The Future of KT

Harley DickinsonDepartment of Sociology

QEOL Research Group Workshop August 22, 2006University of Saskatchewan

Trends & Issues

Introduction

My backgroundHEALNet NCEKUPICKTTwo Psychiatries

Topics of Discussion

The Professions & KT Health Reforms & the Professions Post-professional work teams

Multi-, Inter-, and Trans-Disciplinarity & KT

Professions & KT Professions as the

means for applying knowledge as work Includes scientific &

technical as well as ethical knowledge

Issues of KT understood within this framework

Health Reforms & the Professions

Health Reforms Challenge Professional Knowledge & Work Processes Knowledge System Processes

Creation (research) Transfer (education) Application (practice)

Work Processes From Professional to Multi-, Inter-, or Trans-

disciplinary

Health Knowledge System A complex system of systems

Research (knowledge creation) Education/Training (knowledge transfer) Practice (knowledge application)

Knowledge system processes present withinwithin & betweenbetween knowledge subsystems

Emerging Health Knowledge System &

Processes Coordination betweenbetween knowledge sub-systems HSDC SAHSN

Coordination withinwithin knowledge sub-systems Research sub-system

CIHR, CHSRF, SSHRC, SHRF Education sub-system

SWITCH, Interprofessional Education for Collaborative Patient-Centered Practice (IECPCP), P-CITE

Practice sub-system Electronic Health Records (EHRs) HQC

Saskatchewan Academic Health Sciences Network

Mandate - to enhance clinical services, conduct health research, and educate future health care professionals through the joint and collaborative relationship of its interdependent partners.

Partners - Saskatoon Health Authority, the U of S, Regina Qu-Appelle Health Authority, other provincial Health Authorities, and the Province of Saskatchewan.

Guiding principles - collaboration, interdependence, interdisciplinary practice, and an expansive definition of health.

Focus - to develop the following areas of service, research & teaching: Primary health care research and delivery Core specialty services Integrated teaching and learning models for health professionals Strategically focused areas of bio-medical research Aboriginal health Population and community health

http://www.saskhealthsciencesnetwork.usask.ca/

Interdisciplinary Collaborative Education

Collaborative Patient-centered Practice enhances patient - family - and community centered goals and values provides mechanisms for continuous communication among care givers, optimizes staff participation in clinical decision-making (within and across

disciplines) induces respect for the contributions of all disciplines including patients

contributions to their own care. To promote a culture of collaborative patient-centered practice, the Federal.

Government’s Health Human Resource Strategy has chosen as one of its key initiatives the development and implementation of Interprofessional Education for Collaborative Patient-Centered Practice (IECPCP)

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/hcs-sss/hhr-rhs/collabor/index_e.html

Patient-Centered Interdisciplinary Team Experience (P-CITE)

U of S project funded by IECPCP Training built around 4 patient/pop’n

groups Children/Youth with Mental Health Problems Middle Aged Adults with Chronic Health

Problems Elders Making Hospital to Community

Transition Community Health Needs in Aboriginal

Communities

Student Wellness Initiative Towards Community Health (SWITCH)

Student driven interdisciplinary wellness initiative that involves student volunteers from nine health

disciplines & four universities who work with clinic staff and interdisciplinary mentors

extends the hours of the West Side Community Clinic

conducts ancillary health programming at WSCC and White Buffalo Youth Lodge

Electronic Health Records One of the key means to achieve the five

goals of health reform: Reduce wait times Interdisciplinaery primary health care teams with

greater emphasis on health promotion & prevention

Enhanced patient safety Improved quality of care Improved efficiency & better value for money

EHR is seen as way to address these priorities

EHR

“The benefits of the EHR grow over time as providers in particular exploit its potential to enhance communications, improve safety and quality by using decision support tools, expand the network of trusted colleagues, and generate valid performance measures and comparisons”

(Beyond Good Intentions”, 2006)

What This Means New forms of post-professional work

organization, new technologies, and greater accountability through quality improvement processes will have substantial consequences for KT, especially in practice settings

A Knowledge System approach will help focus attention on the interrelationships between knowledge creation, transfer and application at both the organizational and individual levels