Some people living with health problems require extra support to properly manage their conditions, as family doctors are only able to spend limited time in the office with these patients. There are many resources and programs in the community that can provide the necessary time and support for these patients, yet many patients are unaware that such resources exist. Patient navigators have been shown to be useful in helping patients with certain conditions (such as cancer) to get to the resources they need, especially when they have social challenges that make it difficult for them to reach these programs (for example, language or transportation barriers, poverty, or poor social support). This study will look at how helpful Navigators are to link patients at family doctors’ offices to community resources. To do this, family doctors’ offices in Ottawa and Sudbury will be recruited. All offices will receive training on referring patients to community resources, and half of these (intervention) will have a Navigator assigned to the practice. This study will assess whether access to a Navigator increases patients’ access to community health social and services. In addition, the study aims to understand whether English and French speaking individuals are as likely to benefit from a Navigator in accessing community health and social services in the language of their choice. The ARC project is funded by The Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Community Based Primary Health Care Team Grant SPOR initiative and The Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, Ontario SPOR Support Unit, in support of the Working Group on Ontario’s Francophone Communities.
Ethics
This project complies with the ethical rules for research involving human subjects.
- Bruyère Continuing Care Research Ethics Board | Certificate No M16-16-055 valid until March 20, 2018
- Montfort Hospital Ethics Review Board | Certificate No SD-DP-27-02-17 valid until May 8, 2018
- Ottawa Health Science Research Ethics Board | Certificate No 20160914-01H valid until May 16, 2018
- University of Ottawa’s Office of Research Ethics and Integrity | Certificate No A05-17-04 valid until May 24, 2018
- ClinicalTrials.gov | No NCT03105635
Team
Coordinator
Andrea Perna, PhD
Bruyère Research Institute
Street address: 112-85 Primrose Ave., Ottawa, Ontario K1R 7G5
Mailing address: 112- 43 rue Bruyère St., Annex E, Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 5C7
+1 (613) 562-6262 x2920
aperna@bruyere.org
Principal investigators
Simone Dahrouge, Bruyère Research Institute
François Chiocchio, University of Ottawa
Alain Gauthier, Laurentian University
Co-Investigators
Daniel Bédard, Savoir Montfort
Marie-Hélène Chomienne, Montfort Hospital, Savoir Montfort
Rose Anne Devlin, University of Ottawa
Claire Kendall, Bruyère Research Institute, University of Ottawa
Manon Lemonde, University of Ontario Institute of Technology
Andréa Perna, Bruyère Research Institute
Justin Presseau, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute, Ottawa Methods Centre
Denis Prud’homme, Savoir Montfort
Monica Taljaard, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Patrick Timony, Laurentian University, Centre for Rural and Northern Health Research
Darene Anne Toal-Sullivan, Bruyère Research Institute, University of Ottawa
