Welcome back and happy autumn BC-PHCRN community! We hope you enjoyed a restful summer. Our Network has been busy with ongoing primary care research projects, and are excited to share the following updates, events and recent collaborations!
In This Update
- Research Activity Updates
- Recent Collaborations
- Upcoming Events
- Recent Publications
- The Canadian Primary Care Research Network (CPCRN) Update
- About BC-PHCRN
Research Activity Updates
OECD Patient Reported Indicators Survey (PaRIS)
Recruitment is ongoing for the OECD PaRIS!
We are delighted to be working with several participating providers across the province. Thank you to those who have agreed to participate and contribute to this exciting pan-Canadian and international initiative.
For those interested in participating, the OECD PaRIS is seeking to measure experience and outcomes of primary health care services. The goal of this work is to identify what matters most to patients, specifically those experiencing chronic conditions, when engaging with primary health care services to further inform a more patient-centred practice across Canada.
The PaRIS project includes two parts, a practice survey and a patient survey. The practice survey, completed by a clinician or their designate (someone who is knowledgeable about the practice), takes approximately 10-20 minutes to complete. The patient survey, which is distributed to 75 patients by the participating practice, will take 30-45 minutes to complete.
Participating primary care practices will receive a token of appreciation ($700) as well as a personalized report about their aggregated patient experiences, including the overall aggregated Canadian data. This offers each practice knowledge about patient experiences with their care and contributes to the quality of Canada’s healthcare system.
If you are a primary care practice interested in participating, please email the Research Coordinator, Lanting Cheng (lanting.cheng@ubc.ca) for eligibility and survey information. More information about this international survey can be found on the study website.
SPIDER – A research and quality improvement collaboration supporting practices in improving care for complex older patients with polypharmacy
Recruitment is now open for SPIDER (Structured Process Informed by Data, Evidence and Research)!
SPIDER is a pan-Canadian quality improvement project that focuses on the risk polypharmacy poses to older adults (aged 65 years and older on 10+ unique medications) and the corresponding impact it has on the health care system in Canada. The study uses a pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trial to assess the impact of SPIDER compared to usual care, in reducing potentially inappropriate prescriptions (PIPs). The BC-PHCRN is looking to recruit 14 practices (2+ physicians per practice) and a proportion of their patients (patient participation will require 20-60 minutes of their time).
There is NO COST to you and you will earn up to 9 MainPro+ credits.
If you are interested in participating, or to learn more about this study, please contact the Research Lead, Dr. Rubee Dev (rubee.dev@ubc.ca) or the Research Coordinator, Lanting Cheng (lanting.cheng@ubc.ca).
More information about this study can be found on the study website.
CanTreatCOVID
The Canadian Adaptive Platform Trial of Treatments for COVID in Community Settings (CanTreatCOVID) is evaluating the short- and long-term effectiveness of existing and new COVID-19 treatments for non-hospitalized patients using an adaptive platform trial study design. It will provide rapid evidence to guide clinical, health system, and public health decision making and planning.
The study is open to adults aged 19-49 years with one or more chronic condition(s) OR adults aged 50+ years, and who have tested positive for COVID-19 with symptoms starting within the last five days. All study activities are done remotely.
For further information, see: cantreatcovid.org
Recent Collaborations
BC-PHCRN is excited to announce a recent collaboration with REACH BC; a Michael Smith Health Research BC initiative focused on connecting Volunteers, or Patient Partners, with health research to shape the future of healthcare in BC.
As a patient, your voice matters. REACH BC offers a dynamic platform for patients to sign up for health research opportunities, or collaborate with researchers to provide invaluable patient and caregiver perspectives. Whether a Volunteer or Partner, your unique insights inform and steer the course of healthcare research, ensuring it resonates with the needs of British Columbians.
If you are a qualified researcher from BC health authorities, universities, or research institutes, REACH BC is the go-to platform to share your health research studies and recruit participants from across BC. The matching software connects eligible volunteers with your study – finding study participants and patient partners has never been easier!
As a SPOR network, BC-PHCRN is invested in engaging patients in the research process to identify health research priorities and ultimately, lead to patient-identified outcomes. We are thrilled to work with REACH BC to make these connections.
Please visit www.REACHBC.ca to create your volunteer profile today and make a meaningful impact in health research!
Upcoming Events
CHSPR Seminar: Introducing Indigenist Critical Policy Analysis
Tuesday, September 26, 2023; 12:00pm PT [in person and virtual]
The question of how public policies are assessed in relation to the needs of Australian Indigenous people is a challenging one. How should success or failure be judged? Indigenist Critical Policy Analysis (ICPA) is a possible solution to this challenge. Grounded in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, it is a framework for assessing a policy and/or policy process to determine whether it authentically engages with Indigenous issues. Center for Health Services and Policy Research (CHSPR, School of Population & Public Health, UBC) visiting scholar Natalie Bryant will provide an overview of the opportunities for a change in approach in Australia, the socio-political and historical contexts of policy making, and a critique of the existing mechanisms for assessing policy processes; and will demonstrate ICPA using the New South Wales Regional Health Strategic Plan 2022-2032 as a case study.
More details and registration: https://chspr.ubc.ca/2023/08/30/chspr-seminar-introducing-indigenist-critical-policy-analysis/
Canadian College of Health Leaders Forum: Fireside chat with Lindsay Hedden and Kim McGrail
Wednesday, September 27, 2023; 9:00am PT [virtual]
The best defence is a good offence: Ensuring equitable access to primary care in Canada
Ensuring access to primary care is a persistent challenge in Canada, and the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing gaps. Join us for a fireside chat with Lindsay Hedden, PhD, an applied health services researcher and Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar, and Kim McGrail, PhD, a professor in CHSPR and SPPH, as they talk about their research into how profit-driven, corporate healthcare impacts equitable access to care, increases spending on low-value services, and undermines the underlying values of Canadian healthcare.
More details and registration: https://circle.cchl-ccls.ca/events/54164
Big IDEAs about Health Data: Race & Ethnicity in Data
Thursday, September 28, 2023; 10:00am – 11:00am PT [virtual]
Health Data Research Network Canada‘s Big IDEAs About Health Data Speaker Series launches on September 28 with Tatiana Kim, manager of Anti-Racism Data Projects for BC Stats, discussing the BC government’s new Guide on Categorical Race & Ethnicity Variables.
More details and registration: Eventbrite
Learning Together Evaluation Framework for Patient and Public Engagement in Research
Thursday, October 12, 2023; 8:00am – 9:00am PT [virtual]
Join this upcoming session of Keeping Up With KT: Learning Together Evaluation Framework for Patient and Public Engagement In Research, presented by Maritime SPOR SUPPORT Unit, to learn about this new, first-of-its-kind tool.
More details and registration: https://mssu.ca/event/keeping-up-with-kt-learning-together-evaluation-framework-for-patient-and-public-engagement-in-research/
Putting Patients First Conference
Tuesday, Oct 24, 2023; 8:00am – 5:00pm PT [in person and virtual]
Putting Patients First (PPF) is an annual conference that fosters collaboration and learning about patient experiences in the health system. Join on October 24 at the Pan Pacific Hotel, Vancouver BC, to help build a provincial care system with patients and families at the centre. There is no cost to attend.
Learn more here: https://healthresearchbc.ca/bc-support-unit/info-and-resources/putting-patients-first/
Book Launch: Live Like Nobody Is Watching
Thursday, October 26, 2023; 5:00 – 6:00pm PT [in person and virtual]
Are you curious about how AI-powered health monitoring will impact the future of health care? From convenience to privacy implications, join for a thought-provoking conversation into the complexities of AI health monitoring and its potential effects on your autonomy. Join us for the launch of Dr. Anita Ho’s book: Live Like Nobody Is Watching. The event will take place in the UBC School of Population and Public Health (SPPH) lobby, with a reception to follow. There is also a virtual option to attend.
More details and registration: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/book-launch-live-like-nobody-is-watching-with-author-dr-anita-ho-tickets-707860298207
Recent Publications
Wong ST, Morkem R, Salman A, Barber D, Leis JA. Value in Primary Care: Evidence from the Canadian Primary Care Sentinel Surveillance Network. Healthcare Policy. https://doi.org/10.12927/hcpol.2023.27093
Dev R, Behlouli H, Parry M, Raparelli V, Norris CM, Pilote L, GOING-FWD Consortium. Impact of Sex and Gender on Metabolic Syndrome in Adults: A Retrospective Cohort Study from the Canadian Primary Care Sentinel Surveillance Network. Canadian Journal of Diabetes. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcjd.2023.08.008
Hedden L, McGrail K. The Best Defence is a Good Offence: Ensuring Equitable Access to Primary Care in Canada. Health Care Management Forum. https://doi.org/10.1177/08404704231182260
The Canadian Primary Care Research Network (CPCRN) Update
CPCRN has created a community of practice hosted on LinkedIn. This online community will be a place for vibrant conversations about primary care, patient-oriented research, policy, and the like. We encourage you to join to share your knowledge, ask questions, participate in discussions, and become an integral part of this community! Click here to request to join.
In addition, we welcome you to visit the CPCRN website and join the newsletter mailing list to learn more about the CPCRN vision and mission, as well as stay up to date with activities happening across the network!
The CPCRN is composed of approximately 21 provincial practice-based research and learning networks (PBRLNs). BC-PHCRN is one of those provincial nodes.
About BC-PHCRN
The BC Primary Health Care Research Network (BC-PHCRN) is a practice-based research and learning network, part of the Canadian Primary Care Research Network (CPCRN), designed to support evidence-informed transformation of the delivery of primary and integrated health care.
The goal of the BC-PHCRN is to encourage, facilitate, and support collaborations between government, health authorities, health professionals, patients and researchers in order to improve BC’s health care delivery system. The BC-PHCRN is an open network and welcomes individuals from all sectors involved in primary health care – researchers, patients, health care providers and policy makers.
The BC arm of the Canadian Primary Care Sentinel Surveillance Network (CPCSSN) is housed within BC-PHCRN, where we specifically reach out and work with primary care clinicians (e.g., family physicians, nurse practitioners, etc.) to provide analytic support of electronic medical record data for purposes of practice quality improvement, disease surveillance and research.
Please share this update with colleagues who you think may be interested in our activities. Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions. For more information about BC-PHCRN, please visit our website at https://spor-bcphcrn.ca/ or email info@spor-bcphcrn.ca.
BC Primary Health Care Research Network 