Want to better understand how the health and social systems work and how you can better advocate for changes that would improve these systems for you and your family? Enhance your knowledge with one of our free courses for citizens:
Finding and using research evidence: A guide for citizens
In this free online course, you’ll be provided with solutions to overcome the most commonly cited frustrations people have when trying to access research evidence. Prepared by the McMaster Health Forum with support from the Ontario SPOR SUPPORT Unit, the course is now available online as a set of eight videos:
Here are helpful resources that are drawn on in the course:
- Definitions for word and phrases used in the modules
- How to make sure health information is trustworthy
- Links to online sources mentioned in the modules
Don’t miss the most important resource for citizen-targeted evidence about healthy aging:
Understanding how to navigate the health system
Knowing how your health system works will better you to navigate the system, identify opportunities to make things better, and advocate for changes that you’d like to see. This free online course describes the 'building blocks' of Ontario’s health system as well as how those building blocks are used to provide care in the province in different ways (e.g., by sector, condition, treatment, population). While Ontario is the example, these principles are useful to understanding health systems other jurisdictions in Canada and internationally.
Prepared by the McMaster Health Forum with support from the Ontario SPOR SUPPORT Unit, the course is now available online as a set of six videos:
Here are helpful resources that are drawn on in the course:
- Free download of chapters from Ontario’s Health System: Key Insights for Engaged Citizens, Professional and Policymakers. The Ontario book is also helpful in understanding other health systems
Don’t miss the most important resource for citizen-targeted evidence about healthy aging:
Masterclass on patient-oriented research
The Forum’s masterclass was designed to prepare future champions for the conduct and use of patient-oriented research and future mentors to others becoming involved in the conduct and use of patient-oriented research. While we are not currently planning any sessions for the masterclass on patient-oriented research, you can access all of the course material to learn more about patient-oriented research.
Scotland geriatrician to describe successful 'hospital-at-home' service
A geriatrician from Scotland who is leading a novel ‘hospital at home’ service that is achieving high levels of satisfaction among patients will be the keynote speaker at a public talk on Tuesday, November 25.
Dr. Graham Ellis, who has an active research interest in the evaluation of service developments, will describe why care provided in the home can trump care in hospitals, during his presentation entitled There is No Place Like Home: Providing Alternatives to Hospital Care.
The talk will be held at McMaster Innovation Park from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., and will also be available through live webstreaming.
The ‘hospital at home’ service which has been operating for three years in Scotland has been successful in allowing more patients to be cared for at home rather than in hospital, with services provided by a team of nurses, doctors, social care staff and other health providers. The initiative has led to significant redesign in service provision and changed staff attitudes and perceptions about hospital admission. Ellis will explain how the service works, and why it has been rated highly by patients.
The public talk has been organized by the McMaster Health Forum as part of its work to help Ontario’s health system address the challenges of how to improve the provision of home and community care services for its aging population. At a recent citizen panel convened by the Forum, participants emphasized that home and community supports often do not provide what’s needed to allow older adults to stay at home, and that most people don’t know about such services, or face challenges in accessing them.
The presentation by Ellis will provide insights as to how these and other challenges of providing better home and community care can be addressed, and is designed to involve the community in the discussions about needed changes.
Ellis is associate medical director for the Older Peoples Clinical Forum in Lanarkshire, Scotland, and a senior clinical lecturer with the University of Glasgow. His major areas of interest include evaluating comprehensive geriatric assessment, and he is currently working with other researchers across the U.K. to develop the largest randomized controlled trial of hospital at home ever attempted.
The public event is supported by the Labarge Optimal Aging Initiative and presented in collaboration with the Ontario Association of Community Care Access Centres. It is open to all, and there will be an opportunity for questions from the audience.
For those who are not able to attend, the live webstream will be available through this link.
- McMaster Forum
