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Introduction The pan-Canadian Oncology Symptom Triage and Remote Support (costars) team is studying how to improve the quality and consistency of cancer symptom management. Methods A 1-day invitational meeting was held 24 October 2017 in Ottawa, Ontario, to review the current evidence from costars projects and to establish research priorities for a future largescale implementation study. The meeting included 36 participants who were clinicians from adult oncology, pediatric oncology, and homecare; policymakers from national, provincial, and regional organizations; researchers; and a patient. Half the day involved summarizing evidence from four costars studies and experiences with implementing the costars symptom practice guides. The second half of the day used a modified nominal group technique to generate research questions within small groups, presentation of research questions to all participants, and two rounds of voting to reach consensus on research priorities. Results Participants proposed 4 research categories: ■ User-centred augmentation to enhance usability (for example, designing a mobile costars solution) ■ Outcome measurement (for example, determining key competencies for clinicians) ■ Regular renewal of costars to keep pace with evolving evidence (for example, updates for novel therapies) ■ Integration into clinical practice (for example, meaningful engagement of patients and caregivers in study design). Conclusions Across categories, the top 3 priorities were effect on health services use, competency development, and a mobile costars solution. Future research will address identified priorities, reflecting the needs and perspectives of diverse stakeholders. Stakeholder collaboration will continue to guide our approach to operationalizing this priority research agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study estimated the health burden and costs associated with gastroenteritis in the City of Hamilton (Ontario, Canada). The number of cases, number of different resource units used, and cost per resource unit were represented by probability distributions and point estimates. These were subsequently integrated in a stochastic model to estimate the overall burden and cost in the population and to depict the uncertainty of the estimates. The estimated mean annual cost per capita was Can$115. The estimated mean annual cost per case was Can$1,089 and was similar to other published figures. Gastroenteritis represented a significant burden in the study population, with costs high enough to justify prevention efforts. These results, currently the most accurate available estimates for a Canadian population, can inform future economic evaluations to determine the most cost effective measures for reducing the burden and cost of gastroenteritis in the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Studied adoption of digital technologies in the Canadian beef feedlot industry. • Surveyed 24 producers, interviewed 11 producers and 2 veterinarians. • Adoption favored mature technologies for record keeping, feeding and herd management. • Barriers included unclear return on investment, usability, awareness, and relevance. • Recommendations provided for innovators to meet beef farmers needs and expectations. This research investigated digital technology adoption in the Canadian beef farming industry. The study was carried out from the point of view of two different stakeholders, farmers and veterinarians, to understand current perceptions, level of awareness, and experiences with digital precision livestock farming (PLF) technologies being used on Canadian beef farms. The study specifically focused on the beef feedlot sector in the Canadian province of Ontario. Data from 11 interviews and 24 surveys were analyzed for key themes and patterns. The data was also analyzed through the lens of Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations technology adoption theory to help understand the potential for technology adoption among Canadian beef producers. The study findings revealed that feedlot producers use a wide variety of software and hardware technologies, but favoured mature, proven technologies that strongly aligned with their business needs. There was little up-take of PLF technologies that focused on 24/7 individual animal health and welfare monitoring, and evidence was found that current technologies that serve this purpose are both unsuitable and cost prohibitive for the farming practices and business needs of the feedlot sector. The main technology adoption barriers found in the study were costs and return on investment, technology usability, lack of awareness of technologies and their capabilities, and perceived relevance of the technology. The study findings have implications for PLF innovators and industry stakeholders, such as the need for pricing models for products and services that minimize up-front investments, and the need for user-centred design of PLF technologies that bridge the gap between technology capabilities and user needs and expectations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background:  In November 2011, the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care released guidelines for screening women at average breast cancer risk. Weak recommendations (framed using GRADE methodology) were made for screening women aged 50 to 74 years every two to three years, and for not screening women aged 40 to 49 years. Methods:  We conducted an interrupted time series analysis using administrative data to examine bilateral mammography use before and after a release of a national breast screening guideline. Women aged 40 to 74 years living in Ontario or Alberta from 30th November 2008 to 30th November 2014 were included. Strata included age, region of residence, neighbourhood income quintile, immigration status, and education level. Results:  In both provinces, mammography use rates were lower in the post-intervention period (527 vs. 556 and 428 vs. 465/1000 women in Ontario and Alberta, respectively). In Ontario, mammography trends decreased following guideline release to align with recommendations for women aged 40 to 74 (decrease of 2.21/1000 women, SE 0.26/1000, p<0.0001). In Alberta, mammography trends decreased for women aged 40 to 49 years (3/1000 women, SE 0.32, p<0.001) and 50 to 69 (2.9/1000 women, SE 0.79, p<0.001), but did not change for women aged 70 to 74 (0.7/1000 women, SE 1.23, p=0.553). In both provinces, trends in mammography use rates were sustained for up to three years after guideline release. Conclusions:  We observed a decrease in screening for women aged 40-49. Additional research to explore whether shared decision making was used to optimize guideline-concordant screening for women aged 50-74 is needed., Competing Interests: Competing interests: Drs. Tonelli, Brauer, Bell, and Shaw were members of the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care., (Copyright: © 2022 Fahim C et al.)

Purpose: Oncologic, urinary, and sexual outcomes are important to patients receiving prostate cancer surgery. The objective of this study was to determine if providing surgical report cards (SuReps) to surgeons resulted in improved patient outcomes., Materials and Methods: A prospective before-and-after study was conducted at The Ottawa Hospital. A total of 422 consecutive patients undergoing radical prostatectomy were enrolled. The intervention was provision of report cards to surgeons. The control cohort was patients treated before report card feedback (pre-SuRep), and the intervention cohort was patients treated after report card feedback (post-SuRep). The primary outcomes were postoperative erectile function, urinary continence, and positive surgical margins., Results: Baseline characteristics were similar between groups. Almost all patients (99%) were continent and the majority (59%) were potent prior to surgery. Complete 1-year followup was available for 400 patients (95%). Nerve sparing surgery increased from 70% pre-SuRep to 82% post-SuRep (p=0.01). There was a nonstatistically significant increase in the proportion of patients with a positive surgical margin post-SuRep (31% pre-SuRep vs 39% post-SuRep, p=0.08). There was no difference in postoperative erectile function (17% vs 18%, p=0.7) and a decrease in continence (75% vs 65%, p=0.02) at 1 year postoperatively., Conclusions: The SuRep platform allows accurate reporting of surgical outcomes that can be used for patient counseling. However, the provision of surgical report cards did not improve functional or oncologic outcomes. Longer durations of feedback, report card modifications, or targeted interventions are likely necessary to improve outcomes.

Aims and Objectives: To explore mentorship pairing practices for new graduate nurses in a tertiary care hospital., Background: Many organisations have implemented mentorship transition programmes to decrease new nursing graduate turnover in the first two years of practice. Little is known about mentorship pairing processes., Design: An interpretive descriptive qualitative study was conducted in a multicampus academic health science centre in Ontario, Canada. The COREQ reporting guideline was used., Methods: Thirty-one semistructured interviews were conducted from July 2018-July 2019 in a multicampus academic health science centre with new nursing graduates, experienced nurses and nurse leaders who participated in the New Graduate Guarantee programme or were involved in the mentor-mentee pairing process in 2016 or 2017. Data collected were analysed using thematic analysis within the groups and triangulated across groups., Results: Neither the new graduates nor the mentors were aware of the pairing processes. Nursing leaders relied on their knowledge of the participants to pair new graduates and mentors with many stating participants' personalities were considered. New graduates and mentors described making an initial connection and socialisation as important themes related to facilitating the pairing process. Organisational influences on pairing included taking breaks together, the location of the final student placement, and the management of workload and scheduling., Conclusions: Increased awareness and transparency regarding nursing mentorship pairing processes is required. Pairing processes suggested by participants warrant further investigation to determine efficacy., Relevance: Findings reinforce the need to discuss and research nursing specific mentorship pairing processes., (© 2020 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Background: Rates of contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (cpm) continue to rise internationally despite evidence-based guidance strongly discouraging its use in most women with unilateral breast cancer. The purpose of the present study was to develop and assess the feasibility of a knowledge translation tool [a patient decision aid (da)] designed to enhance evidence-informed shared decision-making about cpm., Methods: A consultation da was developed using the Ottawa Patient Decision Aid Development eTraining in consultation with clinicians and knowledge translation experts. The final da was then assessed for feasibility with health care professionals and patients across Canada. The assessment involved a survey completed online (health care professionals) or by telephone (patients). Survey data were analyzed using descriptive statistics for closed-ended questions and qualitative content analysis for open-ended questions., Results: The 51 participants who completed the survey included 39 health care professionals and 12 patients. The da was acceptable; 88% of participants viewed it as having the right amount of information or slightly more or less information than they would like. Almost all participants (98%) felt that the da would prepare patients to make better decisions. The aid was perceived to be usable, with 73% of participants stating that they would be willing to use or share the da., Conclusions: The cpm patient da developed for the present study was viewed by health care professionals and patients across Canada to be acceptable and usable during the clinical consultation. It holds promise as a knowledge translation tool to be used by clinicians in consultation with women who have unilateral breast cancer to enhance evidence-informed and shared decision-making with respect to undergoing cpm., Competing Interests: CONFLICT OF INTEREST DISCLOSURES We have read and understood Current Oncology’s policy on disclosing conflicts of interest, and we declare that we have none.

Background: Competing health concerns present real obstacles to people living with diabetes and other chronic diseases as well as to their primary care providers. Guideline implementation interventions rarely acknowledge this, leaving both patients and providers feeling overwhelmed by the volume of recommended actions. Interprofessional (IP) shared decision-making (SDM) with the use of decision aids may help to set treatment priorities. We developed an evidence-based SDM intervention for patients with diabetes and other conditions that was framed by the IP-SDM model and followed a user-centered approach. Our objective in the present study is to pilot an IP-SDM and goal-setting toolkit following the Knowledge-to-Action Framework to assess (1) intervention fidelity and the feasibility of conducting a larger trial and (2) impact on decisional conflict, diabetes distress, health-related quality of life and patient assessment of chronic illness care., Methods/design: A two-step, parallel-group, clustered randomized controlled trial (RCT) will be conducted, with the primary goal being to assess intervention fidelity and the feasibility of conducting a larger RCT. The first step is a provider-directed implementation only; the second (after a 6-month delay) involves both provider- and patient-directed implementation. Half of the clusters will be assigned to receive the IP-SDM toolkit, and the other will be assigned to be mailed a diabetes guidelines summary. Individual interviews with patients, their family members and health care providers will be conducted upon trial completion to explore toolkit use. A secondary purpose of this trial is to gather estimates of the toolkit's impact on decisional conflict. Secondary outcomes include diabetes distress, quality of life and chronic illness care, which will be assessed on the basis of patient-completed questionnaires of validated scales at baseline and at 6 and 12 months. Multilevel hierarchical regression models will be used to account for the clustered nature of the data., Discussion: An individualized approach to patients with multiple chronic conditions using SDM and goal setting is a desirable strategy for achieving guideline-concordant treatment in a patient-centered fashion. Our pilot trial will provide insights regarding strategies for the routine implementation of such interventions in clinical practice, and it will offer an assessment of the impact of this approach., Trial Registration: Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT02379078. Date of Registration: 11 February 2015.

Background: Patients, identified to be at risk for but who have never experienced a potentially lethal cardiac arrhythmia, have the option of receiving an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) as prophylaxis against sudden cardiac death - a primary prevention indication. In Canada, there is no clear framework to support patients' decision-making for these devices. Decision support, using a decision aid, could moderate treatment-related uncertainty and prepare patients to make well-informed decisions. Patient decision aids provide information on treatment options, risks, and benefits, to help patients clarify their values for outcomes of treatment options. The objectives of this research are: 1) develop a decision aid, 2) evaluate the decision aid, and 3) determine the feasibility of conducting a trial., Methods/design: A development panel comprised of the core investigative team, health service researchers, decision science experts, cardiovascular healthcare practitioners, and ICD patient representatives will collaborate to provide input on the content and format of the aid. To generate probabilities to include in the aid, we will synthesize primary prevention ICD evidence. To obtain anonymous input about the facts and content, we will employ a modified Delphi process. To evaluate the draft decision aid will invite ICD patients and their families (n = 30) to rate its acceptability. After we evaluate the aid, to determine the feasibility, we will conduct a feasibility pilot randomized controlled trial (RCT) in new ICD candidates (n = 80). Participants will be randomized to receive a decision aid prior to specialist consultation versus usual care. Results from the pilot RCT will determine the feasibility of research processes; inform sample size calculation, measure decision quality (knowledge, values, decision conflict) and the influence of health related quality of life on decision-making., Discussion: Our study seeks to develop a decision aid, for patients offered their first ICD for prophylaxis against sudden cardiac death. This paper outlines the background and methods of a pilot randomized trial which will inform a larger multicenter trial. Ultimately, decision support prior to specialist consultation could enhance the decision-making process between patients, physicians, and families, associated with life-prolonging medical devices like the ICD., Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT01876173.

Background: Little is known about shared decision-making (SDM) with Métis, First Nations and Inuit women ("Aboriginal women"). SDM is a collaborative process that engages health care professional(s) and the client in making health decisions and is fundamental for informed consent and patient-centred care. The objective of this study is to explore Aboriginal women's health and social decision-making needs and to engage Aboriginal women in culturally adapting an SDM approach., Methods: Using participatory research principles and guided by a postcolonial theoretical lens, the proposed mixed methods research will involve three phases. Phase I is an international systematic review of the effectiveness of interventions for Aboriginal peoples' health decision-making. Developed following dialogue with key stakeholders, proposed methods are guided by the Cochrane handbook and include a comprehensive search, screening by two independent researchers, and synthesis of findings. Phases II and III will be conducted in collaboration with Minwaashin Lodge and engage an urban Aboriginal community of women in an interpretive descriptive qualitative study. In Phase II, 10 to 13 Aboriginal women will be interviewed to explore their health/social decision-making experiences. The interview guide is based on the Ottawa Decision Support Framework and previous decisional needs assessments, and as appropriate may be adapted to findings from the systematic review. Digitally-recorded interviews will be transcribed verbatim and analyzed inductively to identify participant decision-making approaches and needs when making health/social decisions. In Phase III, there will be cultural adaptation of an SDM facilitation tool, the Ottawa Personal Decision Guide, by two focus groups consisting of five to seven Aboriginal women. The culturally adapted guide will undergo usability testing through individual interviews with five to six women who are about to make a health/social decision. Focus groups and individual interviews will be digitally-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed inductively to identify the adaptation required and usability of the adapted decision guide., Discussion: Findings from this research will produce a culturally sensitive intervention to facilitate SDM within a population of urban Aboriginal women, which can subsequently be evaluated to determine impacts on narrowing health/social decision-making inequities.

Background: Vascular access options in coronary angiography can be considered a preference-sensitive decision, where the benefits/risks have different levels of significance, depending on the individual patient. For preference-sensitive healthcare options, patient decision aids (PtDA) significantly improve the process of decision-making. The purpose of this trial was to evaluate the effectiveness of an evidence-based PtDA compared with usual care in patients eligible for radial and femoral artery access., Methods and Results: We conducted a single-center, nonblinded, randomized controlled trial with patients eligible for both femoral and radial access as per their treating physician. The PtDA was designed to guide patients to make an informed choice, consistent with their preferences and values. The primary outcome, decisional conflict, was assessed using the validated decisional conflict scale. One hundred fifty patients were randomized (vascular access PtDA=76 versus usual care=74). The intervention group had a significantly reduced decisional conflict scale compared with control (unadjusted 14.8 versus 19.5, P=0.04) and were significantly more knowledgeable regarding risks/benefits associated with each vascular access (mean knowledge score 3/5 (95% confidence interval, 2.6 to 3.3) versus 2/5 (95% confidence interval, 1.7 to 2.3, P<0.01). PtDA patients had better informed value congruence with their vascular access received (47.3% versus 25.7%, P<0.01). There were no significant differences in procedural success or safety between the 2 groups., Conclusions: A vascular access PtDA for eligible patients undergoing coronary angiogram procedures reduces decisional conflict and improves value congruence and the patients' knowledge of their healthcare options; however, a multicenter study, powered to confirm these benefits and evaluate differences in procedural success or complications, is required.

We explored family involvement in decisions about life support interventions in the intensive care unit study using a critical incident technique to focus on specific case exemplars contributed by participants. A total of 6 family members and 9 health care professionals were interviewed. Participants described 2 options (life support or comfort care) and values associated with options: maintaining quality of life, surviving critical illness, minimizing pain and suffering, not being attached to machines, needing adjustment time, and judicious health care resource use. Barriers to involvement included not being offered alternative options; no specific trigger to initiate decision making; dominant influence of professionals' values; and families lacking understandable information. Family members are unlikely to engage in decision making unless professionals identify the decision and address other barriers to family involvement.

The effect of a program to train clinicians to support patients making decisions about place of end-of-life care was evaluated. In all, 88 oncology and/or palliative care nursing and allied health providers from three Ontario health networks were randomly assigned to an education or control condition. Quality of decision support provided to standardized patients was measured before and after training, as were participants' perceptions about the acceptability of the training program and their intentions to engage in patient decision support. Compared to controls, intervention group members improved the quality of decision support provided and were more likely to address a wider range of decision-making needs. Intervention group members scored higher on a knowledge test of decision support than controls and rated the components as acceptable. Improvements in the quality of decision support can be made by providing training and practical tools such as a patient decision aid.

Although patients have more choices about where to receive care as death approaches, they often need help with decision making. This study identified factors that influence nurses' provision of decision support. A total of 22 nurses, from 3 health networks, participated in semistructured interviews. Overall, nurses held favorable attitudes toward providing decision support for place of care at end of life. Overlap between other professionals' roles and nurses' clinical experience affected nurses' decision support behaviors. Although nurses considered decision support to be part of patient-centered care, they report a lack of skills, confidence, and tools to help them provide it. These findings confirm the need to develop practical postlicensure education strategies and ways to embed patient decision support tools into systems of care.

To estimate the magnitude and distribution of self-reported, acute gastrointestinal illness in a Canadian-based population, we conducted a retrospective, cross-sectional telephone survey of approximately 3500 randomly selected residents of the city of Hamilton (Ontario, Canada) from February 2001 to February 2002. The observed monthly prevalence was 10% (95 % CI 9.94-10.14) and the incidence rate was 1.3 (95 % CI 1.1-1.4) episodes per person-year; this is within the range of estimates from other developed countries. The prevalence was higher in females and in those aged < 10 years and 20-24 years. Overall, prevalence peaked in April and October, but a different temporal distribution was observed for those aged < 10 years. Although these data were derived from one community, they demonstrate that the epidemiology of acute gastrointestinal illness in a Canadian-based population is similar to that reported for other developed countries.