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Survey participation request from Canadian Frailty Network
A key mandate of CFN is to train the next generation of healthcare professionals and caregivers, policy makers, academics and scientists to play a role in providing the highest quality of care for older patients living with frailty across all settings of care.
CFN’s Interdisciplinary Training Program goes beyond traditional academic and clinical training opportunities, offering enriched experiential learning, based on the concept of interdisciplinary collaboration. Trainees develop and refine the skills necessary to incorporate patient needs and expectations, and include ethical considerations and interdisciplinary input, in project management, care planning and shared decision making.
To further the evolution of our training programs we are looking to our network to help us to understand what you need from trainees who will work in this field.
Please complete by 16 October 2017
Calls for Abstracts
CADTH is now accepting abstracts for the 2018 CADTH Symposium. The 2018 CADTH Symposium will be held at the Halifax Convention Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia; April 15-17, 2018. The theme is Managing Health Technologies: Supporting Appropriate, Affordable, and Accessible Care.
Publications
KT
Health Care Administration and Organization
Health Care Innovation and Quality Assurance
Organizational Change
Aging
KT
Core competencies for scientific editors of biomedical journals: consensus statement
Non UofA Access
BACKGROUND: Scientific editors are responsible for deciding which articles to publish in their journals. However, we have not found documentation of their required knowledge, skills, and characteristics, or the existence of any formal core competencies for this role.
Overviews of systematic reviews: great promise, greater challenge
Non UofA Access
Abstract: The proliferation of systematic reviews and escalating demand from policy makers has driven a newer form of evidence synthesis-overviews of systematic reviews. Systematic Reviews are publishing a special thematic series on overviews and are encouraging submissions on the development and evaluation of methods for this review type. The authors’ of this editorial introduce the series by considering challenges that arise when conducting an overview and what methods guidance is available. They emphasise the importance of evaluating overview methods to understand the trade-offs of using different approaches and propose that a more systematic and coordinated approach to methods development would be beneficial. Finally, they consider the potential for overviews to drive improvements in the conduct and reporting of systematic reviews.
Sustainability of knowledge implementation in a low- and middle- income context: Experiences from a facilitation project in Vietnam targeting maternal and neonatal health
Non UofA Access
BACKGROUND: In a previous trial in Vietnam, a facilitation strategy to secure evidence-based practice in primary care resulted in reduced neonatal mortality over a period of three years. While little is known as to what ensures sustainability in the implementation of community-based strategies, the aim of this study was to investigate factors promoting or hindering implementation, and sustainability of knowledge implementation strategies, by means of the former Neonatal Knowledge Into Practice (NeoKIP) trial.
Knowledge management for health care and long-term care in the technology-organization- environment context in Sustainable Health and Long-Term Care Solutions for an Aging Population
Non UofA Access
Abstract:The objective of this chapter is to propose a framework examining the impacts of technological, organizational and environmental factors on the innovation adoption of knowledge management (KM) in longterm care context. This chapter begins with the definition, rationale and importance of KM. Secondly, KM stories, KM in long-term care, prior frameworks in long-term care and knowledge barriers in health care settings will be reviewed. Furthermore, the KM for long-term care in Technology-Organization- Environment (TOE) framework is discussed and proposed. The technology dimension includes security, complexity and costs. Besides, organizational dimension is composed of top management support, firm size, nursing leadership and the readiness. For environmental dimensions, this chapter will focus on competitive pressure and vendor support. As KM is proven to understand performance in long-term care organizations, the proposed framework provides insight to health care organization leaders on how to enhance the effectiveness of KM system.
Skin Tear Prevalence, Incidence and Associated Risk Factors in the Long-Term Population
Five years’ experience of an annual course on implementation science: an evaluation among course participants
Non UofA Access
BACKGROUND: Increasing interest in implementation science has generated a demand for education and training opportunities for researchers and practitioners in the field. However, few implementation science courses have been described or evaluated in the scientific literature. The aim of the present study was to provide a short- and long-term evaluation of the implementation training at Linköping University, Sweden.
Structural analysis of health-relevant policy-making information exchange networks in Canada 
Non UofA Access
BACKGROUND: Health systems worldwide struggle to identify, adopt, and implement in a timely and system-wide manner the best-evidence-informed-policy-level practices. Yet, there is still only limited evidence about individual and institutional best practices for fostering the use of scientific evidence in policy-making processes The present project is the first national-level attempt to (1) map and structurally analyze-quantitatively-health-relevant policy-making networks that connect evidence production, synthesis, interpretation, and use; (2) qualitatively investigate the interaction patterns of a subsample of actors with high centrality metrics within these networks to develop an in-depth understanding of evidence circulation processes; and (3) combine these findings in order to assess a policy network’s “absorptive capacity” regarding scientific evidence and integrate them into a conceptually sound and empirically grounded framework.
Preterm birth: the role of knowledge transfer and exchange
Non UofA Access
BACKGROUND: Preterm birth (PTB) is the leading cause of death in children under age five. Healthcare policy and other decision-making relevant to PTB may rely on obsolete, incomplete or inapplicable research evidence, leading to worsened outcomes. Appropriate knowledge transfer and exchange (KTE) strategies are an important component of efforts to reduce the global PTB burden. We sought to develop a ‘landscape’ analysis of KTE strategies currently used in PTB and related contexts, and to make recommendations for optimising programmatic implementation and for future research.
“Scaling-out” evidence-based interventions to new populations or new health care delivery systems
Non UofA Access
BACKGROUND: Implementing treatments and interventions with demonstrated effectiveness is critical for improving patient health outcomes at a reduced cost. When an evidence-based intervention (EBI) is implemented with fidelity in a setting that is very similar to the setting wherein it was previously found to be effective, it is reasonable to anticipate similar benefits of that EBI. However, one goal of implementation science is to expand the use of EBIs as broadly as is feasible and appropriate in order to foster the greatest public health impact. When implementing an EBI in a novel setting, or targeting novel populations, one must consider whether there is sufficient justification that the EBI would have similar benefits to those found in earlier trials.
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Health Care Administration and Organization
Financial performance, employee well-being, and client well-being in for-profit and not-for-profit nursing homes: A systematic review
Non UofA Access
PURPOSES: We conducted a systematic review of the literature over the last 10 years in order to determine the broad impact of nursing home ownership in the United States. Our review has two main goals: (a) to find out which topics have been studied with regard to financial performance, employee well-being, and client well-being in relation to nursing home ownership and (b) to assess the conclusions related to these topics. The review results in two propositions on the interactions between financial performance, employee well-being, and client well-being as they relate to nursing home ownership.
Reflections on International Certified Nursing Assistants
Non UofA Access
Abstract: The author, a former university faculty member who taught English to speakers of other languages and now a nursing home resident, shares her observations about how English language proficiency, culture, and religious differences affect her care. She provides examples of communication challenges that can be annoying or cause harm, her coping strategies, and reasons many certified nursing assistants might never be fully fluent in English. She explains how international certified nursing assistants can benefit residents because of skills developed by family-centered care in their countries of origin. She also discusses related issues-the importance of being culturally competent about U.S. culture. She points out how religiousness not only affects residents but is a buffer for staff against the stress of physically and emotionally demanding low-wage work. Overall, the author likes receiving care from individuals from other countries, finding reward in comparing how her personal struggle with illness and paralysis resonates with the trauma of migration and how learning firsthand about varying beliefs and attitudes clarifies her identity and place in world history.
A growing need – HIV education in long-term care
Non UofA Access
Abstract: As people living with HIV (PLHIV) age, knowledge of HIV and the associated care of those aging with HIV will become an increasingly important component of education for long-term care (LTC) providers. This descriptive study piloted two different approaches to distribute narrative-based HIV educational videos. Four LTC facilities were assigned to receive the videos to implement ‘as usual’ or to receive the videos in addition to blended learning sessions where the videos were shown with facilitated discussion with a nurse educator and a PLHIV. In LTC facilities where external educators were provided, a larger proportion of staff watched the videos. However, increases in staff comfort level providing care to PLHIV were comparable between both groups. Narratives of PLHIV, administrator engagement and coordination of online education were identified as facilitators to improving HIV knowledge and compassion in LTC, while fear of HIV transmission and limited time for education, especially when not mandated or identified as immediately applicable, were identified as barriers. From our findings, HIV-related stigma still exists in LTC and these videos may be a strategy for disseminating basic knowledge about HIV transmission and sensitizing staff to the experience of living with HIV.
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Health Care Innovation and Quality Assurance
Distressing Symptoms, Disability, and Hospice Services at the End of Life: Prospective Cohort Study
Non UofA Access
OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the relationship between the presence and number of restricting symptoms and number of disabilities and subsequent admission to hospice at the end of life.
Involving institutionalised people with dementia in their care-planning meetings: lessons learnt by the staff
Non UofA Access
BACKGROUND: Applying a person-centred care (PCC) approach is an aspiration for many services attending people with dementia (PwD). However, the implementation and assessment of PCC practices represent a challenge to health professionals.
Ethics and quality care in nursing homes: Relatives’ experiences
Non UofA Access
BACKGROUND: A total of 71,000 people in Norway suffer from some form of dementia in 2013, of whom approximately 30,000 are in nursing homes. Several studies focus on the experiences of those who have close relatives and who are staying in a nursing home. Results show that a greater focus on cooperation between nursing staff and relatives is a central prerequisite for an increased level of care. Benefits of developing systematic collaboration practices include relief for nursing staff, less stress, and greater mutual understanding. Going through studies focusing on the experiences of nursing home patients’ relatives, negative experiences are in the majority. In this study, relatives are invited to share positive experiences regarding the care of their loved ones; a slightly different perspective, in other words.
End of life care for people with dementia: The views of health professionals, social care service managers and frontline staff on key requirements for good practice
Non UofA Access
BACKGROUND: Evidence consistently shows that people with advanced dementia experience suboptimal end of life care compared to those with cancer; with increased hospitalisation, inadequate pain control and fewer palliative care interventions. Understanding the views of those service managers and frontline staff who organise and provide care is crucial in order to develop better end of life care for people with dementia.
Pushing the Boundaries: A Physical Activity Intervention Extends Sensor-Assessed Life-Space in Nursing Home Residents
Non UofA Access
Background and Objectives: To determine whether a multicomponent, individually tailored intervention to promote physical activity (PA) enhances life-space (LS) utilization in nursing home (NH) residents and whether intervention effects can be sustained at follow-up after continuation of the program as part of institutional daily routines.
Supporting Family Involvement in Long-Term Residential Care: Promising Practices for Relational Care
Non UofA Access
Abstract: Family members and friends provide significant support for older relatives in long-term residential care (LTRC). Yet, they occupy ambiguous positions in these settings, and their relationships with LTRC staff can involve conflicts and challenges. Based on an ethnographic project carried out in North America and Europe, this article identifies practices that promote meaningful family participation in care home life. We consider instances of rewarding family involvement upon admission to LTRC, throughout the time a relative is living in a care home, and during the final stages of life. Furthermore, we identify working conditions needed to support the well-being of family/friend carers as well as residents and staff. These include greater appreciation of relational care work, time for effective communication, teamwork, and appropriate, inclusive physical spaces. Findings make visible the importance of relational care and have implications for improving living and working conditions in LTRC.
Characteristics of Activities for Persons With Dementia at the Mild, Moderate, and Severe Stages
Non UofA Access
PURPOSE: To understand activity in dementia care, we examine relationships of disease stage with types and characteristics of meaningful activities (cueing needs, help with initiation, and recommended engagement time) provided in a home-based intervention trial designed to reduce behavioral symptoms.
Implementing Montessori Methods for Dementia: A Scoping Review
Non UofA Access
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: A scoping review was conducted to develop an understanding of Montessori-based programing (MBP) approaches used in dementia care and to identify optimal ways to implement these programs across various settings.
Conversational assessment of cognitive dysfunction among residents living in long-term care facilities
Non UofA Access
BACKGROUND: There are some existing barriers posed by neuropsychological tests that interfere with the assessment of cognitive functioning by staff who work in long-term care facilities. The purpose of this study was to investigate the feasibility of assessing cognitive function through conversation.
Living and dying with advanced dementia: A prospective cohort study of symptoms, service use and care at the end of life
Non UofA Access
BACKGROUND: Increasing number of people are dying with advanced dementia. Comfort and quality of life are key goals of care.
AIMS: To describe (1) physical and psychological symptoms, (2) health and social care service utilisation and (3) care at end of life in people with advanced dementia.
Psychosocial needs within nursing homes: perspectives of family members, staff, and residents
Person-Directed Care Planning in Nursing Homes: Resident, Family, and Staff Perspectives
Non UofA Access
Empowering individuals to direct their own care is central to person-centered care and health care policy. However, there is limited knowledge of how “person-directed care planning” (PDCP) can be achieved in particular settings. This study identifies key structures and processes for operationalizing and implementing PDCP in nursing homes. Using participatory inquiry, we convened “stakeholder engagement sessions” with residents, families, nursing staff, and managers/administrators in two North Carolina nursing homes (N = 24 sessions; N = 67 unique participants). Stakeholders discussed current care-planning processes and provided feedback on an emergent conceptual framework of PDCP. Three themes emerged through directed-content analysis: strategies included providing formal and informal opportunities to engage in care planning and ensuring effective follow-through; different roles were required among leadership, staff, residents, and families to accomplish PDCP; and limits on achieving PDCP included competing priorities and perceived regulatory and resource constraints. Results are discussed in terms of the specific competencies required for accomplishing PDCP.
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Organizational Change
Nursing Home Use Across The Spectrum of Cognitive Decline: Merging Mayo Clinic Study of Aging With CMS MDS Assessments
Non UofA Access
BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Objective, complete estimates of nursing home (NH) use across the spectrum of cognitive decline are needed to help predict future care needs and inform economic models constructed to assess interventions to reduce care needs.
Study of the Relevance of the Quality of Care, Operating Efficiency and Inefficient Quality Competition of Senior Care Facilities
Non UofA Access
Abstract: The purpose of this research is to examine the relation between operating efficiency and the quality of care of senior care facilities. We designed a data envelopment analysis, combining epsilon-based measure and metafrontier efficiency analyses to estimate the operating efficiency for senior care facilities, followed by an iterative seemingly unrelated regression to evaluate the relation between the quality of care and operating efficiency. In the empirical studies, Taiwan census data was utilized and findings include the following: Despite the greater operating scale of the general type of senior care facilities, their average metafrontier technical efficiency is inferior to that of nursing homes. We adopted senior care facility accreditation results from Taiwan as a variable to represent the quality of care and examined the relation of accreditation results and operating efficiency. We found that the quality of care of general senior care facilities is negatively related to operating efficiency; however, for nursing homes, the relationship is not significant. Our findings show that facilities invest more in input resources to obtain better ratings in the accreditation report. Operating efficiency, however, does not improve. Quality competition in the industry in Taiwan is inefficient, especially for general senior care facilities.
The administrative policy quandary in Canada’s health service organizations in Public Affairs and Administration: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications
Non UofA Access
Abstract: This chapter examines the process for administrative health service policy development with respect to information sharing and decision-making as well as the relationship of policy to decision making. The challenges experienced by health service managers are identified. The administrative health policy experience in Nova Scotia is described. There is a need for integrated policy at multiple levels (public, clinical, and administrative). The quandary is that while working to share health information systems, most Canadian health service organizations continue to individually develop administrative health policy, expending more resources on policy writing than on translation/education, monitoring, or evaluation. By exploring the importance and nature of administrative policy as a foundation for quality improvement in healthcare delivery, a case is made for greater use of health informatics tools and processes
Trends in the use and costs of round-the-clock long-term care in the last two years of life among old people between 2002 and 2013 in Finland
Non UofA Access
BACKGROUND: The structure of long-term care (LTC) for old people has changed: care has been shifted from institutions to the community, and death is being postponed to increasingly old age. The aim of the study was to analyze how the use and costs of LTC in the last two years of life among old people changed between 2002 and 2013.
Pursuing a Desired Future: Continuity and Change in a Long-Term-Care Community
Non UofA Access
Abstract: New ways of planning, assessing, and measuring cultural change are needed in long-term care. Much effort is focused on person-centered care; less attention is paid to achieving localized change. Long-term-care communities need innovative approaches for identifying local cultural features to preserve and others to reconfigure. This case study involves applied anthropologists working with four stakeholder groups – residents, staff, family members, and volunteers – to document views of their “culture story” and conceptualize a cultural ideal for their community. Based on strengths and weaknesses from their culture story, specific recommendations were made to maintain their strong relationship focus, expand community outreach, and improve staff relations. Incorporating “insider” views of the past, present, and imagined future and building on current “best practices” of the culture-change movement are two distinctive but complementary approaches for motivating and managing cultural change
Neoliberal Long-Term Care: From Community to Corporate Control
Non UofA Access
Abstract: Publicly (mainly Medicaid) funded long-term care (LTC) services have evolved from a nursing home dominated system of service to a much more balanced system including home- and community-based services (HCBS) programs over the last 30 years. The HCBS programs have been largely administered by the state and local level nonprofit aging networks (ANs) consisting of Area Agencies on Aging and thousands of service providers. Over the last decade, however, for-profit HMOs administered primarily by large insurance companies have begun to displace AN organizations. State policymakers have embraced for-profit privatizations under the rationale that this approach will generate greater savings, efficiencies, and higher quality outcomes than the traditional public or private nonprofit models of program administration. As we show here, there is very little evidence for this rationale; yet, this lack of evidence has not prevented the continuing growth of for-profit managed LTC programs supported more by an ideology of market fundamentalism than empirical evidence. We also describe six possible consequences of the trend toward corporate control of public LTC services in the years ahead.
Cognitive interventions in patients with dementia living in long-term care facilities: Systematic review and meta-analysis
Non UofA Access
BACKGROUND: Previous reviews and meta-analyses demonstrated effects of cognitive interventions in dementia, but none specifically considered residents with dementia in long-term care (LTC) facilities.
OBJECTIVE: To analyse the efficacy of cognitive interventions in institutionalised individuals with dementia.
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Aging
A National Implementation Project to Prevent Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract Infection in Nursing Home Residents
Non UofA Access
IMPORTANCE: Catheter-associated urinary tract infection (UTI) in nursing home residents is a common cause of sepsis, hospital admission, and antimicrobial use leading to colonization with multidrug-resistant organisms.
OBJECTIVE: To develop, implement, and evaluate an intervention to reduce catheter-associated UTI.
Transitions From Hospitals to Skilled Nursing Facilities for Persons With Dementia: A Challenging Convergence of Patient and System-Level Needs
Non UofA Access
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: To describe skilled nursing facility (SNF) nurses’ perspectives on the experiences and needs of persons with dementia (PwD) during hospital-to-SNF transitions and to identify factors related to the quality of these transitions.
Health of Older Adults in Assisted Living and Implications for Preventive Care
Non UofA Access
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: Older adults in residential care and assisted living (RC/AL) are less healthy than the general elderly population, and some have needs similar to those in nursing homes, making this an important group in which to assess potential overuse or underuse of preventive services. We determined the health status of RC/AL residents and distinguished characteristics between those who may and may not benefit from preventive services requiring a life expectancy ≥5 years.
A mixed method study of an education intervention to reduce use of restraint and implement person-centered dementia care in nursing homes
Non UofA Access
BACKGROUND: People living with dementia in nursing homes are most likely to be restrained. The primary aim of this mixed-method education intervention study was to investigate which factors hindered or facilitated staff awareness related to confidence building initiatives based on person-centred care, as an alternative to restraint in residents with dementia in nursing homes. The education intervention, consisting of a two-day seminar and monthly coaching sessions for six months, targeted nursing staff in 24 nursing homes in Western Norway. The present article reports on staff-related data from the study.
Potentially inappropriate medication use in nursing homes: an observational study using the NORGEP-NH criteria
Non UofA Access
BACKGROUND: Frail residents in the nursing home sector call for extra care in prescribing. The Norwegian General Practice Nursing Home (NORGEP-NH) list of 34 explicit criteria for potentially inappropriate medication use in nursing homes was developed explicitly for this population. The aim of this study was to employ the NORGEP-NH Criteria to study the extent of potentially inappropriate medication use among nursing home residents and explore possible associated factors.
Impact of nursing home admission on health care use and disease status elderly dependent people one year before and one year after skilled nursing home admission based on 2012-2013 SNIIRAM data
Non UofA Access
BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to compare disease status and health care use 1 year before and 1 year after skilled nursing home (SNH) admission.
Associations between individual characteristics and incontinence-associated dermatitis: a secondary data analysis of a multi-centre prevalence study
Non UofA Access
BACKGROUND: Incontinent patients are at risk for incontinence-associated dermatitis. Prolonged exposures of the skin to urine and/or stool are causal factors but the exact aetiology and pathophysiology are not fully understood.
OBJECTIVES: The aim of the current investigation was to identify person and health-related variables most strongly associated with incontinence-associated dermatitis development.
Understanding functional ability: Perspectives of nurses and older people living in long-term care
Non UofA Access
Abstract: The functional ability of older people has come to play a significant role in their care. Policies and public debate promote active aging and the need to maintain functioning in old age, including among older people living in long-term care. This study explores the meanings given to functional ability in the interview talk of long-term care nurses (n = 24) and older people living in long-term care (n = 16). The study is based on discourse analysis and positioning theory. In this study, accounts of functioning differed between nurses and older residents. For the nurses, functional ability was about the basic functions of everyday life, and they often used formal and theoretical language, whereas for older long-term care residents, functional ability was a more versatile concept. Being active was promoted, particularly in the nurses’ talk but also sometimes in residents’ talk, thereby reflecting the public discourse about functioning. In their talk, the nurses positioned themselves in relation to functional ability as competent professionals and active caregivers. In residents’ talk, we found three positions: an active individual taking care of him or herself, a recipient of help, and a burden to nurses. To move in a direction that promotes activity and rehabilitative care, a better understanding of older people’s individual needs and their own views of functional ability is needed.
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Events
UofA
Reception to follow. Please RSVP
Non UofA
CAG2017 – Evidence for Action in an Aging World
14th Global Conference on Ageing
Deadlines:
Early bird registration closes: 7 October 2017
Call for abstracts closes: 1 December 2017
Online
Can We Still Call it Evidence-Based Practice if We Deviate From the Evidence?
In this webcast, Dr. Marcel Dijkers will lead a discussion on the limits of evidence-based practice (EBP) as it is based on evidence gathered using a PICO question (P: patient, problem or population; I: intervention; C: comparison, control or comparator; O: outcome(s)). In the typical report of a primary study, and of a secondary study, do you get enough information to implement an intervention for which evidence is offered?
What are some of the issues related to the usefulness of systematic reviews for a clinician, if he or she does not have the same patients, setting, or resources? Can an intervention still be considered evidence-based, if a clinician is unable to implement it exactly as described?
Improving Palliative Care in Long-Term Care Homes Using Participatory Action Research
There is a clear and pressing need for palliative care approaches suitable to this complex healthcare environment, given the growing prevalence of residents with palliative care needs in LTC. To meet the project’s objective a multiple case study design and participatory action research approach was used to explore how the research methodology itself, and different elements of the program, impacted implementation in four different Canadian LTC homes and how the combined elements of the program impacted resident and family outcomes.
Meaningful translation of comparative effectiveness research at the point of care
Learning objectives:
•Outline the value of shared decision making as a mean to translate comparative effectiveness (CER) into practice and contribute to patient centered care,
•Discuss barriers and facilitators to the successful translation and implementation of CER into practice,
•Reflect on the best strategies to enhance patient and clinician involvement in research while remaining minimally disruptive to the practice.
Dr. Annie LeBlanc, PhD is a clinical epidemiologist, Associate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine and Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine at Laval University, Investigator at Laval University’s Institute of Health and Social Services in Primary Care and the Knowledge and Evaluation Research Unit at Mayo Clinic, MN (USA). She is Co-director of the Knowledge Translation Core of the Quebec SPOR-SUPPORT Unit. Her research centers around the translation of comparative effectiveness research into practice through the design, evaluation, implementation, and sustainability of patient-centered interventions, such as shared decision making, and their impact on patient important outcomes. Of importance to the success of this work, is the conduct of pragmatic research that is minimally disruptive to the practice and the engagement of stakeholders throughout each stage of the work to ensure that the research processes and outcomes are focused on what really matters to patients.
TO REGISTER:
This session is offered by Webex from St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto. All registration requests should be sent to Meghan Storey: storeym@smh.ca by Wednesday, Oct. 11th at 12:00pm EST.
To register a site: please identify one person who will be in attendance and provide their email address to Meghan Storey. To register as an individual; please email Meghan Storey. Please note that everyone must register to attend, as you need to be invited into the Webex session.
McMaster Health Forum ‘Top 10’ Webinar
Join François-Pierre Gauvin (Scientific Lead, Evidence Synthesis and Francophone Outreach, McMaster Health Forum) on September 26th as he shares the top ten lessons learned by the McMaster Health Forum about approaches to facilitating citizen panels through its Citizen Panels program. This month, the McMaster Health Forum convened its 40th citizen panel since launching the program 4 years ago, and during this time our team has gained many unique insights about how to engage citizens in evidence-informed deliberations about some of the most pressing health-system challenges of our time.
News
Capable, confident staff are the bedrock of good quality social care
People who rely on services say they want care to be ‘human’. Our new improvement strategy for adult social care is built on that.
Five Tips for Choosing a Reliable Nursing Home
Experts in nursing home quality say there are some steps families can take that will improve their odds of picking a well-run place.
Why Beall’s List Died — and What It Left Unresolved About Open Access
Why, after toiling so hard for five years — and creating a resource cherished by scientists wary of exploitative publishers — did the University of Colorado at Denver’s Jeffrey Beall abruptly give it all up? Who, or what, forced his hand?
New training to prevent elder abuse at city-run care homes
The city of Ottawa plans to overhaul training and procedures around abuse of residents at its long-term care homes in response to an order from the Ontario’s Health Ministry to improve operations.
Caregivers Draw Support By Mapping Their Relationships
Every time Jacque Pearson tried to devise a plan to move her 81-year-old dad, who has Alzheimer’s, from his home in Boise, Idaho, to hers in Denver, she felt stuck. Then, two weeks ago, she had a breakthrough. CareMaps are an intriguing new tool created by the Atlas of Caregiving, an ambitious project that hopes to gather comprehensive data about family caregivers.
10 do’s and don’ts for grant applicants
Before you even print off the application forms to request funding for your research project, take some time to review these tips.
Girlguides aim to tackle loneliness among older people
Guides launch new badge to be earned through visits with elderly people, with 1.2 million in Britain estimated to be chronically lonely
What whack-a-mole has taught researchers about dementia
Nobody enjoys being tested for memory problems, a stressful process with questions that can seem irrelevant. Dr. Frank Knoefel, a physician at the Bruyère Memory Clinic, knows about the stress. Besides, these tests are notoriously inaccurate as cognitive abilities decline. So, with help from partners ranging from universities to an Ottawa day program for adults, he tried using a computer game based on whack-a-mole.
Resources
A Crisis in Alberta’s Senior Care
The lack of beds, the challenges faced by staff members in all facilities to provide the appropriate level of care to residents, the oncoming difficulty we’ll face as people live longer and with more complex health needs. It’s important to know who is affected by problems in seniors care, why it’s actually a crisis, and how to fix it. Here’s a look…by the numbers.
Do you have a pressing improvement problem in your clinical area which needs addressing, or do you need help with evaluating a service? If so, postgraduate students studying on CLAHRC South London’s MSc in Implementation and Improvement Science based at King’s College London can help.
The MSc is a practical course for anyone who wants to improve health services and health outcomes for patients. Students come from a range of backgrounds including medicine, occupational therapy, midwifery and management, and are taught by leading implementation and improvement science specialists working within CLAHRC South London.
A key part of students’ learning is their dissertation project. Students learn how to plan and deliver an effective improvement or implementation project, to think about the improvement or research question in a logical way, and to consider different designs and methods that can be used.
If you are a health professional or manager with an improvement or implementation problem in your clinical area which needs addressing, or you need help with evaluating a service, our MSc students can help you with this work. All students have completed theoretical and methodological modules on implementation and improvement science.
HIPxChange: Tools for Health System Change and Population Health Improvement
HIPxChange is a web portal that provides evidence-based tools for health system change, that are free to the public, and can be used by clinicians, health care administrators, program managers, and researchers, and span a variety of population health topics.
Many of the toolkits provide implementation information for programs or interventions that the authors have published in peer-reviewed journals, helping bridge the gap from research to practice.
Centre for Ageing Better, Annual Review 2016-2017
The Centre for Ageing Better has launched its first annual review, giving an overview of its work over the past year, as well as setting out future plans for achieving its vision of a society where everybody enjoys a good later life.
Newsletters
Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging
KT Canada
20 September 2017
Opportunities
We are seeking to appoint a Research Assistant to contribute to the ROADMAP project, a European private-public consortium established to build a European-wide data access and analysis platform for ‘real world evidence’ on Alzheimer’s disease (AD) across the spectrum.
You will join Professor Cathie Sudlow’s team, based at Edinburgh University’s Usher Institute in the Bioquarter, Little France. You will produce high quality evidence of stakeholder views on the outcomes of AD and its progression by conducting a systematic review and stakeholder engagement activities. You will identify and critically appraise relevant research studies, extract and synthesise data and conduct qualitative research. You will collaborate with partners in several European countries and disseminate research findings.
Postdoctoral Fellowships In Implementation Research In Mental Health And Substance Abuse Treatment
The Center for Mental Health Policy and Services Research (CMHPSR) at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn) Perelman School of Medicine invites applications for post-doctoral fellowships. This interdisciplinary training program at the intersection of implementation science, public policy, and mental health provides an excellent opportunity for social scientists to improve their knowledge of implementation science, public mental health systems, qualitative and quantitative research methods, and how to conduct research that can improve care for our most vulnerable citizens. The CMHPSR has a longstanding commitment to postdoctoral training, and offers a unique environment in which to train early-stage investigators. Over the past three decades, faculty have collaborated closely with community agencies, including Philadelphia’s Departments of Health and Behavioral Health, the School District of Philadelphia, and dozens of community-based organizations. These partnerships, create opportunities to embed postdoctoral trainees in the settings in which they hope to conduct research.
The Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior invites applications for a faculty position at the rank of Associate Professor or Professor. The incumbent will be expected to maintain, coordinate, and integrate research on implementation science in the department. The incumbent will also be expected to participate on a national level in implementation science research. The incumbent will be expected to establish an independent investigative program, focusing on implementation science. It is expected that approximately 80% of the incumbent’s time will be devoted to research, and space will be provided. The incumbent will serve as a liaison between the teaching hospitals and the various programs of the department.
The Department of Health Law, Policy and Management at Boston University School of Public Health is seeking a full-time faculty member with a focus on dissemination and implementation (D&I) science. D&I science is one of the 4 core scientific interests of the Department which is dedicated to research and education focused on improving access, quality and value in healthcare to disadvantaged populations.
The University of Nevada, Reno, School of Community Health Sciences is seeking a candidate for a nine-month, state-funded, tenure-track position in Social and Behavioral Health at the rank of Assistant Professor beginning July 1, 2018. A focus on quantitative approaches and implementation and dissemination research is preferred.
The Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education invites applications for three faculty positions. They are seeking forward-looking scholars for tenure and non-tenure track faculty at the rank of Assistant, Associate, or Full Professor. Investigators in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education lead in innovative research and teaching as they train future public health leaders to gain competencies spanning from individual to societal influences on health.
