John Hirdes

Professor
John Hirdes

Contact information

Office:  TJB 2218

Phone: 519-888-4567 ext. 42007

Email: hirdes@uwaterloo.ca

Website: interRAI Canada

Assistant: Julie Koreck

Remote video URL

Research interests

My primary areas of interest include geriatric assessment, mental health, health care and service delivery, case mix systems, quality measurement, health information management, and quantitative research methods. Working as the senior Canadian Fellow and as a Board Member of interRAI, an international consortium of researchers from over 35 countries, I also chair interRAI's International Network of Excellence in Mental Health and the interRAI Network of Canada.

Graduate supervision and student opportunities

I am currently not accepting applications from graduate students.

Remote video URL

PhD Aging, Health and Well-being student, Joanna Sinn is supervised by Professor Hirdes. Watch her experience as she travels to a conference to deliver a presentation. Joanna is primarily interested in care transitions, resource allocation, and quality improvement. Her research uses data from various sources, including the standardized clinical assessments used internationally and developed by interRAI. Through this research, she is hoping to inform how heath care organizations and decision makers can better enable persons to live and thrive in the community.

Graduate studies application details

Teaching interests

  • Quantitative methods
  • Health services
  • Health informatics
  • Aging

Education

BSc Health Studies, University of Waterloo

MA Sociology, University of Waterloo

Diploma Gerontology, University of Waterloo

PhD Sociology, University of Waterloo

PDF Research, Freeport Hospital 

Awards and honours

Member of the Order of Canada (C.M.)

Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences

Recipient of the University of Waterloo Award for Excellence in Graduate Supervision, 2012

Selected publications

See Google Scholar for full list of publications.

Mitchell, L.A., Hirdes, J., Poss, J.W., Slegers-Boyd, C., Caldarelli, H., Martin, L. Informal caregivers of clients with neurological conditions: profiles, patterns and risk factors for distress from a home care prevalence study. BMC Health Services Research, 2015 Aug; 15(1): 350.

Tempier, R., Bouattane el M., Hirdes, J.P.  Access to psychiatrists by French-speaking patients in Ontario hospitals: 2005 to 2013. Healthcare Management Forum, 2015 Jul; 28(4):167-171.

*Salam-White, L., Hirdes, J.P., Poss, J.W., Blums, J. Predictors of emergency room visits or acute hospital admissions prior to death among hospice palliative care clients in Ontario: a retrospective cohort study. BMC Palliative Care, 2014 Jul 11; 13: 35.

Hirdes, J.P., Poss, J.W., Mitchell, L., Korngut, L., Heckman, G. Use of the interRAI CHESS scale to predict mortality among persons with neurological conditions in three care settings. PloS One, 2014 Jun; 9(6): e99066

*Danila,O., Hirdes, J.P., Maxwell, C.J., Marrie, R.A., Patten, S., Pringsheim, T, Jetté, N. Prevalence of neurological conditions across the continuum of care based on interRAI assessments. BMC Health Services Research, 2014 Jan 22; 14: 29

*Danila,O., Hirdes, J.P., Maxwell, C.J., Marrie, R.A., Patten, S., Pringsheim, T, Jetté, N. Prevalence of neurological conditions across the continuum of care based on interRAI assessments. BMC Health Services Research, 2014 Jan 22; 14: 29

Szczerbińska, K., Hirdes, J.P., Zyczkowska, J. Good News and Bad News: Depressive symptoms decline and under treatment increases with age in home care and institutional settings. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 2012 Sep; 20(12):1045-1056.

Selected professional activities and networks

  • interRAI - Senior Canadian Fellow and Board Member
  • Canadian Academy of Health Sciences - Fellow
  • Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) - interRAI Steering Committee
  • CIHI Committees on interRAI Instruments:
  • CIHI Health System Performance Committees:
    • Expert Advisory Group on Health System Performance in LTC
    • Expert Advisory Group on Health System Performance
  • American Red Cross:
    • Disaster Preparedness Subcommittee of Scientific Advisory Committee
  • Public Health Agency of Canada:
    • National Population Health Study of Neurological Conditions (NPHSNC)
    • Working Group on Health and Economic Modelling (Joint Committee with Statistics Canada
  • Health Quality Ontario Expert Committees on quality indicators for long term care and home care
  • 2016 1st World interRAI Conference Planning Committee - Chair
  • Waypoint Mental Health Centre Research Department - External Review Committee Member