Dr. Marilou Gagnon

Dr. Marilou Gagnon is a Professor in the UVic School of Nursing and a scientist with the Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research. Her program of research seeks to address gaps in knowledge that have the potential to inform public debate and policies, while also advancing the rights and the health of marginalized communities, including communities of people who use drugs, people at risk or living with sexually transmitted and blood-borne infections (STBBI), and people who are unstably housed or experiencing homelessness. Her program of research focuses on three axes:

• The first axis concerns structures that create inequities and injustices. Her theoretical and empirical work focuses on the intersections between law, policies, human rights, and health. Areas of interest include: 1) health, housing, and drug-related policies, 2) criminalization of HIV non-disclosure, drug use, and homelessness, and 3) prevention and reduction of socially and structurally mediated harms.
• The second axis takes an in-depth look at the government (management) of risk, bodies and behaviours. Her approach blends concepts and theories from philosophy, social sciences, health sciences, and ethicolegal studies. She uses this approach to critically analyze topics such as HIV testing policies (e.g., mandatory testing in prisons, routine testing, self-testing, and incentivized testing), public health surveillance (e.g., big data, viral load, community viral load, contact tracing, molecular surveillance, and phylogenetic analysis), and high-impact prevention and treatment (e.g., Treatment as Prevention, contingency management, and technotherapeutics – microchipping of medications to enhance adherence).
• The third axis examines issues related to the health equity and social justice. More specifically, she is interested in improving access to care, including self-care (e.g., cannabis for symptom management) and grassroots approaches to community care (e.g., overdose prevention sites and tent cities). She is also interested in improving the quality of care by addressing stigma and discrimination in health care and improving nursing education. Finally, she takes a particular interest in social justice issues, including whistleblowing. She is actively developing a program of research, scholarship, and advocacy on whistleblowing in nursing as part of a Nursing Observatory she co-founded. 

Projects related to substance use

• The safer washroom campaign: Disseminating best practices in the public and private sectors
• Developing a roadmap for nurse-assisted injection in BC’s supervised consumption services
• What happens after cannabis legalization? Documenting the experiences of people who use cannabis for therapeutic purposes
• Exploring the Ethical Tensions and Professional Implications of Incentivized Health Care: A Case Study
• Integration of HIV and Hepatitis C Care in Overdose Prevention Sites: What are the Gaps?

Publications related to substance use

• "Food engages people, as we know": Health care and service providers' experiences of using food as an incentive in HIV care and support in Vancouver, Canada
• “With a PICC Line, You Never Miss”: The Convergence of Medical and Drug Assemblages in Hospital Care for People Living With HIV/HCV Who Use Drugs
• Developing a Digital Health Strategy for People Who Use Drugs: Lessons from COVID-19
• A Qualitative Study on Overdose Response in the era of COVID-19 and beyond: How to spot someone so they never have to use alone
• What are the ethical implications of using prize-based contingency management in substance use? A scoping review
• Involuntary Stabilization Care of Youth who Overdose: A Call for Evidence- and Ethics-Informed Substance Use Policy
• “It Gets People through the Door”: A Qualitative Case Study of the Use of Incentives in the Care of People at Risk or Living with HIV in British Columbia, Canada
• "Setting People Up for Success and Then Failure": Health Care and Service Providers' Experiences of Using Prize-Based Contingency Management
• What Can We Learn from the English Language Media Coverage of Cannabis Legalization in Canada?
• Cannabis legalization in Canada: What are the potential implications and barriers for people living with HIV?
• How Do Nursing Organizations Measure Up on Harm Reduction? An Environmental Scan
• International Consensus Statement on the Role of Nurses in Supervised Consumption Sites
• Substance Use Education in Canadian Nursing Programs: A Student Survey
• Changing the Conversation: A Critical Bioethics Response to the Opioid Crisis
• It’s Time to Allow Assisted Injection in Supervised Injection Sites