Research co-leads:
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Research user co-lead:
- Lauren Irving
Northern Health Authority
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Team members:
- Sandra Allison
Northern Health
- Jennifer Begg
Northern Health
- Chris Bone
City of Prince George
- Matthew Burkey
Cariboo Chilcotin Child Development Centre
- Stacy Cabage
HOY Medical Clinic, Foundry Youth Centre
- Kim Chernenkoff
The Native Friendship Centre
- Darcy Dennis
Ministry of Children and Families
- Jenessa Ellis
Carney Hill Neighbourhood Centre Society, Hadih House
- Erica Koopmans
University of Northern British Columbia
- Christy Kubert
Child Development Centre of Prince George and District
- Andrea Maurice
School District 57
- Lisa Provencher
School District 57
- Rhoda Viray
Northern Health
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Fifty years of infant and early childhood universal health care program evaluation has repeatedly demonstrated that effective early childhood services make a difference to secure more positive long-term health and wellbeing outcomes for children and their families. The early years are a critical period of transitions with fluctuating family needs. An array of services, each with its own structure and process exist. Children whose life circumstances are more complex will need additional support to help them to navigate what is already a challenging developmental journey. Such enhanced services should leverage connectivity by creating and enhancing opportunities for engagement and access despite contextual factors (i.e. rurality).
In addition, we are faced with a shift in the ways we have to work, financial and cost-saving plans, organisational restructuring and nuances linked to rural geography. What our team has come to learn is that in applying services from urban centres there is a lack in understanding the unique environmental factors, fiscal vulnerability, and cultural complexities in the north. Using our completed rapid realist review, as a starting point, we want to engage with a broader community to understand enhanced service needs for the north. Using a systems and compassionate leadership stakeholder approach, we wish to join enhanced service work streams across health, municipalities, social care and not-for-profit organisations.
Research co-leads:
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Research user co-lead:
- Dr. Frank Scheuermeyer
Providence Health Care
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Team members:
- Dr. David Barbic
University of British Columbia, BC Emergency Network, Centre for Health Evaluation & Outcome Sciences
- Dr. Steve Mathias
Inner City Youth Program, St. Paul's Hospital, University of British Columbia, Infant, Child, and Youth Mental Health and Addictions Regional Program, Vancouver Coastal Health, Centre for Health Evaluation & Outcome Sciences
- Pam Liversidge
Foundry
- Tara Beaulieu
University of British Columbia, British Columbia Centre on Substance Use
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In Canada, there has been a profound disconnect between emergency services and mental health services for youth and young adults. Recent evidence suggests that more than half of Canadian youth and young adults presenting to an Emergency Department (ED) with mental health and substance use (MHSU) needs have not had any previous mental health-related contact with the health care system.
In BC, the opioid epidemic has compounded this crisis, with youth and young adults accounting for 20-25% of all opioid-related overdoses and deaths. From coast to coast, there is an immediate need to improve referral to integrated youth and young adult services to limit repeated ED visits and hospitalization for MHSU disorders and to promote the health and well-being of this population. The goal of our work is to build a partnership in BC between a network of EDs and an integrated youth and young adult health services network called Foundry.
Specifically, we propose to coalesce a group of patients and their family, service providers, clinicians, and physicians for a one-day workshop to inform the development of an intervention (ED2Foundry) designed to improve the linkages between EDs and community health services for youth and young adults with MHSU concerns.
Research co-leads:
- Tami Howe
University of British Columbia
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Research user co-lead:
- Katharine Davies
Providence Health Care, University of British Columbia – Vancouver
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Team members:
- Indershini Pillay
Providence Health Care
- Tara Chen
Providence Health Care
- Dr. Jeff Small
University of British Columbia
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Communication is central to everyday life. It is essential for maintaining relationships with family and friends and for participating in community, social, and leisure activities. In older adults, communication is particularly important because of the increased risk for social isolation and depression. A major contributor to communication disorders in BC is dementia, which has an estimated prevalence of 62,000. Most people with dementia (PWD) experience communication difficulties early on, making it a high priority for intervention.
Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) are the health professionals with specialist knowledge in managing communication disorders. There is a strong evidence base for the provision of nonpharmacological interventions to address the communication needs of PWD and their families. However, SLPs report many barriers to implementing these interventions and PWD seldom have access to evidence-based communication care. There is a need to narrow this evidence-to-practice gap. We plan to create a collaboration between clinical research users and researchers to identify the barriers and facilitators to implementing evidence-based communication care in BC and to develop a set of research priorities for this area.
Research co-lead:
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Research user co-lead:
- Alastair McAlpine
BC Children's Hospital, Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children
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Team members:
- Dr. Monika Naus
BC Centre for Disease Control, University of British Columbia
- Dr. Tom Blydt-Hansen
BC Children's Hospsital, University of British Columbia
- Dr. Al-Ghaithi
- Dr. Bonnie Henry
Provincie of BC
- Dr. Sally Lawrence
BC Children's Hospital
- Dr. Kyla Hildebrand
BC Children's Hospsital
- Dr. Lori Tucker
BC Children's Hospsital
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Vaccine research projects have traditionally been designed by researchers with/without policymakers or doctors and without public involvement – the very people we are trying to protect from serious infections. In this project we will bring together groups of people with interest and expertise in vaccine research.
Our goal is to develop a plan for future vaccine research projects which is relevant to everyone – researchers, the public, public health and government officials who decide immunization programs and doctors. We will include trainees to ensure we are leaving the next generation in safe hands. We will first arrange a meeting of people from these different groups to discuss vaccine research priorities. We will then carry out a survey to include opinions from those who could not be included in the meeting.
Finally, we will bring the results of the survey to a final meeting where we would like to end up with at least 2-3 projects which address the identified BC vaccine research priorities – we will then try to obtain funding for these projects. This process will create a new group of people who we hope will work together for many years to come and make sure that vaccine research in BC remains relevant for everyone.
Research co-leads:
- Dr. Lianping Ti
University of British Columbia, British Columbia Centre on Substance Use
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Research user co-lead:
- Sampath Satti
Brave Technology Cooperate
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Team members:
- Shawna Blomskog
Brave Technology Cooperate
- Jenna van Draanen
British Columbia Centre on Substance Use, UBC
- Rod Knight
British Columbia Centre on Substance Use, UBC
- Jeffrey Morgan
British Columbia Centre on Substance Use, Community-Based Research Centre
- Oona Krieg
Brave Technology Cooperate
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The proposed activities include two workshops aimed at the collaborative development of a community-informed research agenda at the intersection of applied ethics and the use of technology to combat the overdose crisis. Brave Technology Coop (Brave) is currently piloting a new technology -a sensor that can detect changes in breathing- to aid in monitoring bathrooms for overdose intervention in commercial buildings in Vancouver's downtown eastside, with research support from the BC Centre on Substance Use.
While this intervention has the potential to make spaces safer, it also introduces privacy concerns for people accessing these spaces, particularly people who use drugs (PWUD) who face stigmatization and criminalization. Our aim is to convene stakeholders in Vancouver in November 2019 and February 2020 to discuss the ethical implications of surveillance in spaces where people may be using drugs, including how consent should be obtained with the use of passive overdose detection devices, and how to maintain privacy of sensitive data collected.
We will ultimately develop a collaborative research agenda that will facilitate PWUD, researchers, research users, and community stakeholders to co-develop systems of overdose response.
Research co-leads:
- Amanda Slaunwhite
Provincial Health Services Authority
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Research user co-lead:
- Gillian McLeod
City of Delta
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Team members:
- Dr. Aamir Bharmal
Fraser Health Authority
- Jennifer Hawkins
Fraser Health Authority
- Dr. Michael Schwandt
British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, University of British Columbia
- Amy Salmon
Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcomes Sciences
- Marinel Kniseley
Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcomes Sciences
- Dr. Alexis Crabtree
University of British Columbia
- Dr. Jesse Kancir
University of British Columbia
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Illicit drug overdose is the central provincial public health challenge in British Columbia (BC). All communities in BC have been affected by the overdose crisis, however little is known about how harm reduction and addictions treatment interventions can be adapted to rural and remote places that do not have supervised consumption/overdose prevention sites or addiction medicine providers.
We aim to address this significant gap in knowledge by convening a diverse group of persons with lived experience, policy makers, clinicians, and researchers from across BC to develop a public health action and research agenda for addressing geographic and place-based contributors to overdose that leverages existing data sources such as the Provincial Overdose Cohort. The objectives of this project are to:
- Determine knowledge gaps and identify opportunities to collaborate across organizations and regions to better understand (a) geographic variations in overdose and (b) access to harm reduction, addictions treatment and acute care services outside of urban centers;
- Identify immediate (6 month), short-term (1 year) and medium term (2 year) priorities for action in addressing overdose deaths in sparsely populated places with an emphasis on scaling up existing networks, programs and services;
- Develop an interactive concept map and lay language publication that synthesizes the results of (1) and (2) for public release.
Research co-leads:
- Laura Sauve
University of British Columbia
- Dr. Alison Gerlach
University of Victoria
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Research user co-lead:
- Matthew Carwana
BC Children's Hospital, University of British Columbia
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Team members:
- Diana Elliott
Aboriginal Infant Development Program
- Amanda Tallio
YouthCo
- Elder Roberta Price Vancouver Coastal Health, University of British Columbia
- Jenny Morgan
C&W Indigenous Health Programme
- Rochelle Lesueur
C&W Indigenous Health Programme
- Dr. Ariane Alimenti
- Dr. Tatiana Sotindjo
- Nicci Stein
Teresa Group, Aids Service Organization in Ontario
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The aim of this project is to mobilize knowledge on supporting maternal wellbeing and the early health and development of infants in British Columbia (BC) who are affected by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and social marginalization. The health and wellbeing of women living with HIV is impacted by social marginalization that can influence their engagement with healthcare and social services for themselves and their children. Children born to mothers living with HIV, are 'HIV exposed but uninfected' (HEU) and have an increased risk of developmental delays compared to the general child population
Children's health and health equity is inseparable from the wellbeing of their primary caregiver(s) and family as a whole. Children's equitable access to health and early years services during the critical early years can improve their long term neurodevelopmental and health trajectory. However, quality assurance and anecdotal evidence suggest that few HEU infants connect with services outside of their HIV care.
Through this project we will engage with mothers with lived experiences, frontline service delivery stakeholders from various community-based organizations that support maternal and infant wellbeing, Elders, HIV advocacy organizations, involved pediatricians and health authority and provincial policymakers
Research co-leads:
- Alison Phinney
University of British Columbia – Vancouver
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Research user co-lead:
- Dr. Lillian Hung
Simon Fraser University, University of British Columbia – Vancouver Campus, Vancouver Coastal Health
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Team members:
- Dr. Habib Chaudhury
Simon Fraser University
- Jim Mann
Alzheimer Society of Canada
- Mario Gregorio
Alzheimer Society of Canada
- Joyce Wong
Vancouver Coastal Health
- Shannon Hopkins
Vancouver Coastal Health
- Heather Cowie
Alzheimer Society of B.C
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People living with dementia and their family/friend caregivers face challenges including; stigma, poor physical health, social isolation, poor mental health, difficulty accessing formal and informal support and financial pressures. In B.C. in 2018, about 70,000 people live with dementia. By 2033, that number is estimated to increase to almost 120,000. In the face of an aging population there is increasing commitment across Canada to make our communities more 'age-friendly', but people with dementia may not be included in this. Social stigma and a lack of meaningful engagement strategies hinder people with dementia from participation in service development to create inclusive dementia-friendly communities.
The project aims to bring together researchers and research users to identify research priorities. We will collectively explore the meanings of dementia-friendly communities and develop a research agenda that includes shared vision and actionable research questions.
The team, including people with dementia and caregivers, will jointly plan a one-day research day workshop. The workshop participants include representatives of 6 stakeholder groups: researchers, people with dementia, family/friend caregivers, healthcare professionals, decision-makers of the local health authority, and dementia advocacy groups. Outcomes of this project will include a research agenda rooted in local community needs and a research advisory group to support subsequent research.
Research co-leads:
- Tonia Nicholls
University of British Columbia
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Research user co-lead:
- Nader Sharifi
BC Mental Health & Substance Use (BCMHSUS)
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Team members:
- Amanda Butler
Simon Fraser University
- Ilvy Goossens
Simon Fraser University, BC Mental Health and Substance Use Services
- Faith Eiboff
University of British Columbia
- Christian Farrell
University of British Columbia
- Karen Peterson
University of British Columbia
- Dr. Ruth Lavergne
Simon Fraser University
- Deborah Ross
BC Mental Health and Substance Use Services
- Maureen Olley
Mental Health Services Corrections Branch Ministry of Public Safety
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People who go to prison experience disproportionate health burdens, including high rates of chronic disease, communicable disease, mental illness and substance use issues, compared to the general population. Prison admissions provide a unique opportunity to provide health care to marginalized individuals.
Health services in prisons are typically delivered by the ministry responsible for Corrections. In October 2017, in accordance with World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations, the responsibility for healthcare governance in British Columbia (BC) Corrections was transferred from the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General (MoPSSG) to the Ministry of Health (MoH); BC Mental Health and Substance Use Services (BCMHSUS) is responsible for this portfolio. Although several jurisdictions worldwide have adopted this approach, there is a critical lack of research and evaluation on both process and outcomes of this policy.
Our team will engage in a collaborative, inclusive, priority-setting exercise focused on healthcare delivery in correctional facilities in BC, focusing on transitions and aftercare. The primary goal is to co-develop a research agenda to evaluate the healthcare governance transition through meetings with people with lived experience, family members, clinicians, decision-makers, quality and strategic information management experts, and researchers.These critical stakeholders will help us to determine future research priorities.
Research co-leads:
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Research user co-leads:
- Romona Baxter
Nzen’man’ Child and Family Development Centre Society
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Team members:
- Emily Gardiner
University of British Columbia
- Deborah Pugh
Autisum Community Training
- Rona Sterling-Collins
Rona Sterling Consulting
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This project will shine a light on a particular health inequity facing Aboriginal* communities in British Columbia, specifically those related to the delayed access to diagnostic and treatment services for individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Though precise prevalence rates of ASD among Aboriginal children in Canada are unknown, data from other populations indicate this disorder is significantly under-diagnosed among Aboriginal populations (e.g. Native Americans and Australian Aboriginals). Recent personal communication with the provincial ministry overseeing ASD diagnosis and intervention funding (Ministry of Children and Family Development) suggests that in British Columbia, ASD is as prevalent among Aboriginal children as it is among those of non-Aboriginal ancestry, but that these children are receiving a diagnosis later and missing out on critical early intervention. We suspect this difference in access is related to unique challenges associated with geographical and cultural issues, the lack of specialized professionals in rural and remote regions of the province, cultural and spiritual beliefs about disability, and to histories of colonization and oppression.
This project aims to address this health disparity by beginning a dialogue with Aboriginal communities about their experience with ASD.
A two-day knowledge gathering event for Aboriginal families of children with ASD and their service providers will be hosted in partnership with an Aboriginal community. At the event, an overview of available provincial resources will be provided, including culturally appropriate information on ASD. Attendees will then be broken into small breakout discussion groups, and families and service providers will be invited to share their support experiences, perceived gaps and needs, and identify opportunities for how health research could facilitate improvement. Information and resources will be shared and exchanged with families, professionals, and community leaders.
These events will allow for the gathering of information on the challenges and barriers experienced by the Aboriginal communities of the Nlaka’pamux Nation, comprised of 16 First Nation communities in the Lytton and Merritt areas, as well as an off-reserve population in the Merritt area. Once the support needs of this community is understood, priority policy issues and future research questions will be identified.
* ‘Aboriginal’ is the term of preference for our research user co-lead.