Events

BRIC NS

Primary Health Care Learning Series

Innovation and Integration in Practice at Nova Scotia Health: An integrated care model for patients experiencing persistent post-COVID symptoms and the role of embedded research, improvement, and patient engagement

Date: December 8, 2021 | 12:00 – 1:15 pm AST

This event is free and open to everyone. You must register in advance: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_MgDGlq9tRzG92AcaYrXATA

Information about joining the Zoom Webinar will be sent after registering. If you need assistance registering, please contact bricns@dal.ca.

Presentation 1: Integrated Post-COVID Care Delivery

About the speakers:

Ashley Harnish is a Health Services Manager in Primary Health Care at Nova Scotia Health. In her portfolio, Ashley supports a range of programs and services within primary health care and is most excited to speak to you today about the Integrated Chronic Care Service.

Krista Blaikie Hughes is a Patient Family Advisor with the Post-Covid Care steering committee. Krista brings her perspective and lived-experience to the committee’s activities having tested positive for COVID-19 during Nova Scotia’s third wave. She spent 19 days in hospital on the Covid Unit and in ICU. She is currently in the Long Covid phase of her recovery. A graduate of Acadia University and Mount Saint Vincent University, Krista is office manager for a Dartmouth-based marine engineering consulting firm, ABL Canada, responsible for finance and HR, HSEQ and marketing. Prior to joining ABL, Krista worked in communication management roles in a variety of industry sectors including law enforcement, wholesale food distribution, economic development, residential construction and electrical utility. 

Presentation 2: The Role of Embedded Research, Innovation and Discovery

About the speakers:

Dr. Tara Sampalli is the Senior Scientific Director in the Research, Innovation and Discovery portfolio at Nova Scotia Health.  Dr. Sampalli obtained her engineering degree from Bangalore University, followed by Masters of Applied Science from Dalhousie University. She obtained her PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies specializing in Health Informatics from Dalhousie University. Tara is the lead for the Implementation Science Team in Research, Innovation & Discovery. Working with key partners in Nova Scotia Health and the province, she is also involved in leading the development of a learning health system strategy. Tara and the implementation team routinely engage in supporting key policy, planning and practice improvement decisions through rapid reviews, implementation science initiatives and rapid evaluation. Her research interests include chronic disease management and multimorbidities, patient engagement, integrated models of care, and knowledge management.

Dr. Caroline King is a biostatistics consultant with the Research Methods Unit at Nova Scotia Health. The Research Methods Unit provides expert advice on all stages of the research process including study design and protocol development, statistical analyses and interpretation of results. She has a PhD in Epidemiology from McGill University where she specialized in health policy impact evaluation. Her primary interests is in using real world data and causal inference methods to rigorously assess the impact of health system changes on patient-centered outcomes. She particularly enjoys collaborating with large teams and helping them combine quantitative methods from epidemiology, economics and machine learning to achieve their research goals.

Swarnima Gambhir and Robert Laureijs are project coordinators working closely with Dr. Sampalli as part of the Implementation Science Team in Research, Innovation and Discovery, Nova Scotia Health.

BRIC NS

Implementation findings from the PriCARE Program: A nurse-led case management approach in Primary Health Clinics in Nova Scotia

BRIC NS and the Centre for Transformative Nursing and Health Research (CTHNR) are pleased to present a co-sponsored session of the Wednesdays @ Noon seminar series. Join us to learn about the PriCARE Program and real-world examples of patient partnership in action! All welcome.

Details:

November 17, 2021 | 12:00 – 1:00 pm
Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82912951088?pwd=dzltQy9PSlZkUkMvZ2FEQ2VsZ2V3Zz09
Zoom Meeting ID: 829 1295 1088 Passcode : 755506

Presenters:

DR. FRED BURGE, Principal Investigator (Nova Scotia)
DR. MARILYN MACDONALD, co-Investigator
ALANNAH DELAHUNTY-PIKE, Research Associate
JUDY PORTER, Patient Partner
DONNA RUBENSTEIN, Patient Partner

BRIC NS

BRIC NS Student Seminar Series

The BRIC NS Student Seminar Series is an opportunity for students across Nova Scotia to share their completed or in-progress research. Presentations cover a wide variety of disciplines, but all address the common thread of primary and integrated healthcare. Everyone is welcome!

Details:

Date: November 10, 2021
Time:12:00-1:15 pm AST
To register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_qKTLTdvNT3aZ6QAA-nsHdw

After registering you will receive an email with details about joining the Zoom session.

This seminar will cover two topics:

Cassidy Bradley will present: Treatment regret, mental and physical health indicators of psychosocial well-being among prostate cancer survivors

Rachel Ollivier will present: Exploring Postpartum Sexual Health in Nova Scotia Using Feminist Poststructuralism

About the speakers:

Cassidy Bradley is a 2nd year MSc student at Dalhousie, studying Epidemiology and Applied Health Research. Her supervisor is Dr. Gabriela Ilie. Cassidy’s primary research interests include chronic disease management, quality of life, health equity and mental health. For her thesis she is studying the role of treatment regret, mental and physical health, as well as prostate cancer physical side effects to the quality of life (emotional, social, functional, and spiritual well-being) of survivors.

Rachel Ollivier is a PhD Candidate and Vanier Scholar at the Dalhousie University School of Nursing. She is also a practicing Registered Nurse at the IWK Health Centre. Her areas of research interest include maternal health, women’s health, and global health. Within nursing, Rachel’s experience spans education, teaching, research, and clinical practice.

BRIC NS

Primary Health Care Learning Series

Join us to learn about research and quality assurance projects being conducted by the primary and integrated health care community

Date: August 18, 2021 | 12:00 – 1:15 pm ADT

This event is free and open to everyone. You must register in advance: https://bit.ly/3fwVHd1

Information about joining the Zoom webinar will be sent after registration.

Primary Health Care Access, Attachment & Innovations in Nova Scotia Before & During the Pandemic

About the speakers:

Emily Gard Marshall

Dr. Emily Gard Marshall is an Associate Professor in the Dalhousie Department of Family Medicine Primary Care Research Unit. Her mixed methods research examines primary healthcare from patient, provider, and system perspectives to address the quadruple aim. Foci include access, continuity, and comprehensiveness to improve equity and optimize outcomes across the life course, involving population data and vulnerable populations. She was the 2020 recipient of the NAPCRG Mid-Career Researcher Award, and leads multiple pan-Canadian research studies including the CIHR COVID-19 Rapid Response-funded PUPPY-Study.

Mackenzie Cook

Mackenzie Cook is a medical student completing her Research in Medicine (RIM) project in the Department of Family Medicine at Dalhousie University. With the support of Dr. Emily Gard Marshall and her research team, Mackenzie is examining the perspectives of Nova Scotian primary care providers and policymakers on the use of incentives for providers to take on unattached patients from a centralized waiting list. She is eager to share the perspectives of stakeholders and use the knowledge they share to help improve primary health care. 

Helping Parents with Anxiety and Depression Symptoms During COVID-19: An iCBT Longitudinal Study

About the Speaker:

Teba Hamodat is a second year Clinical Psychology PhD student at Dalhousie University researching refugee parents with neurodevelopmental disorders’ access to healthcare. She is passionate about equitable access to health services for individuals who need it. She currently is completing a comprehensive project with Co-Principal Investigator Dr. Alissa Pencer on a project assessing depression and anxiety symptom change for parents using Tranquility Online, an online CBT platform during COVID-19. Parents can go through the program completely self-directed or with minimal or full coaching. The research team is interested in examining the differential impact of guidance level on parents’ symptomology.

The overall project is funded by CIHR and the NB Health Research Foundation.

Team members: Co-PIs: Dr. Janine Olthuis (UNB) & Dr. Alissa Pencer (Dalhousie University & Tranquility)
Principal Knowledge User: Dr. Lori Wozney (NSHA)
Co-Investigators: Dr. Amanda Hudson (Health PEI), Dr. Sam Stewart (Dalhousie University), & Dr. Jennifer Richards (IWK)

BRIC NS

BRIC NS Student Seminar Series

The BRIC NS Student Seminar Series is an opportunity for students across Nova Scotia to share their completed or in-progress research. Presentations cover a wide variety of disciplines, but all address the common thread of primary and integrated healthcare. Everyone is welcome!

Details:
Date: July 21, 2021
Time: 12:30 – 1:45 pm ADT
To Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_vJoVa2-pSm2ukq_Dqc4Qrg
After registering you will receive an email with details about joining the Zoom session.

This seminar will cover two topics:

  • Anders Lenskjold will present: Overtesting Behaviour in Primary Care in Nova Scotia Based on Data Mining
  • Jake Domm will present: Application of a community-based intervention to reduce impairment-related motor vehicle collisions: strategy and ethical considerations

About the Speakers:

Anders Lenskjold is a Danish trained physician with clinical experience in primary care, orthopedic surgery, trauma, and rural medicine in Denmark and Norway. Master of Science in Medicine from the University of Copenhagen and Master in Health Informatics (in progress) from Dalhousie University. Research associate at the Department of Family Medicine at Dalhousie University. Ph.D. student in Radiology and AI bridging the workflow between primary care and radiology with planned official enrolment at the University of Copenhagen later this summer.

Jake Domm is a Dalhousie medical student, born and raised in Cow Bay, Nova Scotia. He completed his MSc. at University of Guelph in gene therapy and is an avid podcast host for CanadiEM. His research interests have morphed over time, from gene-editing solutions for rare diseases, to community-based interventions for preventative medicine. Otherwise, Jake enjoys crossfitting with his wife and hiking with their dog.

BRIC NS

Primary Health Care Learning Series

Join us to learn about research and quality assurance projects being conducted by the primary and integrated health care community

Date: April 21, 2021 from 12:30 – 1:45 pm ADT

This event is free and open to everyone. You must register in advance: 
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_qXdaTM-eTxqg-xh4JjlW7Q  
Information about joining the Zoom webinar will be sent after registration.

This webinar will consist of two presentations:

  • Maureen Coady will present: Informal professional learning in a community-based health education program: The transformative learning of one interprofessional team
  • Nicole MacKenzie: Shared Decision Making: A Missing Link in Pediatric Pain Management?

About the presenters:

Dr. Maureen Coady is an Associate Professor in the Department of Adult Education at StFX. Her research focuses on the links between health and learning, and the role adult education can play in enabling learning, agency and improved health outcomes in the population. She co-ordinates an M. Ed. in Adult Education & Health at StFX and is particularly interested in empowering ways of working with people, which is the focus of this presentation: Informal Professional Learning in a Community-Based Health Education Program: The transformative Experience of One Interprofessional Team* Her most recent work focuses on continuing professional education (CPE), particularly as it relates to health contexts, but more broadly for all those engaged in professional occupations.

*Coady, M. (2019). Informal professional learning in a community-based health education program: The transformative learning of one interprofessional team. In T. Carter, C. Boden-McGill & K. Pino (Eds.), Transformative learning, resilience, and professional identity formation, (pp.321-342). Information Age Publishing (IAP).

Nicole MacKenzie is a third year PhD student in Clinical Psychology at Dalhousie University, where she is supervised by Dr. Christine Chambers. She completed her BA in Early Childhood Studies at Ryerson University and an MEd in Developmental Psychology at the University of Toronto. Stemming from her research and volunteer experiences in pediatric health settings, her research interests within pediatric pain include interventions for procedure pain management and how shared decision making and knowledge mobilization can improve families’ and healthcare providers use of evidence-based practices. Her current research is focused on understanding how diverse stakeholders engage with knowledge mobilization to promote uptake of evidence-based strategies to better manage children’s pain. Nicole is supported by awards from the Maritime SPOR Support Unit, Research Nova Scotia, Killam Trusts, and is a past recipient of a BRIC NS Student Award.

BRIC NS

PIHCI Network Learning Series – End-of-Life in Primary Care

BRIC NS is pleased to co-host the next presentation of the PIHCI Network Learning Series.  This series is organized by the Primary and Integrated Health Care Innovations Network Coordinating Office.

This seminar on the topic of end-of-life care in primary care features the work of three BRIC NS members:

  • Dr. Grace Warner discussing “Barriers and Facilitators to Initiating End-of-Life Conversations, Assessing Patients and Caregiver Needs, and Patient/Family Centered Planning in Primary Care Practices”
  • Dr. Alexandra Carter discussing “Paramedics as Part of an Integrated, Patient and Family Centered Approach to End-of-Life Care”
  • Dr. Robin Urquhart discussing “Innovative Programs to Help Individuals and Families Affected by Life-Limiting Chronic Illnesses Navigate End-of-Life”

Register here

Details:
March 23, 2021
12:00 – 1:30 pm EST/1:00 -2:30 pm AST

BRIC NS

BRIC NS Student Seminar Series

The BRIC NS Student Seminar Series is an opportunity for students across Nova Scotia to share their completed or in-progress research. Presentations cover a wide variety of disciplines, but all address the common thread of primary and integrated healthcare. Everyone is welcome!

Details:
Date: March 17, 2021
Time: 12:30 – 1:45 pm ADT
To Register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_1ha_v8CdToKr17ris0iLJQ
After registering you will receive an email with details about joining the Zoom session.

This seminar will cover two topics:

  • Shauna Hachey will present: Integrating Oral Health and Primary Healthcare: Exploring Knowledge and Practice
  • Emma Cameron will present: Access to postnatal health services and supports: The experiences of resettled Syrian refugee women in Nova Scotia

About the Speakers:

Shauna Hachey, Assistant Professor, School of Dental Hygiene, is a co-lead of the Dalhousie Healthy Populations Institute’s Putting “Oral Health is Health” into action Flagship Project, which is committed to improving the oral and overall health status of Nova Scotians by enhancing oral health care strategies and accessibility through interdisciplinary research. She is also currently a trainee in the TUTOR-PHC (Transdisciplinary Understanding and Training on Research in Primary Health Care) program at Western University. With the aim of improving the oral health of priority populations, her research interests surround interdisciplinary approaches to oral health, and oral health policy and programming. Her current work focuses on 1) oral health curriculum in nursing, physician and SLP educational programs across Canada and 2) oral health care within Nova Scotia’s primary healthcare system.  

Emma Cameron is a second-year Master of Arts student in Health Promotion at Dalhousie University. She completed her BSc (honours) at Dalhousie University in Psychology. Her master’s thesis focuses on access to postnatal care for resettled Syrian refugee women in Nova Scotia. Emma has additional research interests in sexual and reproductive healthcare for refugee, asylum-seeking, and migrant women, and the experiences of discrimination among refugee youth in Canada. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Rainbow Refugee Association of Nova Scotia and is the co-founder of the Women’s Health Interest Group at Dalhousie.

BRIC NS

Primary Health Care Learning Series

Join us to learn about research and quality assurance projects being conducted by the primary and integrated health care community

Date: Feb. 17, 2021 from 12:30 – 1:45 pm AST

This event is free and open to everyone. You must register in advance: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_BRQKAWxkSw68neRWre4pMw Information about joining the Zoom webinar will be sent after registration.

This webinar will consist of two presentations:

  • Mathew Grandy will present: Utilizing EMR Data for primary care research: Insights and challenges in making data accessible for research and QI at a practice level
  • Virginia McIntyre and Karly Stefko will present: A promising intervention: the successful implementation of a 10-week exercise program for individuals with chronic pain

About the presenters:

Dr. Mathew Grandy’s research interests lie in utilizing EMR data to better understand chronic disease, medication prescribing and complex patients in the primary care setting.  As network director for the Maritime Research Network of Family Practice (MaRNet-FP), he has the opportunity to work with and involve an enthusiastic network of community-based physicians for research projects and quality improvement. MaRNet-FP is the Nova Scotia network involved in a larger cross country research project which utilizes EMR data for chronic disease surveillance. This study, named the Canadian Primary Care Sentinel Surveillance Network (CPCSSN), has been ongoing in Nova Scotia since 2009.  Currently, Dr. Grandy is involved in a number of projects. He is leading a study on identifying and describing chronic opioid prescribing utilizing EMR data, as well as collaborative projects such as; identifying frailty utilizing machine learning and combining EMR data on polypharmacy in the elderly with training on quality improvement within the practice setting.

Virginia McIntyre is on the board of the People In Pain Network (PIPN) and the Maritimes PIPN Director. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology, a Diploma in Radiological as well as in Magnetic Resonance Imaging and has completed professional development courses in Communications and Leadership development. She uses her educational background and lived experience to lead pain related initiatives and participate as a lived experience advisor on, research teams and on conference and the Atlantic Mentorship Network: Pain and Addictions advisory committee. She has extensive experience locally and nationally advocating for those living with pain to have access to the tools they need to live well.

Karly Stefko is a recent graduate of Acadia University with a Bachelor of Kinesiology with Honours and is certified with the Canadian Society of Exercise Physiology as a Clinical Exercise Physiologist (CSEP-CEP). She currently works as a Kinesiologist with Acadia University where she is responsible for leading community exercise programs around Kings County. Karly also operates her own business where she provides one-on-one in-home and virtual exercise training to those 50+ and is involved as a CEP with iTreatment, a virtual platform that promotes a holistic approach to addiction recovery. Karly primarily works with older adults, both healthy and those with chronic conditions, such as Cardiovascular Disease, Diabetes, Chronic Pain, and Arthritis.

BRIC NS

BRIC NS Student Seminar Series

The BRIC NS Student Seminar Series is an opportunity for students across Nova Scotia to share their completed or in-progress research. Presentations cover a wide variety of disciplines, but all address the common thread of primary and integrated healthcare. Everyone is welcome!

Details:
Date: February 10, 2021
Time: 12:30 – 1:45 pm AST
To register: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_Iedab7Z3TDqqil0rzWtnFw
After registering, you will receive an email with details about joining the Zoom session.

This seminar will cover two topics:

  • Justine Dol will present Essential Coaching for Every Mother during COVID-19: Findings from a feasibility, pre-post intervention study of a remote, text message based postnatal educational program for first time mothers
  • Melanie Santhikumar will present Pilot Study: Computer Based Auditory Training for Auditory Processing Disorders from mild Traumatic Brain Injury 

About the speakers:

Justine Dol is a fourth year PhD Candidate in the Faculty of Health at Dalhousie University under the supervision of Dr. Marsha Campbell-Yeo. She is a recipient of the 2017 CIHR Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarship Doctoral Award to Honor Nelson Mandela; the 2018 Izaak Walton Killam Predoctoral Scholarship; and one of five 2019 Dalhousie University Board of Governors awardees. Her research focuses on the postpartum transition for mothers and using mHealth technology to improve maternal and newborn outcomes, both in Canada and internationally. She developed a text message program for first time mothers in Nova Scotia called Essential Coaching for Every Mother which has the goal of improving mothers’ confidence and social support and reducing postpartum anxiety and depression. She recently completed a pre-post intervention study to evaluate the program during COVID-19 on the feasibility of remote recruitment and to explore preliminary effectiveness (funded by BRIC NS award). A randomized controlled trial launched January 2021.

Melanie Santhikumar is completing her final year in the Masters of Audiology program at Dalhousie University.Prior to this degree, Melanie completed her Bachelors of Science at the University of Toronto in 2015, double majoring in Human Biology and Psychology with a minor in French.  After living abroad and then returning to work as a play-based therapist, Melanie discovered her passion for the field of audiology and the importance of the auditory system in quality of life. Upon completion of this degree, Melanie hopes to integrate clinical research practices into her role as an audiologist.