Insight and Action: Networks and social capital: a relational approach to primary healthcare reform

According to researchers Catherine Scott and Anne Hofmeyer, “A clear understanding of the key concepts and benefits of a network and social capital approach provides a promising way to bring together individuals and organizations with a common purpose and goal.”

For more information on key concepts, misconceptions, and the rationale for collaboration in healthcare, we invite you to read a summary of Networks and social capital: a relational approach to primary healthcare reform, in the latest issue of Insight & Action.

Primary Health Care Teams and their Impact on Processes and Outcomes of Care

Saeeda Khan and colleagues have recently published the report “Primary Health Care Teams and their Impact on Processes and Outcomes of Care”. The Statistics Canada publication reports on three projects using data from the Canadian Survey of Experiences with Primary Health Care to assess the degree to which Canadians have access to primary health care teams and the impact of those teams on processes of care and on outcomes.

Interprofessional Collaboration and Quality Primary Healthcare

Support for implementing interprofessional collaboration in Canada is based on the assumption that it will improve community-based primary healthcare. However, the adoption of a team-based, interprofessional collaborative model of care and delivery in primary healthcare settings remains in its infancy in most of Canada. The Canadian Health Services Research Foundation, in collaboration with the Health Council of Canada, commissioned a synthesis to gain a better understanding of the evidence surrounding interprofessional collaboration in primary healthcare in Canada, and the potential benefits for patients and healthcare providers. The synthesis “Interprofessional Collaboration and Quality Primary Healthcare” provides a systematic review of peer-reviewed literature regarding outcomes of interprofessional collaboration in primary healthcare, a Canadian environmental scan to obtain stakeholder feedback and incorporates findings from initiatives and projects that involved primary healthcare provision.

Appendices

Primary healthcare report available

The Foundation commissioned Mapping the future of primary healthcare research in Canada to assess the country's primary care research capacity and suggest strategies for sustaining it following the end of the Primary Health Care Transition Fund, which wound down in 2006. As well as the final report, there are a one-page background piece giving the context of the report and the executive summary.

In the Know

"In the Know" is a series of summaries of reports, research articles and other sources of knowledge relevant to the priority research themes of the Foundation.

On the Front Lines of Care: Primary care doctors’ office systems, experiences, and views in seven countries

Cathy Schoen, Robin Osborn, Phuong Trang Huynh, Michelle Doty, Jordon Peugh, and Kinga Zapert

The Future of Primary Healthcare: Meeting the challenges of the new NHS market.

Richard Lewis and Jennifer Dixon

Inventory of Primary Healthcare Evaluation Projects and Strategies in Canada

The Foundation is proud to make available the updated version of the Inventory of Primary Healthcare Evaluation Projects and Strategies in Canada [PDF - 2MB]. This inventory was first gathered by Jeannie Haggerty and Fiona Crossling, who surveyed decision makers and researchers across Canada in April 2005.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to this project. If you have any questions, please contact Susan Law for further details.

Due to volume, English responses remain in English and were not translated.

• Report on primary healthcare evaluation released
• Primary Healthcare Registered Nurses in British Columbia
• New toolkit on How to Integrate a Pharmacist into Family Practice
• Implementing Family Medicine Groups: The Challenges of Reorganizing a Practice and of Inter-Professional Collaboration
• New Primary Healthcare Research Synthesis Released
• Planning for Renewal: Mapping Primary Health Care in British Columbia
• Results-Based Logic Model for Primary Health Care
• Implementing Primary Care Reform: Barriers and Facilitators