The health sector is uniquely vulnerable to the impacts of extreme weather events driven by climate change, experiencing impacts like increased healthcare demand and disruption to healthcare infrastructure. There is a notable gap in comprehensive methods for estimating their economic impacts on the health system. This project seeks to address this gap by developing an approach to estimate the economic impacts of extreme weather events on the health system. The project will involve three steps, 1. A review of the literature, 2. Consultation with researchers and knowledge users, 3. Piloting of the framework on a case study.
We are seeking funding for the second step of this work. Focus groups will be conducted with health economists, they will be presented case studies of extreme weather events and asked questions on approaches to costing these events with the aim of gaining insights into ways to design methods to address the complexities of extreme weather events. Additionally, interviews will be conducted with policy makers and planners to explore the kinds of health economic evidence they need to support climate resilience planning in the health system. The results will be synthesized to develop a gold-standard approach.
Program: Convening and Collaborating Awards
A path to success: Convening service providers and patients to understand diabetes prevention care referral pathways and co-develop a research agenda for the interior of BC
General practitioners (GP) are essential in diabetes prevention due to the amount of time they interact with patients and the screening tests that they request and review. Once a GP identifies a patient as being at high risk of type 2 diabetes (T2D) they have the ability to refer this individual to publicly available education and prevention programs. However, in rural and urban locations of the interior region of BC, GPs are failing to refer individuals identified as being at high risk of T2D to diabetes prevention initiatives in the community. This represents a major block in the pathway to improving health for those at high risk of T2D. We need to collaborate with individuals involved in the screening, diagnosis and management of prediabetes in the interior of BC to a) uncover the barriers and facilitators to referrals to diabetes prevention programs or initiatives; b) Establish how individuals at high risk of T2D can access diabetes prevention care by identifying potential pathways to care that are acceptable to individuals responsible for care; and c) Co-develop a research agenda with health care professionals to devise, trial, and ultimately test out new potential pathways of care for patients at risk of T2D.
Developing a scale-up and evaluation plan for the Healthy Hips and Knees exercise program across B.C.
Hip and knee replacements are common procedures in Canada that improve mobility and reduce pain for individuals suffering from severe arthritis. To support pre- and post-surgical care, tailored exercise programs are integral. Unfortunately, access is often limited. This is especially true in rural areas, where cultural and language barriers persist. The Healthy Hips and Knees program offered by YMCA BC caters to those awaiting or recovering from surgery. Despite high demand, the program is currently available only in Prince George. To address this, YMCA BC hopes to expand its reach across British Columbia. The research team will collaborate with YMCA-BC to co-develop a research agenda. We will develop a plan to increase program reach and accessibility, particularly in underserved communities and groups. We will also ensure the program can continue over time. In addition, we have an evaluation plan to check how effective the program is, how well it is being adopted and implemented, and how it is maintained. This project will enhance care delivery for people with hip and knee replacements while identifying funding opportunities to sustain program expansion.
Co-developing a needs-derived research strategy toward forming a Digital Health Research Centre at BC Children’s and Women’s Hospitals
Digital health combines technology like smartphones and artificial intelligence, data from personal devices and hospital systems, and people like doctors, nurses, patients, and families to improve the health and well-being of the population. Digital health improves access to care and quality by providing the right information at the right time. Our team’s digital health research focuses on improving care for women, children, and their families in BC. There are existing successes and challenges to using digital health research in BC hospitals. To learn from these lessons and listen to the needs of our community, we will partner with people with lived experience (patients), healthcare workers, and hospital leaders. We aim to develop a shared research strategy and plan for a new Digital Health Research Centre spanning BC Children’s and Women’s Hospitals. In this project, we will identify gaps and opportunities, define priorities and co-develop research strategies that address current challenges to improve our health system with digital technology. The partnerships we form will allow us to advance the digital health research field and better serve the needs of the BC children’s and women’s health community.
Healthy youth then, healthy adults now? Strategic planning for the midlife follow-up of the Victoria Healthy Youth Survey
Adolescence (ages 12-18) and young adulthood (ages 19-29) are typically the time when individuals establish autonomy and independence, develop healthy habits (e.g., exercise and nutritional food preferences), form and maintain healthy relationships, and build capacity for economic success. Poor physical health and health habits in these life periods contribute to later risks for disease and associated costs. Yet, we do not have Canadian data that connect health across adolescence and young adulthood to long-term health in early mid-life (ages 35-45). The proposed project builds on an existing and robust community-based sample, the Victoria Health Youth Survey (V-HYS) which began in 2003 (N=662; ages 12-18). Our team will partner with Drs. Fyfe and Kay (Island Health) and Dr. Thumath (Ministry of Health) to develop a plan to collect follow-up data from these now adults including evidence-based measures of physical health, mental health, substance use, healthy relationships, and social determinants of health. Our partnerships will ensure findings provide information about what matters for health long-term for Canadians and inform policy responses that can support midlife health, mental health, education, labour, and social supports.
Exploring the role of seniors centres within the primary healthcare system
Seniors centres play a key role in promoting well-being and social connectivity of older adults. Yet, discussions on how to better align them with primary healthcare are typically led by the healthcare sector, often in isolation and without incorporating perspectives of seniors centres. Hence, the proposed initiative aims to expand the role of seniors centres and their potential impact through strategic collaboration and opportunities for research. By convening key stakeholders, including representatives from four Vancouver-based senior centres and four healthcare providers, we will co-develop a research and practice agenda through five workshops structured around a Theory of Change (TOC) framework. The TOC will guide the creation of long-term goals, identify necessary conditions for success, and establish measurable indicators to track progress and effectiveness. Key intended outcomes are to foster a collaborative approach to integrating seniors centres in shaping healthcare delivery; improve cross-sectoral collaboration to develop insights on how integrated efforts can better support health outcomes for older adults; and establish a research and practice agenda to explore the role of senior centres within primary healthcare.
Reproductive Aging and Recurrent Pregnancy Loss: Establishing A Research Advisory Board
If a couple experiences ≥ 2 pregnancy losses before 24 weeks gestation, it is called recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL). Losing pregnancies doesn’t affect only the body, it also means losing the hopes a couple has for their future child. Getting older increases the chances of pregnancy loss. Over the past 10 years, the RPL Research Program at BC Women’s Hospital has grown, however, there’s still much we don’t know about RPL. We believe that it’s important to include the community in RPL research so that the research focuses on what patients truly care about. Our aim is to create an RPL research advisory board to involve patient partners in our research program. This board will include patient partners, community organizations, researchers, and medical leads who will meet 5 times over a year, with many activities outside the meetings. They’ll decide what topics are most important and develop an application for another funding opportunity to study them more. The board will engage more community members by sharing research findings and shining light on RPL research. Involving trainees in our work will help develop their skills. This project improves our research program by including an advisory board at the heart of our work.
Chronic Pain and Women’s Health: Developing and Scaling Out Sex and Gender Informed Resources to Nursing Students and Educators in BC
In 2021, the Canadian Pain Task Force released the Action Plan for Pain in Canada, which included six recommendations to advance action on pain in Canada, including the need to increase awareness, education, and specialized training in pain. The Task Force also identified that women are among the populations disproportionately affected by chronic pain, and that health care professionals require additional knowledge and skills to effectively treat and manage pain. This project will respond to the recommendation and subsequent recommendations for action identified by CEWH researchers.
The purpose of this project is to create a research and educational agenda that improves how women’s health, and important sex and gender related considerations related to the experience of chronic pain and opioid use for pain management, are integrated into the BC nursing curricula. The project will: gather nursing students, nurse educators, chronic pain researchers, and people with lived and living experience of chronic pain in a hybrid learning event; prepare a research and educational agenda that identifies opportunities and priorities for women’s chronic pain in the nursing field; and create training resources for nursing students and educators.
Incorporating Social-Emotional Learning into Youth Suicide Prevention Efforts in Schools: The development of a comprehensive toolkit for Island Health’s School Health Promotion Specialists
Suicide is the leading cause of non-accidental deaths in children in BC. The number of youth suicide attempts and hospitalization rates associated with self-inflicted injury rose during the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing calls for public health to consider more universal prevention approaches that promote strength and protect against suicide before a crisis emerges. Upstream, universal prevention strategies help all youth learn about and build skills to identify and manage emotions, especially when feelings of distress become too intense. Fostering skills related to emotional regulation, healthy relationships, and responsible decision-making are core competencies of social-emotional learning (SEL). SEL holds promise in being an integral part of comprehensive youth suicide prevention, but more research is needed to determine how SEL can be applied to complement existing targeted approaches and general suicide awareness campaigns. Our proposed work aims to review best practices of SEL promotion in the context of suicide prevention in schools with the goal of developing a toolkit and training workshop for Island Health’s newly appointed team of School Health Promotion Specialists to support their suicide prevention efforts in schools
XR Technology to Support Students with Mood Disorders: Co-Developing a Research Agenda
Mood disorders (depressive and bipolar disorders) affect many Canadian post-secondary students and can severely impact functioning. Many affected students do not access treatment due to limited finances, time and available resources.
Extended reality (XR) can address some of these barriers. XR includes virtual reality, which creates interactive 3D representations of the real world, or augmented reality, which overlays digital stimuli on to the real world. XR has been successfully used to deliver therapy for mental health disorders including depression. Users can also access XR therapies at a low cost, and at times and locations of their choice. Despite these advantages, the potential of XR to aid students with mood disorders has not been explored.
This project will bring together students with lived experience, clinicians, administrators and community mental health organizations to develop a research agenda to guide future investigation of how XR can support students with mood disorders. It will also create a User Advisory Committee to advise on the design of XR treatments. The outcomes of this project will ensure that future research will generate XR treatments that are effective and relevant for BC post-secondary students.