Researcher profile - Mark J. Yaffe, MDCM MClSc CCFP FCFP

Current academic and hospital titles

Associate Professor of Family Medicine, McGill University, Montreal

Member, Department of Family Medicine, St. Mary’s Hospital Centre, Montreal

Associate Member, Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Community Studies, St. Mary’s Hospital Centre, Montreal

Email: mark.yaffe@mcgill.ca

Current research interests

Family caregiving
Elder abuse detection and treatment
Detection and treatment of depression in older adults
Detection of colo-rectal cancer in primary care
Chronic disease management
Processes of primary health care delivery
Validation of disease specific detection algorithms
Multiple Sclerosis: Abuse of MS sufferers by caregivers

Current and recent research grants

Collaborator: Managing depression in adults with chronic physical illness.
Funded by: FRSQ, May 2009 - April 2013

Principal Investigator: An Assessment of the Ability of the EASI-sa to Identify Indicators Suggestive of Elder Abuse.
Funded by: Public Health Agency of Canada, October 2010 - March 2011

Collaborator: Intervention to improve colo-rectal cancer screening rates.
Funded by: CIHR, April 2009 - March 2011

Collaborator: Development and evaluation of a tele-homecare platform for patients with cancer and their family caregivers.
Funded by: St. Mary’s Hospital Foundation, April 2008 - March 2011

Principal Investigator: Seniors’ Self-Administration of the Elder Abuse Suspicion Index (EASI): A Feasibility Study.
Funded by: New Horizons for Seniors Program of Human Resources and Social Development Canada, January 2009 - December 2009.

Collaborator: Discussion of complementary and alternative medicine for cancer in mainstream health care: Perspectives of family medicine patients and physicians.
Funded by: St. Mary’s Hospital Foundation, January 2009 - December 2009

Collaborator: Development of a Canadian research group to explore elder abuse in cognitively impaired, and transcultural issues of elder abuse.
Funded by: British Columbia Network for Ageing Research, January 2009 - December 2009

Principal investigator: Improving seniors’ awareness of elder abuse through the self-administration of the Elder Abuse Suspicion Index.
Funded by: New Horizons for Seniors Program (HRSDC), October 2008 - December 2009

Collaborator: Engaged Scholarship: Evaluating Community Care for Older Adults.
Funded by: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Formal proposal developped for September 2009 submission

Collaborator: Implementation of chronic care management for late-life depression in primary care.
Funded by: CIHR, September 2008 – March 2009

Principal investigator: Exploration of factors affecting family caregivers’ “readiness” to accept advice of family doctors.
Funded by: St. Mary’s Hospital Foundation, 2008

Collaborations

Elder Abuse Theme Team, National Initiative for Care of the Elderly (NICE)
“Expert Clinical Working Group” of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging
Multidisciplinary Advisory Board for “Challenges of Giving Care to People with Multiple Sclerosis” (Abuse of MS sufferers by caregivers) Program in Geriatrics, University of California, Irvine (U.S. National Multiple Sclerosis Society funded project)
Advisory Committee on Prevalence Study on Elder Abuse, Chicago Health and Aging Project, Rush Institute for Healthy Aging, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago.

Representative recent publications

Sewitch M, Yaffe MJ, Maisonneuve J, Prchal J, Ciampi A. Use of complementary and alternative medicine by cancer patients at a Montreal hospital. Integrative Cancer Therapies. DOI: 10.1177/1534735410395136. March 2011

Yaffe MJ, Wolfson C, Lithwick M. Professionals show different enquiry strategies for elder abuse detection: Implications for training and interprofessional care. Journal of Interprofessional Care 2009; 23(6), 646-54

McCusker J, Cole M, Yaffe MJ, Cappeliez P, Dawes M, Sewitch M, Ciampi A, Latimer E. Project DIRECT: Pilot study of a collaborative intervention for depressed seniors. Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health 2008; 27:201-218

Yaffe MJ, Jacobs BJ. Educating about family caregiving: Advocating More Family Physician Involvement. Canadian Family Physician. 54: 1359-1360, 2008.

Yaffe MJ, Wolfson C, Weiss D, Lithwick M. Development and validation of a tool to assist physicians’ identification of elder abuse: The Elder Abuse Suspicion Index (EASI © ). Journal of Elder Abuse and Neglect. 20 (3): 276-300, 2008.

Yaffe MJ, Orzeck P, Barylak L. Family physicians’ perspectives on ambulatory care of individuals with dementia and their family caregivers: A qualitative study. Canadian Family Physician. 54: 1008-15, 2008.

Sewitch MJ, Fournier C, Dawes M, Yaffe MJ, Snell L, Roper M, Zanelli P, Pavilanis A. Do physicians’ recommendations for colorectal cancer screening differ by patient age? Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology. 21: 435-438, 2007.

Yaffe MJ, Weiss D, Wolfson C, Lithwick M. Detection and prevalence of abuse of older males: Perspectives from family practice. Journal of Elder Abuse and Neglect. 19 (1/2): 47-60, 2007. Conjointly published as book chapter in Abuse of Older Men. (ed Kosberg, JI), Howarth Press, Binghamton, New York, 2007, pp. 47-60.

Yaffe MJ. Elder Abuse. Chapter in Calhoun K, Eibling DE, Wax MK, Kost K. Geriatric Otolaryngology. Taylor and Francis, New York. pp.635-645, 2006.

Sewitch MJ, Yaffe MJ, McCusker J, Ciampi A. Helping Family Doctors Detect Vulnerable Caregivers After an Emergency Department Visit for an Elderly Relative: Results of a Longitudinal Study. BMC Family Practice. 7: 46, 2006.

Yaffe MJ, Primeau F, McCusker J, Cole MG, Belzile E, Dendukuri N, Elie M, Laplante J. Psychiatric outpatient consultation for seniors. Perspectives of family physicians, consultants, and patients/family: A descriptive study. BMC Family Practice. 6: 15, 2005..

Yaffe MJ, Gupta G, Still S, Boillat M, Russillo B, Schiff B, Sproule D. Morbidity and Mortality Audits. “How to” for family practice. Canadian Family Physician. 51: 234-239, 2005.

Sewitch, MJ, McCusker J, Dendukuri N, Yaffe MJ. Depression in Frail Elders: Impact on Family Caregivers. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry. 19: 655-665, 2004.