Biography
Léonie Archambault is an institutional researcher at the Institut universitaire sur les dépendances of the CIUSSS du Centre-Sud-de-l'île-de-Montréal. She holds a master's degree in social work from the Université du Québec à Montréal and a doctorate in health sciences (addiction component) from the Université de Sherbrooke. Since 2015, her work has focused on services for people with opioid use disorders. She is particularly interested in the biopsychosocial components of co-occurring chronic pain and opioid use disorders, as well as pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions aimed at reducing the impacts of these two conditions. Her work is underpinned by the social determinants of health framework.
Why did you choose to study pain management?
For the past 10 years, my research has focused on opioid use disorders. I’m interested in the developmental trajectories of addiction, the socioclinical profiles of people impacted as well as the care and services available to them. It is estimated that up to 60% of people with opioid use disorders also experience chronic pain. Thus, I’ve been exploring the links between chronic pain and addiction for some years now, as well as the interventions that can help reduce the impact of these two issues on the people impacted by these. The complex web of interrelated risk factors associated with addiction and chronic pain includes mental health, physical health and socioeconomic variables. Across the continuum from prevention to treatment, much work remains to be done to support improved care and services for people with addiction and chronic pain issues. I hope to contribute to this through my work.
The driving force behind my work is looking into opioid dependence and its link with chronic pain, aimed at supporting improved care for these complex issues.
Through my work, I hope to support the improvement of care and services for people impacted by chronic pain.
