Grant: Project Grant

Navigating the health and social care system can be difficult, in particular for older adults and their caregivers who may interact with different providers of care over time. This study seeks to create evidence that will support improved integration of care services across the system. We have 4 objectives. First, we will prioritize relevant patient-centred outcomes based on previous international work and in collaboration with our diverse stakeholders. Second, we will explore care trajectories (the sequence of interactions with the health and social care system) and identify factors that may lead to certain types of trajectories, as well as how the trajectories are related to the prioritized outcomes. Third, we will explore how to classify the observed types as trajectories as either preferred or less preferred (still in consultation with our stakeholders). Finally, we will identify innovative programs or policies from Quebec and Ontario and examine their potential to improve trajectories of care. We will achieve these objectives using both qualitative and quantitative methods. We will conduct a deliberative prioritization and validation of the outcome measures with our stakeholders. Then, using a dataset that links responses to the Canadian Community Health Survey to the respondents' health administrative data, we will explore and group trajectories and relate them to the relevant outcomes. We will use an existing registry of innovative programs that was developed with previous CIHR funding support, to identify programs that are beneficial for preferred trajectories. We will conduct a comparative study between Quebec and Ontario. Finally, we will interview patients and practitioners to gain their ideas about how to improve trajectories for everyone. This work is expected to support efforts to better integrate care services with the goal of improving care trajectories, ultimately improving the experience and outcomes of the health and social care system.