How can we evaluate whether a healthcare intervention is effective?
Dr. Mark Harrison is a health outcomes researcher at the University of British Columbia. His research focuses on the evaluation and re-evaluation of the types of healthcare that are provided, points in the treatment pathway, and the way in which healthcare is delivered.
With Canada’s aging population and the resulting pressures on our healthcare system, this field of research is more important than ever before.
Dr. Harrison and his team are currently investigating a program that allows registered nurses to work alongside rheumatologists to better support patient care. By carefully collecting and examining data, the team can determine the success of this model of care, and whether a similar intervention could be applied elsewhere.
Filmed at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.
"If it’s a good intervention then ideally I’d like to see it as a sort of model of care for other diseases. If it’s working, who is to say we couldn’t do a similar thing in diabetes or asthma, and who’s to say we couldn’t have pharmacists working alongside rheumatologists, occupational therapists, (and) other specialties (to) generate more holistic care of patients."
The University of British Columbia is one of the most respected research institutions in the world. Our reputation as a top research centre attracts some of the brightest and most productive minds in the field.
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Our sincere thanks to Dr. Mark Harrison and his lab for making this video possible. Dr. Harrison is an assistant professor at UBC Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, a position affiliated with the Collaboration for Outcomes Research and Evaluation (CORE). He is also a scientist at the Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences (CHÉOS), and an affiliate scientist at Arthritis Research Canada. He is supported by a Professorship in Sustainable Health Care.
St Paul’s Hospital (Providence Health Care), Vancouver, Canada.
Research in Focus is a UBC Pharm Sci production designed to highlight the ground-breaking health science research of our talented scientists, graduate students, and postdocs. In each episode, we will profile a different area of research focus and the work that goes on behind the scenes.