Patient Roles and Patient Knowledge in Learning Health Systems.

Learning health systems collect and analyse data on an ongoing basis to make real-time, evidence-informed decisions. Patient involvement is central to learning health systems. In this perspective paper, we describe implications that LHSs' distinguishing features have for patient involvement.

Strengthening the delivery of integrated physical health care for adults experiencing serious mental illness: a scoping review of interventions in mental health settings.

Individuals living with serious mental illness (SMI) face significant barriers to accessing appropriate physical health care, poorer associated health outcomes and premature mortality compared to the general population. This scoping review examines service delivery models and clinical practices supporting the integration of physical health care for adults with SMI within mental health settings, and their outcomes. Searches of four academic databases yielded 65 academic articles.

Strengthening the Delivery of Physical Healthcare for Adults Living With Serious Mental Illness - A Qualitative Description of Patient and Family Member Perspectives.

Background: Individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) have higher rates of comorbid physical health conditions, poorer associated health outcomes, and die on average 10-20 years earlier than the general population. This qualitative study aimed to explore the perspectives and experiences of adults living with SMI and family members with accessing physical healthcare within primary and mental health settings in Canada.

Methods: We conducted a qualitative descriptive study using semi-structured interviews with 20 adults living with SMI and five focus groups with 18 family members between July 2023 and April 2024.

Building capacity in patient-oriented research: reflections on cultivating relationships within a high-secure forensic mental health hospital.

Building trusting relationships is critical to the success of patient-oriented research. However, in high-secure forensic mental health settings, distrust, discrimination, and restrictive practices pose unique barriers to building relationships. This commentary explores the challenges, strategies, and lessons learned in fostering meaningful connections with forensic patients at a high-secure hospital.

Psychological health and safety of criminal justice workers: a scoping review of strategies and supporting research.

Background: People working in the criminal justice system face substantial occupational stressors due to their roles involving high-risk situations, trauma exposure, heavy workloads, and responsibility for public safety. Consequently, they have a higher prevalence of mental health problems than the general population. Employees identifying as women, Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersexual, Asexual, and all others (2SLGBTQIA+), or Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), may experience additional stressors due to discrimination, harassment, and systemic barriers to seeking and receiving support.

A Canadian Call for Addressing Physical Health in Specialized Mental Health Settings.

People with serious mental illness experience poorer physical health and higher mortality rates than the general population. One option for responding to this disparity is , which promotes physical health monitoring in secondary and tertiary mental health settings. Health leaders in Canada can learn from reverse integration approaches that have been adopted or proposed in other jurisdictions.

Strengthening the delivery of integrated care for individuals experiencing serious mental illness within mental health settings: a qualitative description of health provider perspectives.

Background: Individuals experiencing serious mental illness (SMI) have higher rates of comorbid physical health conditions, poorer associated health outcomes, and die on average 10-20 years earlier than the general population. They encounter multiple barriers to accessing appropriate physical health care in many countries, including Canada, where policies and practices to promote integrated care delivery to this population remain scant. This qualitative study aimed to explore health provider perspectives and experiences with integrated physical and mental health care within mental health settings in Canada, in efforts to address the health needs of this population.

Using a co-design approach to develop a Preventative Online Mental Health Program for Youth (POMHPY): a quality improvement project.

Background: During the COVID-19 pandemic, youth in Ontario, Canada experienced a steep rise in mental health concerns. Preventative intervention programs can address the psychological impact of the pandemic on youth and build resiliency. Co-design approaches to developing such programs actively involve young people, resulting in solutions tailored to their unique needs.

Determinants of readiness to implement forensic patient-oriented research: a study of barriers and facilitators in a high-secure hospital.

Introduction: Forensic mental health care is intended to promote recovery and reintegration, but is often experienced by patients as punitive and aversive. Forensic patients are rarely engaged in research to explore what matters most to them, and little guidance exists on how this engagement may be facilitated. In this paper, we explore perceived determinants of readiness to implement forensic patient-oriented research in a high-secure setting.

Exploring the lived experiences of participants and facilitators of an online mindfulness program during COVID-19: a phenomenological study.

The coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) has placed incredible demands on healthcare workers (HCWs) and adversely impacted their well-being. Throughout the pandemic, organizations have sought to implement brief and flexible mental health interventions to better support employees. Few studies have explored HCWs' lived experiences of participating in brief, online mindfulness programming during the pandemic using qualitative methodologies.

Key steps for a mental health and addictions performance measurement framework for Canada.

To inform the development of a pan-Canadian Mental Health and Addictions (MHA) performance measurement framework, we undertook a rapid review of the recent Performance Measurement (PM) literature and solicited input from 20 MHA policy and measurement experts. Six key steps for framework development were identified: recognizing and acknowledging key issues, developing shared language and understanding of key concepts, defining overall scope, defining framework dimension/domains, selecting indicators and using systematic engagement and consultation processes with stakeholders. Subject matter experts underscored the need for a comprehensive engagement process which would honour multiple stakeholder viewpoints and attend to key issues in the codesign of features of the PM framework.

Mental health and addictions policy priorities and performance measurement frameworks.

To inform the future development of a pan-Canadian Mental Health and Addictions (MHA) performance measurement framework, we undertook a review and comparison of current provincial/territorial MHA policies and performance measurement frameworks. Most did not have performance measurement approaches that were explicitly linked to policy actions but eleven acknowledged the importance of performance measurement. Among the provinces with a framework, there were few performance domains in common.

Medical Genetics at McGill: The History of a Pioneering Research Group.

The McGill Group in Medical Genetics was formed in 1972, supported by the Medical Research Council and successor Canadian Institutes for Health Research until September 2009, making it the longest active biomedical research group in the history of Canada. We document the history of the McGill Group and situate its research within a broader history of medical genetics. Drawing on original oral histories with the Group's members, surviving documents, and archival materials, we explore how the Group's development was structured around epistemological trends in medical genetics, policy choices made by research agencies, and the development of genetics at McGill University and its hospitals.

Radiation therapy for gastrointestinal cancer.

This article has reviewed the current role of radiation in the treatment of gastrointestinal malignancies and discussed the data supporting its use. Radiation treatment in this setting continues to evolve with the increasing implementation of more conformal delivery techniques. Further scientific investigation is needed to establish the optimal role of radiation and to better define its integration with novel systemic and biologic modalities.

Positron emission tomography scan to determine the need for neck dissection after chemoradiation for head and neck cancer: timing is everything.

Unlabelled: We present a case of a negative positron emission tomography (PET) scan in a patient with pathologic viable cancer at neck dissection.

Study Design: Case Report.

Methods: A 69-year-old man presented with clinical stage T2N2c squamous cell cancer of the left tonsil and was treated with definitive chemoradiation.