Kathy Kortes-Miller, MSW, PhD
Research and Knowledge Translation
My research experience has been interdisciplinary and collaborative contributing to a broad range of fields of study including: social work, palliative care, health care education,interprofessional education,gerontology, high fidelity simulation, education technology, higher education and continuing education.
I am a founding member of The Diverse Experiences in Aging Research (DEAR) Collaborative, an interdisciplinary, inter-institutional research group whose goal is to account for and understand diversity in aging.
I am committed to improving the care provided at the bedside for our most vulnerable and frail. My career aspirations are to be an activist academic researcher and educator focussing on palliative and end-of life care. My intention is to continue to develop a research portfolio that will influence healthcare education and care at the bedside alongside future aspirations to eventually impact organizational and healthcare policy. I'm interested in interdisciplinary collaboration on research projects so please contact me: kkortesm@lakeheadu.ca
Current Research Projects
2020-2020 Caring, Sharing, and Preparing: Let's talk about later life! (Canadian Frailty Network)
2019-2020 The Untold Stories of MAiD in Ontario: Family and loved one's experiences (SSHRC Insight Development Grant)
2019-2022 Deconstructing normativity in gerontology: Focus on sexual orientation & gender identity (SSHRC Partnership Development Grant)
2018-19 MAiD in Northwestern Ontario: Exploring the Physician Experience (SRC Research Development Fund)
Publications
Durant, K.* & Kortes-Miller, K. (2020). "Physician Snapshot: The Forming Landscape
of MAiD in Northwestern Ontario". Palliative Care and Social Practice.
(accepted April 2020).
*student
Kortes-Miller, K., & Durant, K. (2020). Physician Experience with MAiD in Northwestern
Ontario. Canadian Family Physician. (accepted Jan 2020).
Kortes-Miller, K., Wilson, K., & Stinchcombe, A. (2019). Care and LGBT Aging in Canada: A
Focus Group Study on the Educational Gaps among Care Workers. Clinical
gerontologist, 42(2), 192-197.
*awarded article of the month Jan 2019
Boulé, J., Wilson, K., Kortes-Miller, K., & Stinchcombe, A. (2019). “We Live in a Wonderful
Country, Canada, but…”: Perspectives From Older LGBTQ Ontarians on Visibility,
Connection, and Power in Care and Community. The International Journal of Aging and
Human Development, 0091415019857060.
Wilson, K., Stinchcombe, A., Ismail, M., & Kortes-Miller, K. (2019). LGBTQ2+ aging in
Canada: Building the evidence and informing action. The Canadian Journal of Human
Sexuality, 28(3), 257-260.
Kortes-Miller, K., Boulé, J., Wilson, K., & Stinchcombe, A. (2018). Dying in long-term care:
Perspectives from sexual and gender minority older adults about their fears and hopes
for end of life. Journal of social work in end-of-life & palliative care, 1-16.
*awarded article of the year by the journal.
Stinchcombe, A., Wilson, K., Kortes-Miller, K., Chambers, L., & Weaver, B. (2018). Physical
and mental health inequalities among aging lesbian, gay, and bisexual Canadians:
cross-sectional results from the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging
(CLSA). Canadian Journal of Public Health, 109(5-6), 833-844.
Wilson, K., Kortes-Miller, K., & Stinchcombe, A. (2018). Staying Out of the Closet:
LGBT Older Adults’ Hopes and Fears in Considering End-of-Life. Canadian Journal on
Aging/La Revue canadienne du vieillissement, 1-10.
Marshall, D., & Kortes-Miller, K. (2018). Was the 5th International Public Health
Palliative Care Conference 2017 Canada’s tipping point?—a meeting report. Annals of
Palliative medicine, 7(2), S130-S134.
Stinchcombe, A., Smallbone, J., Wilson, K., & Kortes-Miller, K. (2017). Healthcare and Endof-
Life Needs of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) Older Adults: A
Scoping Review. Geriatrics, 2(1), 13.
Wilson, K., Stinchcombe, A., Kortes-Miller, K., & Enright, J. (2016). Support Needs of
Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Older Adults in the Health and Social
Environment. Journal of Counselling and Spirituality 35(1), 13-29.
Vis, J. A., Ramsbottom, K., Marcella, J., McAnulty, J., Kelley, M. L., Kortes-Miller, K., &Jones-
Bonofiglio, K. (2016). Developing and Implementing Peer-Led Intervention to Support
Staff in Long-Term Care Homes Manage Grief. SAGE Open, 6(3), 2158244016665888.
Kortes-Miller, K., Jones-Bonofiglio, K., Hendrickson, S. & Kelley, ML. (2015). Dying with
Carolyn: Using Simulation to Improve Communication Skills of Unregulated Health
Care Providers Working in Long Term Care. Journal of Applied Gerontology,
DOI: 10.1177/0733464815577139
Dissertation
Death Education: Simulating the End of Life to Beginning Healthcare Providers. Supervisor: Dr. Lisa Korteweg
My doctoral dissertation research involved developing and evaluating an interdisciplinary palliative care education intervention using high fidelity simulation for undergraduate students in health professions. My research recognizes that learner participation in the instructional technological platform of simulation prompts questions about the nature of experiential learning and how it is that learning arises out of simulation. The purpose my research was to explore how the pedagogical uses of simulation technologies may enhance and support interprofessional palliative care education.
Additional Research
Research Fellowship
Interdisciplinary End-of-Life Care Education Using High Fidelity Simulation in Long Term Care
The overall contribution of this pilot project is to improve the quality of end-of-life care to frail elderly people living and dying in long term care (LTC) homes through providing LTC staff innovative interdisciplinary palliative care education while promoting interdisciplinary teamwork. LTC clinical staff will be offered a series of education modules uniquely designed to strengthen their capacity to provide holistic and skilled palliative care as an interdisciplinary team with an emphasis on caring communication. Education modules will address key issues in end of life care including advanced care planning, teamwork, holistic clinical assessment and end-of-life communication. The specific objective of this educational research is to implement and evaluate high fidelity simulation (HFS) as an immersive experiential approach to teach end-of-life care to teams of LTC staff in a safe, supportive environment.
2016 Co- Investigator Law Society of Ontario.
Project: “Dying alone: perspectives on the final stage of life from LGBT elders living in Ontario”
2014-2016 Research Fellow: Interdisciplinary End-of-Life Care Education Using High Fidelity Simulation in Long Term Care. Funder: Technology Evaluation in the Elderly Network (TVN)
2012-2014 Co-Investigator Good medicine: Supporting elderly individuals at home in Northwestern Ontario 2013 Funder: Thunder Bay Community
2008-2013 Collaborator on 5 year SSHRC funded Community/University Research Alliances (CURA)
Improving Quality of Life for People Dying in Long Term Care Homes.
Principle Investigator: Dr. Mary Lou Kelley.
2008-2009 Research Coordinator for a national project: Social Work Competencies on Palliative Education (SCOPE)
2006-2007 Member of a Practice Base research team exploring the “Essence of Mentorship