Grant: Travel Awards - Institute Community Support

The efficient use of health services and challenges faced by deprived populations is associated with health outcomes. In the other hand, the organization of services, and also social forces and inequalities can impact the use of services and patient outcomes. Differences in population characteristics and challenges faced by health systems contribute to disparities in health, highlighting the importance to understand the factors associated with use of services, access to care or performance of organizations. Assessing accurately these factors is key for designing and implementing successful solutions to reduce disparities and achieve positive health outcomes and equity in health. An area of focus is the prevalence, quality indicators, and health outcomes related to chronic diseases and multimorbidity. The burden of multimorbidity has been highlighted in all population groups beside older people. My goal is to further explore issues pertaining to the use of services among complex multimorbid patients and special populations, to improve health outcomes and reduce inequalities. Specifically, my proposed program will analyze care coordination and inequities related to multimorbidty. A first project will study how providers collaborate to improve health system integration for these complex patients. The goal is to support patients navigate efficiently the healthcare systems, by identifying successes and missed opportunities in care management, and by measuring patient experience and care outcomes. Secondly, it is key to identify inequalities faced by people with chronic conditions, namely underprivileged population such as indigenous communities. This project aims to measure and understand depression in the context of multimorbidity. Because of cultural differences, risk of stigmatization, misinterpretations, and also lack of data, appropriately measuring and acknowledging depression is a crucial step to face the problem and identify successful solutions to reduce gaps.