With the advent of precision health, there has been a rapid increase in the utilization of genetic and genomic testing across all medical specialties and a consequent increased demand for genetic counselling services. This has resulted in unacceptably long (>year) wait times. Strengthening the healthcare workforce by integrating genetic counsellors where they do not currently practice and providing genetic counselling supports through innovative methods will contribute to cost efficiencies and improve access to genetic counselling services. We will take a multi-stream, multi-partner, and multi-site approach to deploy and deliver optimal clinical genetic healthcare to Canadians.
Year: 2024
Capacity Building in the Pediatric Eating Disorders Workforce: System Transformation to Improve the Continuum of Care
New eating disorders presentations surged during the COVID-19 pandemic, intensified by challenges with clinician availability and training in eating disorders. To address the workforce challenge, our team will study the roll-out of a Provincial Training Hub, which will build capacity in clinicians treating children and youth with eating disorders in BC and the Yukon. We will demonstrate the impact of training and consultation in evidence-based approaches for pediatric eating disorders, improve cultural responsiveness in training, and develop a strategy for national training. Our goal is to improve clinician well-being, and availability of quality evidence-based care for pediatric eating disorders.
Building capacity for a sustainable and equitable healthcare workforce in rural, remote and Indigenous communities by implementing innovative team-based hybrid care
Healthcare provider shortages in rural, remote, and Indigenous (RRI) communities are an important problem. In British Columbia, ‘hybrid care’ programs link health professionals through technology to treat patients (virtual care) alongside local providers (in-person care), bridging service gaps when providers are unavailable and supporting local providers. However, not all RRI communities have embraced such programs. We seek to understand the complexities of implementing ‘hybrid care’, how to make this approach culturally safe and adaptable to unique community needs, while improving healthcare workforce sustainability. Our learnings will be applied to developing service delivery guidelines and ‘hybrid care’ policy scalable across Canada.
Multi-Provincial Surveillance Systems for Post-COVID-19 Condition and Outcomes (MSPCo)
Post COVID-19 Condition (PCC) or Long COVID is a characterized by the presence of ongoing,
relapsing or occurrence of new symptoms which persist for 30 days or more after acute infection.
There is an urgent need to characterize the burden of long COVID; understand the healthcare needs
of people living with long COVID; and inform optimal models to deliver care, assess and address
disparities, and assess health outcomes. However, addressing these knowledge gaps is hampered
by the lack of standard definitions and methods to accurately identify people living with long COVID
in population-based administrative health data.
This project will address these gaps by developing a surveillance system to track burden of PCC,
identify factors contributing to development of long COVID, identify healthcare gaps, and long-term
outcomes related to COVID-19. We will conduct survey to learn about experience of people who had
COVID-19. In addition, we will analyze healthcare administrative data to answer critical questions to
inform optimal care for long COVID.
This initiative, while centered in British Columbia, will contribute to development and application of
algorithm across Canada. The grant will play a critical role in advancing research on long COVID,
informing care strategies, and contributing to public health eorts in managing post-COVID-19
health challenges.
The project is supported through funding from The Michael Smith Health Research BC and the Public
Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) Enhanced Surveillance for Chronic Disease Program (ESCDP). This
project is being led by Dr. Naveed Janjua. Dr. Janjua is an epidemiologist, the Executive Director of
Data and Analytic Services at the BC Centre for Disease Control, and a Clinical Professor at the
School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia.
Foundations of Academic Success in Indigenous Children
This research aims to understand Indigenous children’s academic attitudes during the pivotal transition to off-reserve schooling after grade six. It uniquely acknowledges educators’ vital role as unconventional mental health providers within Indigenous communities. By exploring stereotypes and attitudes, it bridges the gap between academia and community mental health providers, recognizing education’s potential in addressing mental health traumas stemming from systems like the Canadian residential schools. This project will investigate the impact of forced transitions on Indigenous youth, addressing educational and mental health dynamics to enhance support for Indigenous communities in Canada.