INRICH Member Profile Card
Alena Valderrama
CHU Sainte-Justine Montréal, Dep medecine social et préventive, ESPUM
I am a public health physician and researcher at mother and child university hospital center CHU Sainte-Justine and an assistant professor in the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine at the School of Public Health of the Université de Montréal.
Type of member: Regular
Email Address: alena.valderrama.med@ssss.gouv.qc.ca
Mailing Address: 3175 Chemin de la Côte-Sainte-Catherine Bureau: 8916 (8e étage bloc 9)
Current research interests
My practice and research focus on the social determinants of mental health and quality of life for autistic children and their families, mainly social support, health literacy and the fight against the stigma of autism. My work is about proposing preventive public policies and programs to improve the social inclusion of autistic people. I am working also in breastfeeding support also and in social vulnerability screening.
Research priorities
Pathways and mechanisms: Cumulative and additive social risk exposures (e.g. transient v. persistent poverty). | Other:
Stigma fighting and health literacy for reducing social inequalities
Selected publications
Isabelle Courcy Alena Valderrama Lindsay Weis-Heitner Mathieu Giroux Lucila Guerrero Ghitza Thermidor Line Laporte Baudouin Forgeot d’Arc. (2021). Croiser les perspectives pour mieux informer en autisme Entre ce que les professionnels veulent dire, ce que les parents veulent savoir et comment les adultes autistes veulent que l’on parle d’eux. Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health.40(2): 104-119.
Lévesque S, Boulebsol C, Lessard G, Bigaouette M, Fernet M, Valderrama A. Portrayal of Domestic Violence Trajectories During the Perinatal Period. Violence Against Women. 2022 May;28(6-7):1542-1564. doi: 10.1177/10778012211014564. Epub 2021 Jun 15. PMID: 34130557; PMCID: PMC8941718.
Valderrama A, Courcy I, Weis-Heitner L, Forgeot d'Arc B. Les enjeux de littératie dans la communication aux parents du diagnostic de trouble du spectre de l’autisme chez l’enfant [Health Literacy Issues of Parents Seeking Information on Autism Spectrum Disorder Around Time of Diagnosis]. Sante Ment Que. 2020 Spring;45(1):127-145. French. PMID: 33270403.
Valderrama A, Lajoie X, Armstrong M, Luizar-Obregon A, Kraus de Camargo O. Person-reported perspectives on support availability for people with disabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic in Quebec. Can J Public Health. 2022 Jul 28:1–12. doi: 10.17269/s41997-022-00671-3. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 35902539; PMCID: PMC9333069.
profile updated: 07/11/2023