51猎奇入口

by Sharon Mah                                                                                                

Faculty of Health Sciences Postdoctoral Fellow, Dr. Callista Ottoni, has secured a coveted Health Systems Impact (HSI) fellowship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). This award embeds Ottoni with Vancouver Coastal Health鈥檚 (VCH HECC) team, under the dual supervision of VCH Health System Supervisor, Michael Schwandt, and FHS Professor and CIHR Applied Public Health Chair Meghan Winters.

Ottoni is supporting the work of VCH HECC 鈥渙n the ground鈥� by developing research projects that use novel participatory methods like photovoice, to learn directly from older adults鈥� lived experiences. Older adults were identified as a priority population as they represent 18 per cent of the 1.25 million people living within VCH鈥檚 communities. They are challenging to support due to widely varying needs, capacities and risks resulting from intersecting social, economic, ethno-cultural, and health-related factors. The insights generated through Ottoni鈥檚 research will be applied to directly inform VCH HECCs strategies, tools, and resources.

One of the main programs that Ottoni is working to address involves challenges to health equity experienced by older adults during extreme heat and wildfire smoke events. Vancouver Coastal Health encompasses populations living in rural settings as well as densely populated urban environments; the same climate change event may present very differently in these settings. Ottoni is seeking to holistically assess barriers experienced by older adults, provide evidence-informed recommendations for supports and interventions, and identify factors that enhance the ability of older adults to prepare for and protect their health from climate related health risks.

Ottoni, who began working at VCH in April has already experienced the benefit of working alongside VCH HECC. 鈥淏eing in the office, I can learn in real time about their priorities, how they frame and communicate seasonal readiness, how they incorporate research evidence into their work, and best practices for researchers when working with health system partners,鈥� she says. Although she has 13 years of experience conducting community-based research, Ottoni notes that this experience is unique: 鈥淸They]have been really generous with their time to answer my questions to help me shape my research questions and approach.鈥�

Winters is full of praise for Ottoni鈥檚 participation in the HSI program. 鈥淭o make connections to solve issues 鈥榦n the ground鈥� [academic researchers] need to really be listening closely to understand what the actual pressing needs are 鈥� what evidence is missing? What data might help to improve decision-making? What methods and tools can be brought to play? I鈥檝e worked to hone these skills from outside the health system through partnerships, but I can really see the power and efficiency of embedding the researcher directly within the organization.鈥�

As a Medical Health Officer with Vancouver Coastal Health, Michael Schwandt is very pleased with the shared goals that are key to the FSI fellowship. 鈥淐allista is already an expert researcher, and it鈥檚 a tremendous opportunity to have join our team working on climate resilience and health in communities. Meanwhile, we believe that our public health program at VCH will provide an excellent space for her to develop a program of research that leads to exciting steps as a research leader.鈥�

Ottoni already has specific objectives for the research program she is designing for VCH HECC. In the short-term, she is evaluating the strengths and implementation challenges of existing tools (e.g. the ), and is working closely HECC staff to apply these insights to their current outreach practices. In the coming months, she hopes to advance understanding about the factors influencing how older adults respond during extreme heat and wildfire smoke events and how to shape health communications to-engage harder-to-reach groups. Additionally, she would like to publicly share research findings to encourage inclusive discussion about how health systems, NGOs, and local actors (e.g. friends and neighbours) can collectively support those people most at risk of health harms from wildfire smoke and/or heatwaves.

Ottoni will be embedded at VCH for two years, and she and the HECC team hope the research program will endure and evolve well after the completion of the fellowship. 鈥淚t is a fresh experience to see how in this Health Systems Impact fellowship model of 鈥榚mbedded researcher鈥� a program of work gets designed and tailored to have relevance and impact,鈥� says Winters. 鈥淢y own research aims to be responsive to [research and community] partners鈥� needs, and I鈥檓 learning new ways to do this through Callista鈥檚 experiences.鈥�