McMaster workshop + 2 webinars on using evidence to advocate for health system change

Annette McKinnon

Hi everyone,

I got this email and am passing it on as received

"As past masterclass in patient-oriented research attendees we would appreciate your assistance in recommending participants for a workshop we will be hosting in December. This workshop will draw to a close a two year project designed to inform Ontario citizens/patients/caregivers on how to find and use research evidence and to understand the Ontario health system.

So far we have produced two online video courses and delivered six webinars. We have two webinars to deliver (one in English and one in French) followed by our last deliverable, an in-person workshop. As someone who is interested in engaging patients in research, we thought you might know of someone who would benefit from attending the workshop.

A full summary of the workshop is attached but here are the main points:

Saturday December 1st from 9:00am to 1:30pm
Hosted at McMaster University
Designed for citizens who are interested in finding and using research evidence, understanding the health system, and how to combine the two to advocate for change within the system
Lunch will be served
Honorarium provided
We are unable to reimburse travel but we can provide parking passes for campus

Please send this to any citizen, patient or family caregiver you feel would benefit from this in-person workshop. A link to the registration form is included in the attached and is included here: Workshop Registration Form. We will begin broadcasting this to the general public beginning on Monday but we will give preference to any registrant who registers before then.

In addition, here is the information on the last two webinars which will take place this month: https://www.mcmasterforum.org/learn-how/public-events/event-item/understanding-how-to-navigate-the-health-system-a-guide-for-citizens-nov14

Lastly, we are exploring the possibility of offering a virtual version of the masterclass in 2019. Stay tuned for more details. "

Thank you for all of your support.

Regards,

James for the McMaster Health Forum"

Carolyn Canfield

Wow! This sounds like a half-day well spent. I'm sorry that I'm not in Hamilton on Dec 1.

If anyone can attend, I'd be really interested in hearing how it goes. I'd encourage you to consider acting as a PAN reporter, so you can post an account on this groupsite. Or maybe write up an item for the next issue of our newsletter: PAN CONNEX.

Finding a way to share these learning experiences would be really helpful. I hope you can attend and let us know what's covered and share the resources.

Best wishes to all, Carolyn

Annette McKinnon

I've sent the info on to a Hamilton person, and asked for a report if she goes, so there's a chance we'll learn more.

I also noticed that McMaster also has two online courses for citizens that you can find here:

https://www.mcmasterforum.org/learn-how/citizen-online-courses

The first one ‘Finding and using research evidence: A guide for citizens' is available as a set of videos This might be good for all of us.

The other one is more Ontario oriented

Understanding how to navigate the health system' is also available as a series of videos, which describe the 'building blocks' of Ontario's health system as well as how those building blocks are used to provide care in the province. It will ensure citizens, patients and caregivers are better positioned to advocate for the changes they want to see in their system when opportunities arise.

You can also read all of the materials for the McMaster Health Forum Masterclass, designed to prepare future champions for the conduct and use of patient-oriented research. I took the patient module, but you can see what they thought we all needed to know so that includes decision makers, clinician and researchers as well as patients

Annette

Christina Gilman

I am from Brantford, and have applied to go to this workshop. I will update on Friday, if I am contacted.

i am willing to report back if there is interest?

lf there is what information would you like me to report back on?

Christina

Christina Gilman

Yeah! I am officially in! If anyone wants any info let me know.

i hope there are others who have signed up?

Christina

Carolyn Canfield

Hey, Christine,

Great news. Really happy you’re going! I think very well of the McMaster Health Forum folks. Consider encouraging others who attend to help build up our PAN network by joining. We need to connect and support each other in this important work. Looking forward to to hearing how it goes.

Cheers, Carolyn

Carolyn Canfield

Hey, Christine,

Great news. Really happy you’re going! I think very well of the McMaster Health Forum folks. Consider encouraging others who attend to help build up our PAN network by joining. We need to connect and support each other in this important work. Looking forward to to hearing how it goes.

Cheers, Carolyn

Dia Sue-Wah-Sing

I missed seeing this. I would have attended. oops, if anyone attended , I would love to know more.

Annette McKinnon

Sharon Smikle attended and forwarded her observations about the Health Forum.

The forum was presented by Dr. Cristina Mattison and James McKinlay (McMaster Health Forum).

The workshop was a culmination of a 2-year project:

Year 1 was focused on finding and using research evidence for citizens (online instructional course + webinars)
Year 2 was focused on understanding the Ontario Health System for citizens In-Person Workshop for Citizens Finding & Using Research Evidence and Understanding the Ontario Health System

The following book: Ontario's Health System: Key insights for Engaged Citizens, Professional and Policymakers - was recommended. The reading is available for download at https://www.mcmasterforum.org/find-evidence/otraios-health-system.

Hi-lights from the In-Person Workshop for Citizens Finding & Using Research Evidence and Understanding the Ontario Health System, McMaster Health Forum - Dec. 1, 2018

: Taxpayers who finance much of the health system

 Patients who receive care in the health system

 Family and caregivers who support patients receiving care in the health system

:

 Take aspects from both the ‘finding and using' content and the ‘understanding the health system' content

 Combine the two together to demonstrate, using a real-world example, how they can be used together to advocate for change

 The value of research evidence

 Where to look for research on specific topics

 The value of systematic reviews

 The internet and media

:

 Research findings

 Clinical knowledge

 Expert opinion

 Lived Experience

All of these are valid and all can be used to change the way we do things and they work together to inform decision-making and policy. Evidence informs decision-making! However, practices based on research findings are more likely to result in the desired patient outcomes across various settings and geographic locations.

 EIDM is the backbone of most decisions

 Involves the incorporation of valid and relevant external evidence

 You can find evidence typically in high-quality research studies and there is a clear benefit to have patient engagement ‘involvement' and evaluating the system!

 There is a lot of it and because of the volume of evidence available, you need to be systematic in what you are searching for and how you go about searching

 Always remember that just because it is published evidence, does not mean it is good evidence

 Single studies are frequently done poorly

 Systematic reviews attempt to answer the bigger question that single studies are unable to answer

 Systematic reviews combine all studies conducted on a specific clinical question into one large ‘artificial' study

 Draw up a list of words that capture each feature of the problem (or each potential cause of the problem)

Synonyms for each word (where applicable)

 Alternative formulations or spellings for each word or synonym (e.g., singular / plural, American / British)

 Consider whether using a wildcard (*) can help to reduce duplication in each list of words, synonyms and alternative formulations or spellings (e.g., nurs* instead of nurse OR nurses OR nursing)

 Connect words in each list using Boolean operators (AND, OR, NOT), brackets and quotation marks

 e.g., (doctor AND nurse) OR pharmacist ≠doctor AND (nurse OR pharmacist)

e.g., "user fees" ≠user fees

 When citizens and patients want answers to questions about their own individual health (i.e., when making personal health decisions), the Cochrane Library has established a one-stop shop for Evidence Summaries

 Browse by health topics to quickly look for relevant evidence

 Declarative titles to help highlight messages that are actionable for citizens and patients

 Cochrane only produces high-quality systematic reviews, meaning citizens and patients can feel confident getting their evidence from this resource

 Can also do more specific searches using keywords, and filter their searches by new evidence

 Also provides other ways in that may be better for citizens and patients, such as podcasts about the latest evidence

 2002: Royal Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada

 2004: First Minister's Meeting on the Future of Health Care: 10-year plan to strengthen health care

 Ontario began working on programs and services that were the focus of this 10 year plan

 2016: Council's 2nd annual report recommended to the gov't: "to adopt a set of core mental health and addictions services across Ontario that have dedicated funding support, are available to all Ontarians, and are accessible in all regions of the province"

 The gov't asked the McMaster Health Forum to define the province's mental health and addictions ‘core services' and the McMaster Health Forum started by reviewing all of the research evidence.

 The McMaster Health Forum produced a 172-page document summarizing 143 sources of evidence plus input from experts in the field to create a summary (of mental health services). The McMaster Health Forum convened a dialogue of experts in the field to discuss the results of the evidence and to consider how to define core services for the general population; those with mild to moderate mental health problems; and those with severe and persistent mental health problems,

 2016: the Council's final annual report recommended that "Ontarians need access to a consistent and coordinated set of mental health and addictions services - and a more consistent and mental health and addictions services - and a more consistent and seamless service experience - regardless of where they live. In order to achieve this, and to align with the transformations that have taken place in the community-based child and youth mental health sector, the Council continues to emphasize the importance of moving toward implementation of a set of core services along with standardization, streamlining and centralization of data. This will enable improved service coordination across the province - reducing gaps and inefficiencies in services, and improving transitions across services - as well as supporting better cross-sector integration."

 In regards to psychotherapy across the province, the first steps in a structured provincial program are:

o Funding

o https://news.ontario.ca/mohltc/en/2017/10/ontario-improvingmental-health-services-for-people-across-the-province.html

o https://news.ontario.ca/opo/en/2018/03/ontario-makinghistoric-investment-in-mental-health-care.html

o Governance

o http://www.health.gov.on.ca/en/news/bulletin/2017/hb_20171221.aspx

o http://www.crpo.ca/

 The McMaster Health Forum can be reached at https://www.mcmasterhealthforum

 Click on ‘PLAYLIST'

Visit the McMaster Health Forum

Applying Evidence to the Health System and Example & Timeline:

Cochrane Summaries for ‘my health'