Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

Lower extremity amputations (LEAs) are serious, often preventable outcomes that can have profound physical, emotional, and social consequences for individuals living with diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other chronic conditions. In Quebec, many LEAs are not solely the result of medical factors but are strongly influenced by social and structural determinants of health, including access to healthcare, coordination of care, geographic barriers, socioeconomic status, and culturally safe care. These systemic and social factors can delay diagnosis, reduce timely treatment, and increase the risk of preventable complications, including infection, ultimately leading to amputations. My research aims to understand how these social and structural factors interact to contribute to LEA risk and to identify actionable strategies to prevent them. Using a community-engaged, mixed-methods approach, I am conducting in-depth interviews with patients, caregivers, healthcare providers, and decision-makers to explore lived experiences and perspectives on barriers, enablers, and solutions. Insights from this work are being integrated through human-centered design workshops to co-develop interventions and strategies that are practical, contextually relevant, and culturally safe. By linking population-level data with rich qualitative insights, this research addresses a critical public health challenge and informs evidence-based policies and interventions to reduce preventable amputations. Ultimately, it aims to improve health equity, strengthen healthcare delivery, and ensure that all Quebec residents, particularly those from vulnerable communities, have access to the care and resources needed to maintain healthy, functioning limbs.