementia for Francophones Living in a Minority Situation. The Gerontologist, 54(6), 964-975, doi: 10.1093/geront/gnt121.
• Cadieux, M.-A., Garcia, L., & Patrick, J. (2013). Needs of People with Dementia in Long-Term Care: A Systematic Review. American journal of Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Dementias, 28(8), 723-733. doi:10.1177/1533317513500840
• Garcia, L.J., Hébert, M., Kozak, J., Sénécal, I., Slaughter, S.E., Aminzadeh, F., Dalziel, W., Charles, J., & Eliasziw, M. (2012). Perceptions of family and staff on the role of the environment in long-term care homes for people with dementia. International Psychogeriatrics, 24(5), 753-65. doi: 10.1017/S1041610211002675.
• Marziali, E. & Garcia, L. J. (2011). Dementia Caregivers' Responses to Two Internet-based Intervention Programs. American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease & Other Dementias, 26(1), 36-43.
• Garcia, L.J. (2005). La résilience du modèle conceptuel du Processus de production du handicap (PPH) sur la scène internationale. Développement humain, handicap et changement social, 14(1), 9-13.
• Garcia, L.J., Laroche, C., & Barrette, J. (2002). Work integration issues go beyond the nature of the communication disorder. Journal of Communication Disorders, 35(2), 187-211.
• LPAA Project group (ordre alphabétique: Roberta Chapey, Judy Duchan, Roberta Elman, Linda J. Garcia, Aura Kagan, Jon Lyon, & Nina Simmons-Mackie) (2000). Life Participation Approaches to Aphasia: A Statement of Values for the Future. ASHA Leader, 5(3), 4-6 (Noter : La revue a 90,000 lecteurs. L’article a été évalué par les pairs).
• Garcia, L. J., Barrette, J., & Laroche, C. (2000). Perceptions of the obstacles to work reintegration for persons with aphasia. Aphasiology, 14(3), 269-290.
• *Garcia, L.J., & Desrochers, A. (1997). L’évaluation des troubles du langage et de la parole chez l’adulte francophone/ Assessment of Language and Speech Disorders in Francophone Adults. Journal of Speech-language pathology and Audiology, 21(4), 271-293.
• Garcia, L.J., & Joanette Y.  (1997). Analysis of Conversational Topic Shifts: A Multiple Case Study. Brain and Language, 58(1), 92-114.