Perceptions of Ontario health system leaders on single-entry models for managing the COVID-19 elective surgery backlog: an interpretive descriptive study.

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated pre-existing challenges with respect to access to elective surgery across Canada, and a single-entry model (SEM) approach has been proposed as an equitable and efficient method to help manage the backlog. With Ontario's recent investment in centralized surgical wait-list management, we sought to understand the views of health system leaders on the role of SEMs in managing the elective surgery backlog.

Methods: We used the qualitative method of interpretive description to explore participant perspectives and identify practical strategies for policy-makers, administrators and clinical leaders.

The development of guideline implementation tools: a qualitative study.

Background: Research shows that guidelines featuring implementation tools (GItools) are more likely to be used than those without GItools, however few guidelines offer GItools and guidance on developing GItools is lacking. The objective of this study was to identify common processes and considerations for developing GItools.

Methods: Interviews were conducted with developers of 4 types of GItools (implementation, patient engagement, point-of-care decision-making and evaluation) accompanying guidelines on various topics created in 2008 or later identified in the National Guideline Clearinghouse.

A framework of the desirable features of guideline implementation tools (GItools): Delphi survey and assessment of GItools.

Background: Guidelines are the foundation for healthcare planning, delivery and quality improvement but are not consistently implemented. Few guidelines are accompanied by guideline implementation tools (GItools). Users have requested GItools, and developers have requested guidance on how to develop GItools.

Near equality in quality for medication utilization among older adults with diabetes with universal medication insurance in Ontario, Canada.

Rationale, Aims And Objectives: To determine whether demographic, community or health status disparities in cardioprotective medication utilization by diabetes patients exist under a universal drug insurance programme, and whether they narrow or widen during periods of increasing drug utilization.

Methods: We examined all prescriptions filled by all people with diabetes aged ≥65 years in Ontario, Canada in annual cohorts from 1996 (n = 175 345) to 2010 (n = 504 093). We ascertained whether any disparities in use of three classes of cardioprotective medication (statins, all antihypertensives and renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system inhibitors) existed, and whether disparities changed over time.

The guideline implementability research and application network (GIRAnet): an international collaborative to support knowledge exchange: study protocol.

Background: Modifying the format and content of guidelines may facilitate their use and lead to improved quality of care. We reviewed the medical literature to identify features desired by different users and associated with guideline use to develop a framework of implementability and found that most guidelines do not contain these elements. Further research is needed to develop and evaluate implementability tools.

WikiBuild: a new online collaboration process for multistakeholder tool development and consensus building.

Background: Production of media such as patient education tools requires methods that can integrate multiple stakeholder perspectives. Existing consensus techniques are poorly suited to design of visual media, can be expensive and logistically demanding, and are subject to caveats arising from group dynamics such as participant hierarchies.

Objective: Our objective was to develop a method that enables multistakeholder tool building while averting these difficulties.

Activating the knowledge-to-action cycle for geriatric care in India.

Despite a rapidly aging population, geriatrics--the branch of medicine that focuses on healthcare of the elderly--is relatively new in India, with many practicing physicians having little knowledge of the clinical and functional implications of aging. Negative attitudes and limited awareness, knowledge or acceptance of geriatrics as a legitimate discipline contribute to inaccessible and poor quality care for India's old. The aim of this paper is to argue that knowledge translation is a potentially effective tool for engaging Indian healthcare providers in the delivery of high quality geriatric care.

Providers' perceptions of barriers to the management of type 2 diabetes in remote Aboriginal settings.

Objectives: To examine providers' perspectives of the barriers to providing diabetes care in remote First Nation communities in the Sioux Lookout Zone (SLZ) of Northwestern Ontario, Canada.

Study Design: A qualitative study involving key informant interviews and focus groups was conducted with health care providers working in remote First Nation communities in SLZ.

Methods: Twenty-four nurses, doctors, diabetes educators and community health representatives (CHRs) participated in qualitative interviews and focus groups.

Challenges to the provision of diabetes care in first nations communities: results from a national survey of healthcare providers in Canada.

Background: Aboriginal peoples globally, and First Nations peoples in Canada particularly, suffer from high rates of type 2 diabetes and related complications compared with the general population. Research into the unique barriers faced by healthcare providers working in on-reserve First Nations communities is essential for developing effective quality improvement strategies.

Methods: In Phase I of this two-phased study, semi-structured interviews and focus groups were held with 24 healthcare providers in the Sioux Lookout Zone in north-western Ontario.

Methodologies to evaluate the effectiveness of knowledge translation interventions: a primer for researchers and health care managers.

Objective: The evidence base for interventions to change clinical practice is modest but growing. Given the large variation in impact and costs, this review aims to highlight the importance of evaluating knowledge translation (KT) interventions by managers and researchers.

Study Design And Setting: To meet its objectives, this review article discusses how the need for local or generalizable information and the resources available guide the evaluations.

Canadian Thoracic Society: Presenting a new process for clinical practice guideline production.

A key mandate of the Canadian Thoracic Society (CTS) is to promote evidence-based respiratory care through clinical practice guidelines (CPGs). To improve the quality and validity of the production, dissemination and implementation of its CPGs, the CTS has revised its guideline process and has created the Canadian Respiratory Guidelines Committee to oversee this process. The present document outlines the basic methodological tools and principles of the new CTS guideline production process.

Capacity-building in family health: innovative in-service training program for teams in Latin America.

Problem Being Addressed: Brazil, Chile, and Canada are among the countries where development and deployment of human resources have been central to health reform; however, it is unclear how the education and training of primary care workers is best accomplished. OBJECTIVE OF THE PROGRAM To implement a model of in-service training in primary health care for interdisciplinary teams of primary health care professionals from Brazil and Chile.

Program Description: This 5-module program targeted primary care providers from various disciplines who had at least 3 months of front-line experience.