Grant: Doctoral Research Award: Canada Graduate Scholarships

People with inflammatory arthritis often need lifelong treatment, which means to manage their condition, they must go to their doctors or other healthcare providers regularly. We know patients have different health outcomes, and that many of these differences are preventable. For example, patients who live in a rural area may have more challenges accessing care, because there are fewer healthcare centers that can meet their needs nearby. To solve this issue, we need to understand what risk factors exist for patients when accessing care. However, there is usually less representation and diversity in the people who participate in clinical trials for inflammatory arthritis, which can limit our ability to provide personalized care. To improve care, we need to understand how different patient factors (sex, gender, race, education, location, etc.) can impact health outcomes, and this requires more diversity in study participants. We want to address health inequities (preventable differences in health outcomes) for people with inflammatory arthritis. We aim to answer: 1)What is the role of equity, diversity, and inclusion in inflammatory arthritis research? 2)What is the relationship between patient factors and health outcomes? To answer our research questions, we will interview researchers, and conduct focus groups with patients, to explore their thoughts on equity, diversity, and inclusion in research. We will also ask for feedback on a survey that will ask about patient factors and patient outcomes. Next we will use our findings to get patients in Canada to participate in the survey. We will then analyze the results using statistical methods to see if there are any links between patient factors and health outcomes. This research is important to patients with inflammatory arthritis, researchers, and healthcare providers. If we can formally measure preventable differences among patients with inflammatory arthritis, we can begin to improve their access to care.