{"title":"Intergenerational Civics Programs to Combat Structural Ageism in Canada.","authors":"Neil Seeman","doi":"10.12927/hcq.2023.27221","DOIUrl":"10.12927/hcq.2023.27221","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Intergenerational civics programs that offer high school graduates a reduction in college or university admissions fees, or rental fees, can stimulate the formulation of a new wave of social impact initiatives. Provided that each program is accredited externally for quality, this approach could attenuate tensions between generations, diminish social isolation among seniors and help young people with housing and higher education affordability, both of which are provincial priorities. It could provide valuable assistance to the elderly in need while also fostering a sense of civic responsibility and community engagement among young people.</p>","PeriodicalId":39763,"journal":{"name":"Healthcare quarterly (Toronto, Ont.)","volume":"26 3","pages":"12-14"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138452770","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Oshkibiimaates Wiidoogakewin: A Partnership between Matawa First Nations Management and St. Joseph's Care Group.","authors":"Ashley Palmer, Brad Battiston","doi":"10.12927/hcq.2023.27219","DOIUrl":"10.12927/hcq.2023.27219","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Many Indigenous young people who live in remote northern communities are required to relocate to larger urban centres to pursue their secondary education. These youth have often experienced significant hardships that are exacerbated by the stresses of relocation. When seeking help for these struggles, it can be complicated to navigate complex systems in an unfamiliar city and difficult to engage with services that may not be designed to address these unique needs. The question then becomes: what would happen if those specialized supports were easily accessible and provided in a space where the youth felt safe and valued? A unique program providing holistic and culturally sensitive mental health and substance use services has been developed through a partnership between the Matawa First Nations Management and St. Joseph's Care Group in Thunder Bay, ON. The Oshkibiimaates Wiidoogakewin program has eliminated barriers to accessing service, reduced stigma and met the individual wellness needs of hundreds of students since its inception, with continuous improvements to serve students better. Creativity, flexibility and collaboration are at the heart of this program's success, as well as a shared vision of building a community that helps youth thrive.</p>","PeriodicalId":39763,"journal":{"name":"Healthcare quarterly (Toronto, Ont.)","volume":"26 3","pages":"22-26"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"138452772","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"From the Editors.","authors":"Anne Wojtak, Neil Stuart","doi":"10.12927/hcq.2023.27139","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12927/hcq.2023.27139","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>As we consider the current pressures on healthcare, the options for where to focus our policy and leadership efforts are numerous and, at times, overwhelming. From health human resources capacity to access to mental health and preventative care to intermittent closures of emergency departments - the outlook is alarming. To help make sense of the situation, our <i>Healthcare Quarterly (HQ)</i> editorial team carefully considers a few areas to focus on in each edition. Over the past few issues, we have highlighted the importance of health equity and the challenges faced by different populations in gaining access to appropriate care and support. We continue to welcome submissions on this topic as we start to shift our focus toward other system priorities, including the mental health crisis in Canada. We are currently exploring a special focus edition on this long-neglected area of the health system and will be inviting submissions on this topic over the coming months.</p>","PeriodicalId":39763,"journal":{"name":"Healthcare quarterly (Toronto, Ont.)","volume":"26 2","pages":"1-3"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9979346","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Access to Palliative Care in Canada.","authors":"Ben Reason, Geoff Paltser","doi":"10.12927/hcq.2023.27140","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12927/hcq.2023.27140","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Canadians are living longer and as they do so, the number of people living with life-limiting illnesses, such as cancer or kidney disease, is growing. Consequently, supporting and improving access to palliative care are goals of Canada's various health sectors. This article uses Canadian Institute for Health Information data from multiple healthcare sectors to investigate how many Canadians receive palliative care in their last year of life, how access to palliative care has changed in the past five years and what barriers to access still exist.</p>","PeriodicalId":39763,"journal":{"name":"Healthcare quarterly (Toronto, Ont.)","volume":"26 2","pages":"6-8"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10343122","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Meaghan Lunney, Mary V Modayil, Judith Krajnak, Katie Woo, Shy Amlani, Kris Gray, Tracy Wasylak, Braden Manns, Jonathan Choy, Judy Seidel
{"title":"A Systems-Level Evaluation Framework for Virtual Care.","authors":"Meaghan Lunney, Mary V Modayil, Judith Krajnak, Katie Woo, Shy Amlani, Kris Gray, Tracy Wasylak, Braden Manns, Jonathan Choy, Judy Seidel","doi":"10.12927/hcq.2023.27147","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12927/hcq.2023.27147","url":null,"abstract":"The virtual care landscape is significantly changing, largely due to an increased demand initiated by the COVID-19 pandemic and the evolution of technology. Complex questions about how to best leverage virtual care and its impact remain unanswered. Our team developed a systems-level evaluation framework to inform virtual care service design and evaluation to take a more comprehensive approach to planning and implementing virtual care. We designed the framework for application in Alberta Health Services (AHS) by engaging virtual care users (patients, families and healthcare providers), implementation staff and decision makers across the organization. Here we report our design process and key lessons learned. The framework received endorsement by AHS senior leadership for application across the system. Our next step is to test the framework. By sharing our design process and experiences, we aim to help inform other national and international jurisdictions plan virtual care evaluations within their context.","PeriodicalId":39763,"journal":{"name":"Healthcare quarterly (Toronto, Ont.)","volume":"26 2","pages":"43-50"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10343124","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Amy Katz, Nadjla Agahbanaei, Rebecca Cheff, Tysa Harris, Stephen W Hwang, Catherine Schmidt
{"title":"Hospital Care for Patients Uninsured due to Immigration Status during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Toronto: Lessons from Front-Line Knowledge Translation.","authors":"Amy Katz, Nadjla Agahbanaei, Rebecca Cheff, Tysa Harris, Stephen W Hwang, Catherine Schmidt","doi":"10.12927/hcq.2023.27144","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12927/hcq.2023.27144","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Before the COVID-19 pandemic, patients in Ontario who were uninsured due to immigration status faced barriers to hospital care that resulted in preventable illness and death. In March 2020, the Ontario Ministry of Health issued a memo indicating that it would pay for medically necessary hospital services for uninsured patients (Ontario Ministry of Health 2020). Front-line providers and research workers associated with the Health Network for Uninsured Clients (HNUC) set out to ensure that hospitals in Toronto implemented the ministry's memo. In this paper, we demonstrate a model of front-line worker-led knowledge translation informed by real-time data and anchored in clearly articulated values and goals. On April 1, 2023, the Ontario Ministry of Health cancelled this uninsured coverage (Ontario Ministry of Health 2023). Healthcare provider associations, grassroots groups and coalitions - including the HNUC - are mobilizing to see this uninsured coverage reinstated.</p>","PeriodicalId":39763,"journal":{"name":"Healthcare quarterly (Toronto, Ont.)","volume":"26 2","pages":"24-31"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10343126","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Suzanna Apostolovski, Farzana McCallum, Carina Simniceanu, Julie Kraus, Eric Gutierrez, Brian Liszewski, Emma Esselink, Jean-Pierre Bissonnette, Margaret Hart, Michael Brundage, Padraig Warde, Jason Pantarotto
{"title":"A Clinical Consensus Approach to Developing a New Funding Model for Radiation Services in Ontario.","authors":"Suzanna Apostolovski, Farzana McCallum, Carina Simniceanu, Julie Kraus, Eric Gutierrez, Brian Liszewski, Emma Esselink, Jean-Pierre Bissonnette, Margaret Hart, Michael Brundage, Padraig Warde, Jason Pantarotto","doi":"10.12927/hcq.2023.27146","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12927/hcq.2023.27146","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In 2021, Ontario Health (Cancer Care Ontario) introduced a quality-based procedure model for the funding of radiation treatment (RT) in Ontario. This model ties reimbursement to patient care activities, ensuring equity and transparency in funding. Over 200 RT interprofessionals (oncologists, therapists and physicists) participated on 22 expert panels to establish or identify 288 evidence-based RT protocols and 672 quality expectations (QEs) to optimally deliver RT, which eventually led to the micro-costing of all protocols. Iterative review is required to ensure updated techniques and identify evolving standards of care, thereby providing the highest quality of RT care to Ontarians.</p>","PeriodicalId":39763,"journal":{"name":"Healthcare quarterly (Toronto, Ont.)","volume":"26 2","pages":"37-42"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10043851","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Ethics in Quality Improvement Projects: Experiences of a Human Factors Team.","authors":"Jared Dembicki, Jason Laberge","doi":"10.12927/hcq.2023.27148","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12927/hcq.2023.27148","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The Alberta Health Services Human Factors (HF) team completes many quality improvement projects involving human participants and requires a robust and efficient ethics process. The team has developed an ethics process utilizing ARECCI (A pRoject Ethics Community Consensus Initiative), wherein HF specialists review their project for alignment with a reference project. The reference project captures a broad range of work that the HF team may lead or support in some way, and it has a corresponding series of countermeasures that have been created to address ethical risks. While some challenges remain, the process has largely allowed the team to meet its ethics goals.</p>","PeriodicalId":39763,"journal":{"name":"Healthcare quarterly (Toronto, Ont.)","volume":"26 2","pages":"51-56"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10343128","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Critical Success Factors of Street Haven's Residential Addictions Treatment Program for Women.","authors":"Siu Mee Cheng, Hayley Bloom","doi":"10.12927/hcq.2023.27145","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12927/hcq.2023.27145","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Street Haven's residential addictions treatment program offers a 90-day residential treatment program to highly vulnerable women who suffer from significant health and social care complexity, including homelessness, experience with gender-based violence, mental illness and chronic diseases. Despite the complexity of the needs of the clients, the program supports recovery, greater housing and enhanced overall well-being for the women it serves. The critical factors contributing to the success of the program include client readiness, pre-treatment programming, group-based programming, evidence-based programming, harm reduction approaches and a whole-person approach. These factors are essential for achieving programming outcomes and continuing the recovery journey post-discharge.</p>","PeriodicalId":39763,"journal":{"name":"Healthcare quarterly (Toronto, Ont.)","volume":"26 2","pages":"32-36"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10343129","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kieran Quinn, Sarina R Isenberg, Susanna Mak, Leah Steinberg
{"title":"Re-Imagining Care for Older Adults with Heart Failure and Other Serious Illnesses.","authors":"Kieran Quinn, Sarina R Isenberg, Susanna Mak, Leah Steinberg","doi":"10.12927/hcq.2023.27141","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.12927/hcq.2023.27141","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Most patients with heart failure prefer to die at home and want to avoid unnecessary or aggressive treatments as they approach the end of life. Collaborative care models that provide coordinated, linked services from palliative and subspecialty practitioners may enable more effective heart failure-specific palliation in the home setting. Using both administrative health data at ICES and qualitative data from interviews with cardiology and palliative care physicians and nurse practitioners, researchers have found new evidence that collaborative care integrated into a regionally organized system of palliation positively impacts outcomes for people with heart failure and meets quality indicators for end-of-life heart failure care across Ontario.</p>","PeriodicalId":39763,"journal":{"name":"Healthcare quarterly (Toronto, Ont.)","volume":"26 2","pages":"9-12"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10361675","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}