Episode 7: Spotlight - Investing in Learning Health Systems for a Stronger, More Resilient Canada
It has been almost two years since Canada has taken on an array of measures to slow down the spread of COVID-19, while also protecting Canadians and our fragile health care system. Even before the pandemic, Canadian health care systems were struggling to provide timely access to care, which has long resulted in poorer health outcomes especially amongst communities that have been perpetually underserved. Canadians are waiting longer for specialist appointments and scheduled procedures, and experiencing delayed access to essential medicines in comparison to comparable countries. Canadian hospitals overall having fewer beds, reducing capacity to care for patients in the first place. Yet, Canada is among the highest spenders on health care per capita among these comparable countries.
Money being invested into Canadian health care systems needs to be put to better use – specifically in investments towards research, programs and policies that will provide pathways towards more resilient health care systems. A truly resilient healthcare system has the ability to absorb, adapt or transform to maintain essential functions when stressed or shocked, which means they need to:
Create flexibility in health care systems to respond to challenges;
Have reserve capability and capacity to manage impacts both direct and indirect; and
Invest in learning health systems so that the wisdom learned from shocks like COVID-19 ensure Canadian health care system emerge stronger as a result of lessons learned.
This spotlight episode focuses on on how investing in learning health systems can pave the way towards more resilient health care systems.
Izabella Kaczmarek is joined by Dr. Brianne Wood, the Associate Scientist in social accountability and learning health systems. In late 2021, she was named IMC’s Health Research Foundation’s recipient of its new Fellowship in Health Systems Resilience. Dr. Wood’s research will focus on improving health care in northern, rural and remote communities by building a socially accountable learning health system that reflects the unique context of its inhabitants. She will investigate how these communities and their health systems can better generate knowledge for decision- and policymaking during public health emergencies and ongoing health system transformation.
Find the podcast below or listen on SoundCloud.