Why should healthcare research be done “by us” and not just “for us”?  

Guest host Laura Ferreira-Legere chats with ICES Public Advisory members Jenny Kirk and Jemal Demeke about why lived experience matters and how communities can shape better research. 

Welcome to our guest host, Laura Ferreira-Legere! Laura is Senior Manager of the Public and Community Engagement, Knowledge Translation team at ICES and works closely with the ICES Public Advisory Council.

Joining Laura are two members of ICES’ Public Advisory Council (also known as the PAC). The PAC was formed in 2019 and is made up of a rotating group of members from across Ontario who guide ICES on what matters most for health data research.

Jenny Kirk was a PAC member on our second cohort, from 2021-2024. Jemal Demeke is a current PAC member who joined the group in 2022 as part of our third cohort.

How did the PAC get involved in research?

Early in the PAC’s formation, they identified their participation in health research as a priority. The Applied Health Research Question (AHRQ) program at ICES acted as a mechanism to begin this work, which allows community groups (called “knowledge users”) to access ICES data and analytics to help answer important research questions. The PAC decided to explore mental health service use in Ontario, including understanding the reasons for visits to doctors or Emergency Departments, how service use may vary over time, and most importantly, how social factors like income and housing situation impact where people seek care.

Learn more about the PAC: ICES | Our Organization | Public Advisory Council

Learn more about the research project: ICES | Mental health-related visits to doctors and emergency departments in Ontario: a public-led exploration and analysis

Read more about patient and public involvement in research:

Evaluating patient and public involvement in research

Mapping the impact of patient and public involvement on health and social care research: a systematic review

Patient engagement in care: A scoping review of recently validated tools assessing patients' and healthcare professionals' preferences and experience

EPISODE CREDITS:

Produced, edited and mixed by Will Mcintyre, Richard Villeneuve and Pop Up Podcasting
Artwork designed by Stella-Luna Ha
Music licensed through Melodie Music

LINKS:

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