Substance use disorder is a growing chronic disease in Canada, with increasing harms. Racialized South Asian (SA) men living in the Lower Mainland have been shown to be particularly vulnerable to the harms of alcohol and opioid use, with many struggling to access support due to a variety of systemic and intrinsic barriers. Ensuring that research users are engaged as equal partners alongside researchers, the team will have shared leadership between SA men who use substances, health service providers, community organization representatives, and researchers. The goal of the project is to design an evidence-informed, culturally resonant intervention to support SA men who use substances, as well as identify next steps for further research and study of culturally resonant interventions. This will be completed during 5 collaborative meetings between the team and various stakeholders, guided by an experienced facilitator who will use an anti-racist approach to facilitation. Overall, this initiative will produce a culturally resonant intervention designed by researchers and research users and an agenda for future research that embodies anti-racist ideas and centres the experiences and ideas of SA men who use(d) substances.
Research Location: Fraser Health Authority
Health Equity in the Digital Age: Enhancing Virtual Care for South Asians in British Columbia
Three in four South Asians in British Columbia live within the Fraser Health (FH) region. South Asians in Canada experience higher rates of chronic disease compared to the general Canadian population. These health disparities may be due, in part, to the ways in which social and environmental factors impact health and contribute to health inequities.
Virtual care services involve the delivery of health services through remote technologies (e.g., telephone, video calls, internet). Virtual care has the potential to improve healthcare access for marginalized populations; yet, South Asians in Canada are less likely to use virtual care services. They also face significant barriers in accessing culturally appropriate services. There is a need to develop and implement more equitable policies and virtual care services to improve access and reduce disparities.
This study aims to understand the barriers to, and facilitators of, virtual care services faced by South Asians in the FH region to help inform the development of more equitable and accessible virtual care solutions within FH.
Developing a Toolkit and Evidence Summaries to Disseminate an Evidence-based Resource Guide for Healthcare Provider to Incorporate Person-Centered Measures into Recovery Planning
This project builds on two other projects about how healthcare providers can include person-centred assessment tools (such as quality of life) into practice. These tools allow for the voice of persons living with mental illness and substance use to be in the driver seat of their recovery planning. This joint project is being carried out in Fraser Health community mental health centers. We will complete two activities in collaboration with practice and patient partners. First, we will develop a toolkit for clinical leaders to prepare healthcare providers to use person-centred assessment tools for shared decision making and person-centred recovery planning. Also, we will create evidence summaries and learning resources for managers/leaders to further assist providers to use these tools and to lessen any barriers to change. These activities will help with the ongoing usage of person-centred assessment tools by persons served and providers. The goal is to make use person-centred assessment tools to provide mental health and recovery services that focus on the needs of persons, which ultimately improves health outcomes of British Columbians.
Accelerating comprehensive diagnosis of glioma patients in BC: the long and short of it
Glioma is a type of brain cancer affecting patients of all ages. Modern care of the glioma patient consists of surgery, radiation treatment, and chemotherapy. Understanding the molecular makeup of the glioma can better identify how a tumour may progress than traditional pathology, which relies on what the tumour looks like under the microscope. Moreover, molecular information is crucial for treatment planning in the era of “precision oncology”, which aims to maximize tumour treatment while minimizing side effects. Without a doubt, the timely delivery of an integrated molecular glioma diagnosis is essential for quality care. We aim to achieve this via. an interdisciplinary approach, engaging researchers, pathologists, cancer physicians, and most importantly brain cancer patients at BC Cancer and Vancouver General Hospital, to integrate novel genomic technology and a re-imagined workflow to speed up brain cancer care and to reduce inequalities in access to care across BC.
Co-creating Fraser Health’s partner-centred long-term care and assisted living research priorities
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown failings in the care provided to older adults in care homes and a clear need for the voices of residents and their family to inform positive change. A group of residents, their family and friend carers, staff, physicians, nurses, leaders and researchers in care homes at Fraser Health will work together to agree on the most important research questions for people that live and work in care homes to improve the care that is given. Priority setting activities will be held with the goal to discuss key research topics and decide together the most important research questions in care homes at Fraser Health. Undertaking these activities also will build strong relationships between the different partners. The activities will be conducted so that the different partners in care homes, such as residents, their family and friends and staff, can contribute to the talks about research that is most important to them. The different research partners will also talk about plans for ongoing research projects to answer the top research questions together in the care homes at Fraser Health.
Team members: Adriaan Windt (Fraser Health); Laura Kadowaki (Simon Fraser University); Lucy Kervin (Simon Fraser University); Emma Leong (Kwantlen Polytechnic University); Annette Berndt (Fraser Health); Catherine Youngren (Fraser Health); Akber Mithani (Fraser Health); Suzanne Fox (Fraser Health); Clayon Hamilton (Fraser Health and Simon Fraser University); Valorie Crooks (Simon Fraser University); Nick Petropolis (Fraser Health); Amber Jarvie (Fraser Health); Gita Rafiee (Fraser Health); Anita Wahl (Fraser Health); Dan Levitt (Tabor Home Society)
Developing clinical decision tools and hosting educational events to disseminate an evidence-based guideline for the sustained use of patient-centered measurement data in mental health
This project builds on another study that resulted in the development of an evidence-based guideline for healthcare providers (HCPs) on the integration of patient-centred measurement (PCM) data to incorporate the voice of persons. Incorporating PCMs into routine practice is one way to attain patient-centred care. In this project, the guideline will be spread to decision makers and HCPs working in the Mental Health and Substance Use (MHSU), specifically community psychosocial rehabilitation and recovery services in British Columbia and across Canada. In collaboration with practice and patient partners, two activities will be completed. First, we will develop and share clinical decision tools for HCPs to routinely integrate PCM. To increase awareness about the guideline, educational webinars will be developed, offered, and evaluated. These activities facilitate the wider uptake and sustainability of PCMs at the point of care. Expected outcomes of this project include: (a) development of clinical decision tools and webinars specific to MHSU to augment the PCM guideline, (b) enhanced awareness by HCPs and decision-makers about the guideline, and (c) delivery of person-centred care for psychosocial rehabilitation.
Team members: Anthony Neptune (Mental Health and Substance Use); Zohreh Yaghoub Zadeh (Mental Health and Substance Use, and Fraser Health); Lynn Musto (Trinity Western University); Vidhi Thakkar (Trinity Western University)
Understanding critical care nurses’ prioritization of patient care
Delirium is a complication of a critical care (CC) admission. Although usually reversible, it can lead to long-term impaired thinking, poor mental health and increased mortality. Upwards of 80% of people admitted to CC will experience delirium. Research has been done to understand delirium and to prevent it. Factors that are known to help prevent delirium include a day-night routine, encouraging movement, and reducing sedating medications. CC nurses have control over many of these factors, but implementing strategies to prevent delirium remains sub-optimal. The lack of information about how CC nurses prioritize care to prevent delirium in the busy healthcare system leaves limited guidance for making change. This study aims to examine how CC nurses prioritize delirium-related patient care and to identify challenges and opportunities for change. The research will use surveys and interviews to gather data. This research is important for identifying gaps and opportunities to implement delirium prevention strategies needed to improve patient outcomes. The findings will allow CC teams to create a system to support a change in practice to improve the care and outcomes of patients.