THUNDER BAY — Lakehead University researchers are receiving nearly $2.4 million over four years to help identify gaps in palliative care services for certain segments of the population.
Marcus Powlowski, MP for Thunder Bay-Rainy River, made the announcement Monday on behalf of Health Minister Mark Holland.
According to Health Canada, some people experience more challenges than others when accessing end-of-life care, including people over 85, those with dementia, mental illness, intellectual or developmental disabilities, members of linguistic minorities, individuals living in rural and remote areas, and those experiencing homelessness.
Kathy Cortes-Miller, director of the Centre for Education and Research on Aging and Health at Lakehead, said: "It was a lot of time and energy to get this work recognized in the way that it has been from Health Canada. So we're particularly excited about the impact that it's going to have for the user groups we're hoping to work with."
Professor Lynn Martin, chair of the department of health sciences, said: "I think it's the practical application of the knowledge. The way we've structured this project is really to be about things that will lead to change, and positive change, for people who are seriously ill in one of these underserved groups."
The team involved in the project includes about 10 graduate students, something Martin said she's excited about because this will build interest and capacity for doing more work in this area.
Advisory committees are being established with representation from groups that represent users in order to help prioritize the nature of the research.
Data analysts will also be studying information obtained from home care and long-term care settings as well as inpatient psychiatry data.
Cortes-Miller said some of the funds will be used for knowledge translation.
"When we create knowledge and information using research, particularly data . . . we need to make sure it's tangible for the people who need to use it. So we'll be spending time and energy and funds to make sure that happens as well."
She said the research is important because it's the kind of thing that can guide and change practice.
"I think the timing is really important right now. We've learned a lot through COVID, and I think we've really recognized and seen firsthand some of the gaps in our system. Dr. Martin's research proposes a way of paying attention to those gaps, but moving it forward and being action-oriented in the research to improve care."
Lakehead's team is part of a larger research group that also includes the University of Waterloo and Wilfred Laurier University.
Powlowski said he feels palliative care has probably been underfunded by governments in the past, and that the kind of work the new funding supports will hopefully result in improvements in people's lives.
