Suzanne Dupuis-Blanchard is a registered nurse and full professor at the School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences and Community Services, Université de Moncton, Canada. For over 25 years, she has pursued a career of academic excellence and research in gerontology. She holds the CNFS-Université de Moncton Health Research Chair in Population Aging and is Director of the Centre for Studies in Aging. This chair and study centre have the particularity of working to improve the quality of life of Francophone seniors in minority language situations. She is the Chair of the National Seniors Council of the federal government (2017-present) and the immediate past President of the Canadian Association on Gerontology (2014-2018). She has more than 30 research projects to her credit, published numerous scientific articles and book chapters on the topic of population ageing.
The innovative project that best demonstrates Suzanne Dupuis-Blanchard’s unique leadership and contributions to fostering healthy ageing is her pilot project "Foyer de soins sans mur / Nursing home without walls". New Brunswick is Canada's oldest province (22.8% of the population is over 65). The province faces many challenges, as nearly 60% of its population lives in rural and remote areas and it is one of the poorest in the country. In this context, it is difficult for the government to support older people to remain in their homes for as long as possible. Most of the time, it is difficult for them to obtain the home services they need. This project developed and implemented by Suzanne Dupuis-Blanchard aims to extend the provision of some services already offered in nursing homes to older people still living at home.
Services included personal care, social activities and accompaniment to medical appointments, among others. This pilot project was funded 1.8 million CAD by Canadian federal and provincial governments in 2018. Currently, it provides support to 350 older people living in southeastern and northeastern New Brunswick to enable them to remain in their own homes rather than move to a nursing home in the province. In 2021, based on the success of the pilot project, the Government of New Brunswick decided to expand it to 16 other locations. Over the next few years, the "Nursing Home Without Walls" project is seen as one of the largest initiatives to reform home support in the province in a way that links up sectors and stakeholder groups, allowing many nursing homes to expand their roles in both urban and rural communities in benefit of older people’s health and well-being.