RESUMO
BACKGROUND: Canadians continue to report challenges accessing primary care. Practice choices made by primary care providers shape services available to Canadians. Although there is literature observing family medicine practice trends, there is less clarity on the reasoning underlying primary care providers' practice intentions. Advice offered by residents and early-career family physicians may reveal challenges they have experienced, how they have adapted to them, and strategies for new residents. In this paper, we examine advice family medicine residents and early-career family physicians would give to new family medicine residents. METHODS: Sixty early-career family physicians and thirty residents were interviewed as part of a mixed-methods study of practice patterns of family medicine providers in Canada. During qualitative interviews, participants were asked, "what advice would you give [a new family medicine resident] about planning their career as a family physician?" We inductively analyzed responses to this question. RESULTS: Advice consisted of understanding the current climate of family medicine (need for specialization, business management burden, physician burnout) and revealed reasons behind said challenges (lack of support for comprehensive clinic care, practical limitations of different practice models, and how payment models influence work-life balance). Subtheme analyses showed early-career family physicians being more vocal on understanding practical aspects of the field including practice logistics and achieving job security. CONCLUSION: Most advice mirrored current changes and challenges as well as revealing strategies on how primary care providers are handling the realities of practicing family medicine. Multi-modal systemic interventions may be needed to support family physicians throughout the changing reality of family medicine and ensure family medicine is an appealing specialty.
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Escolha da Profissão , Medicina de Família e Comunidade , Internato e Residência , Médicos de Família , Pesquisa Qualitativa , Humanos , Medicina de Família e Comunidade/educação , Canadá , Médicos de Família/psicologia , Masculino , Feminino , Adulto , Entrevistas como Assunto , Equilíbrio Trabalho-Vida , Atitude do Pessoal de SaúdeRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Medical professionals experienced high rates of burnout and moral distress during the COVID-19 pandemic. In Canada, burnout has been linked to a growing number of family physicians (FPs) leaving the workforce, increasing the number of patients without access to a regular doctor. This study explores the different factors that impacted FPs' experience with burnout and moral distress during the pandemic, with the goal of identifying system-based interventions aimed at supporting FP well-being and improving retention. METHODS: We conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews with FPs across four health regions in Canada. Participants were asked about the roles they assumed during different stages of the pandemic, and they were also encouraged to describe their well-being, including relevant supports and barriers. We used thematic analysis to examine themes relating to FP mental health and well-being. RESULTS: We interviewed 68 FPs across the four health regions. We identified two overarching themes related to moral distress and burnout: (1) inability to provide appropriate care, and (2) system-related stressors and buffers of burnout. FPs expressed concern about the quality of care their patients were able to receive during the pandemic, citing instances where pandemic restrictions limited their ability to access critical preventative and diagnostic services. Participants also described four factors that alleviated or exacerbated feelings of burnout, including: (1) workload, (2) payment model, (3) locum coverage, and (4) team and peer support. CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 pandemic limited FPs' ability to provide quality care to patients, and contributed to increased moral distress and burnout. These findings highlight the importance of implementing system-wide interventions to improve FP well-being during public health emergencies. These could include the expansion of interprofessional team-based models of care, alternate remuneration models for primary care (ie, non-fee-for-service), organized locum programs, and the availability of short-term insurance programs to cover fixed practice operating costs.
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Esgotamento Profissional , COVID-19 , Médicos de Família , Pesquisa Qualitativa , Humanos , COVID-19/psicologia , COVID-19/epidemiologia , Esgotamento Profissional/psicologia , Canadá , Feminino , Masculino , Médicos de Família/psicologia , Adulto , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , SARS-CoV-2 , PandemiasRESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To understand how lack of attachment to a regular primary care provider influences patients' outlooks on primary care, ability to address their health care needs, and confidence in the health care system. DESIGN: Qualitative descriptive study using semistructured interviews. SETTING: Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Quebec. PARTICIPANTS: Patients aged 18 years or older who were unattached or had become attached within 1 year of being interviewed and who resided in the province in which they were interviewed. METHODS: Forty-one semistructured interviews were conducted, during which participants were asked to describe how they had become unattached, their searches to find new primary care providers, their perceptions of and experiences with the centralized waiting list in their province, their experiences seeking care while unattached, and the impact of being unattached on their health and on their perceptions of the health care system. Interviews were transcribed and analyzed using a thematic approach. MAIN FINDINGS: Two main themes were identified in interviews with unattached or recently attached patients: unmet needs of unattached patients and the impact of being unattached. Patients' perceived benefits of attachment included access to care, longitudinal relationships with health care providers, health history familiarity, and follow-up monitoring and care coordination. Being unattached was associated with negative effects on mental health, poor health outcomes, decreased confidence in the health care system, and greater pre-existing health inequities. CONCLUSION: Having a regular primary care provider is essential to having access to high-quality care and other health care services. Attachment also promotes health equity and confidence in the public health care system and has broader system-level, social, and policy implications.
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Acessibilidade aos Serviços de Saúde , Aceitação pelo Paciente de Cuidados de Saúde , Atenção Primária à Saúde , Pesquisa Qualitativa , Humanos , Feminino , Masculino , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Adulto , Aceitação pelo Paciente de Cuidados de Saúde/psicologia , Aceitação pelo Paciente de Cuidados de Saúde/estatística & dados numéricos , Canadá , Idoso , Entrevistas como Assunto , Relações Médico-PacienteRESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To describe the citation impact and characteristics of Canadian primary care researchers and research publications. DESIGN: Citation analysis. SETTING: Canada. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 266 established Canadian primary care researchers. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The 50 most cited primary care researchers in Canada were identified by analyzing data from the Scopus database. Various parameters, including the number of publications and citations, research themes, Scopus h index, content analysis, journal impact factors, and field-weighted citation impact for their publications, were assessed. Information about the characteristics of these researchers was collected using the Google search engine. RESULTS: On average, the 50 most cited primary care researchers produced 51.1 first-author publications (range 13 to 249) and were cited 1864.32 times (range 796 to 9081) over 29 years. Twenty-seven publications were cited more than 500 times. More than half of the researchers were men (60%). Most were clinician scientists (86%) with a primary academic appointment in family medicine (86%) and were affiliated with 5 universities (74%). Career duration was moderately associated with the number of first-author publications (0.35; P=.013). Most research focused on family practice, while some addressed health and health care issues (eg, continuing professional education, pharmaceutical policy). CONCLUSION: Canada is home to a cadre of primary care researchers who are highly cited in the medical literature, suggesting that their work is of high quality and relevance. Building on this foundation, further investments in primary care research could accelerate needed improvements in Canadian primary care policy and practice.
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Fator de Impacto de Revistas , Atenção Primária à Saúde , Canadá , Humanos , Atenção Primária à Saúde/estatística & dados numéricos , Masculino , Pesquisadores/estatística & dados numéricos , Feminino , Bibliometria , Pesquisa Biomédica/estatística & dados numéricosRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Interprofessional primary care teams (IPCTs) work together to enhance care. Despite evidence on the benefits of IPCTs, implementation remains challenging. This research aims to 1) identify and prioritize barriers and enablers, and 2) co-develop team-level strategies to support IPCT implementation in Nova Scotia, Canada. METHODS: Healthcare providers and staff of IPCTs were invited to complete an online survey to identify barriers and enablers, and the degree to which each item impacted the functioning of their team. Top ranked items were identified using the sum of frequency x impact for each response. A virtual knowledge sharing event was held to identify strategies to address local barriers and enablers that impact team functioning. RESULTS: IPCT members (n = 117), with a mix of clinic roles and experience, completed the survey. The top three enablers identified were access to technological tools to support their role, standardized processes for using the technological tools, and having a team manager to coordinate collaboration. The top three barriers were limited opportunity for daily team communication, lack of conflict resolution strategies, and lack of capacity building opportunities. IPCT members, administrators, and patients attended the knowledge sharing event (n = 33). Five strategies were identified including: 1) balancing patient needs and provider scope of practice, 2) holding regular and accessible meetings, 3) supporting team development opportunities, 4) supporting professional development, and 5) supporting involvement in non-clinical activities. INTERPRETATION: This research contextualized evidence to further understand local perspectives and experiences of barriers and enablers to the implementation of IPCTs. The knowledge exchange event identified actionable strategies that IPCTs and healthcare administrators can tailor to support teams and care for patients.
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Relações Interprofissionais , Equipe de Assistência ao Paciente , Atenção Primária à Saúde , Nova Escócia , Humanos , Atenção Primária à Saúde/organização & administração , Equipe de Assistência ao Paciente/organização & administração , Inquéritos e Questionários , Comportamento Cooperativo , Masculino , Feminino , Disseminação de Informação/métodos , Adulto , Pessoal de SaúdeRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Emergency departments are a last resort for some socially vulnerable patients without an acute medical illness (colloquially known as "socially admitted" patients), resulting in their occupation of hospital beds typically designated for patients requiring acute medical care. In this study, we aimed to explore the perceptions of health care providers regarding patients admitted as "social admissions." METHODS: This qualitative study was informed by grounded theory and involved semistructured interviews at a Nova Scotia tertiary care centre. From October 2022 to July 2023, we interviewed eligible participants, including any health care clinician or administrator who worked directly with "socially admitted" patients. Virtual or in-person individual interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed, then independently and iteratively coded. We mapped themes on the 5 domains of the Quintuple Aim conceptual framework. RESULTS: We interviewed 20 nurses, physicians, administrators, and social workers. Most identified as female (n = 11) and White (n = 13), and were in their mid to late career (n = 13). We categorized 9 themes into 5 domains: patient experience (patient description, provision of care); care team well-being (moral distress, hierarchy of care); health equity (stigma and missed opportunities, prejudices); cost of care (wait-lists and scarcity of alternatives); and population health (factors leading to vulnerability, system changes). Participants described experiences caring for "socially admitted" patients, perceptions and assumptions underlying "social" presentations, system barriers to care delivery, and suggestions of potential solutions. INTERPRETATION: Health care providers viewed "socially admitted" patients as needing enhanced care but identified individual, institutional, and system challenges that impeded its realization. Examining perceptions of the people who care for "socially admitted" patients offers insights to guide clinicians and policy-makers in caring for socially vulnerable patients.
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Atitude do Pessoal de Saúde , Pesquisa Qualitativa , Humanos , Feminino , Masculino , Nova Escócia , Pessoal de Saúde/psicologia , Serviço Hospitalar de Emergência , Populações Vulneráveis/psicologia , Adulto , Pessoa de Meia-Idade , Entrevistas como Assunto , Teoria FundamentadaRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Over the past two decades, Canadian provinces and territories have introduced a series of primary care reforms in an attempt to improve access to and quality of primary care services, resulting in diverse organizational structures and practice models. We examine the impact of these reforms on family physicians' (FPs) ability to adapt their roles during the COVID-19 pandemic, including the provision of routine primary care. METHODS: As part of a larger case study, we conducted semi-structured qualitative interviews with FPs in four Canadian regions: British Columbia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Ontario. During the interviews, participants were asked about their personal and practice characteristics, the pandemic-related roles they performed over different stages of the pandemic, the facilitators and barriers they experienced in performing these roles, and potential roles FPs could have filled. Interviews were transcribed and a thematic analysis approach was applied to identify recurring themes in the data. RESULTS: Sixty-eight FPs completed an interview across the four regions. Participants described five areas of primary care reform that impacted their ability to operate and provide care during the pandemic: funding models, electronic medical records (EMRs), integration with regional entities, interdisciplinary teams, and practice size. FPs in alternate funding models experienced fewer financial constraints than those in fee-for-service practices. EMR access enhanced FPs' ability to deliver virtual care, integration with regional entities improved access to personal protective equipment and technological support, and team-based models facilitated the implementation of infection prevention and control protocols. Lastly, larger group practices had capacity to ensure adequate staffing and cover additional costs, allowing FPs more time to devote to patient care. CONCLUSIONS: Recent primary care system reforms implemented in Canada enhanced FPs' ability to adapt to the uncertain and evolving environment of providing primary care during the pandemic. Our study highlights the importance of ongoing primary care reforms to enhance pandemic preparedness and advocates for further expansion of these reforms.
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COVID-19 , Medicina de Família e Comunidade , Humanos , Pandemias , COVID-19/epidemiologia , Ontário , Atenção Primária à SaúdeRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Family physicians (FPs) fill an essential role in public health emergencies yet have frequently been neglected in pandemic response plans. This exclusion harms FPs in their clinical roles and has unintended consequences in the management of concurrent personal responsibilities, many of which were amplified by the pandemic. The objective of our study was to explore the experiences of FPs during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic to better understand how they managed their competing professional and personal priorities. METHODS: We conducted semi-structured interviews with FPs from four Canadian regions between October 2020 and June 2021. Employing a maximum variation sampling approach, we recruited participants until we achieved saturation. Interviews explored FPs' personal and professional roles and responsibilities during the pandemic, the facilitators and barriers that they encountered, and any gender-related experiences. Transcribed interviews were thematically analysed. RESULTS: We interviewed 68 FPs during the pandemic and identified four overarching themes in participants' discussion of their personal experiences: personal caregiving responsibilities, COVID-19 risk navigation to protect family members, personal health concerns, and available and desired personal supports for FPs to manage their competing responsibilities. While FPs expressed a variety of ways in which their personal experiences made their professional responsibilities more complicated, rarely did that affect the extent to which they participated in the pandemic response. CONCLUSIONS: For FPs to contribute fully to a pandemic response, they must be factored into pandemic plans. Failure to appreciate their unique role and circumstances often leaves FPs feeling unsupported in both their professional and personal lives. Comprehensive planning in anticipation of future pandemics must consider FPs' varied responsibilities, health concerns, and necessary precautions. Having adequate personal and practice supports in place will facilitate the essential role of FPs in responding to a pandemic crisis while continuing to support their patients' primary care needs.
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COVID-19 , Pandemias , Humanos , COVID-19/epidemiologia , Médicos de Família , Canadá , Relações InterpessoaisRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Interprofessional primary care teams have been introduced across Canada to improve access (e.g., a regular primary care provider, timely access to care when needed) to and quality of primary care. However, the quality and speed of team implementation has not kept pace with increasing access issues. The aim of this research was to use an implementation framework to categorize and describe barriers and enablers to team implementation in primary care. METHODS: A narrative review that prioritized systematic reviews and evidence syntheses was conducted. A search using pre-defined terms was conducted using Ovid MEDLINE, and potentially relevant grey literature was identified through ad hoc Google searches and hand searching of health organization websites. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) was used to categorize barriers and enablers into five domains: (1) Features of Team Implementation; (2) Government, Health Authorities and Health Organizations; (3) Characteristics of the Team; (4) Characteristics of Team Members; and (5) Process of Implementation. RESULTS: Data were extracted from 19 of 435 articles that met inclusion/exclusion criteria. Most barriers and enablers were categorized into two domains of the CFIR: Characteristics of the Team and Government, Health Authorities, and Health Organizations. Key themes identified within the Characteristics of the Team domain were team-leadership, including designating a manager responsible for day-to-day activities and facilitating collaboration; clear governance structures, and technology supports and tools that facilitate information sharing and communication. Key themes within the Government, Health Authorities, and Health Organizations domain were professional remuneration plans, regulatory policy, and interprofessional education. Other key themes identified in the Features of Team Implementation included the importance of good data and research on the status of teams, as well as sufficient and stable funding models. Positive perspectives, flexibility, and feeling supported were identified in the Characteristics of Team Members domain. Within the Process of Implementation domain, shared leadership and human resources planning were discussed. CONCLUSIONS: Barriers and enablers to implementing interprofessional primary care teams using the CFIR were identified, which enables stakeholders and teams to tailor implementation of teams at the local level to impact the accessibility and quality of primary care.
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Comunicação , Liderança , Humanos , Canadá , Disseminação de Informação , Atenção Primária à SaúdeRESUMO
INTRODUCTION: Many Canadians struggle to access the primary care they need while at the same time primary care providers report record levels of stress and overwork. There is an urgent need to understand factors contributing to the gap between a growing per-capita supply of primary care providers and declines in the availability of primary care services. The assumption of responsibility by primary care teams for services previously delivered on an in-patient basis, along with a rise in administrative responsibilities may be factors influencing reduced access to care. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: In this mixed-methods study, our first objective is to determine how the volume of services requiring primary care coordination has changed over time in the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. We will collect quantitative administrative data to investigate how services have shifted in ways that may impact administrative workload in primary care. Our second objective is to use qualitative interviews with family physicians, nurse practitioners and administrative team members providing primary care to understand how administrative workload has changed over time. We will then identify priority issues and practical response strategies using two deliberative dialogue events convened with primary care providers, clinical and system leaders, and policy-makers.We will analyse changes in service use data between 2001/2002 and 2021/2022 using annual total counts, rates per capita, rates per primary care provider and per primary care service. We will conduct reflexive thematic analysis to develop themes and to compare and contrast participant responses reflecting differences across disciplines, payment and practice models, and practice settings. Areas of concern and potential solutions raised during interviews will inform deliberative dialogue events. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: We received research ethics approval from Nova Scotia Health (#1028815). Knowledge translation will occur through dialogue events, academic papers and presentations at national and international conferences.
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Médicos de Família , Atenção Primária à Saúde , Carga de Trabalho , Humanos , Canadá , Nova EscóciaRESUMO
Background: Access to Primary Care Providers (PCPs) is limited for many Canadians. "Unattached patients" are persons who do not have a PCP. Older adults living with dementia may face greater challenges seeking attachment. This study investigated whether older adults living with dementia experience differential wait times for PCPs compared to those without a diagnosis of dementia. Methods: This was an observational descriptive study of the centralized wait-list data from the Nova Scotia (NS) Need a Family Practice Registry (NaFPR). Time on provider wait-list by dementia diagnosis and age were compared. Number of days on the registry across these measures was estimated. Multivariable proportional hazards regression was used to compare hazards of remaining on the registry over time. Results: Unattached older adults living with dementia were on the NaFPR for less time compared to those without dementia (381.4 vs. 428.8 days, respectively). After adjusting for age, self-reported gender, comorbidity, rurality, income quintiles, and overall deprivation, older adults with dementia had a 1.13-fold (95% CI: 1.04-1.24) increase in the likelihood of leaving the NaFPR. Potential contributors to this small difference could be placement in Long Term Care (LTC) and subsequent facility PCP attachment. Conclusions: Analysis of the NaFPR exhibited similarly time to PCP attachment despite a diagnosis of dementia. This represented an effective equality model of health care utilized in NS. Future studies should investigate whether an equity model with priority attachment for vulnerable patients would reduce hospitalization and LTC institutionalization.
RESUMO
Using qualitative interviews with 68 family physicians (FPs) in Canada, we describe practice- and system-based approaches that were used to mitigate COVID-19 exposure in primary care settings across Canada to ensure the continuation of primary care delivery. Participants described how they applied infection prevention and control procedures (risk assessment, hand hygiene, control of environment, administrative control, personal protective equipment) and relied on centralized services that directed patients with COVID-19 to settings outside of primary care, such as testing centres. The multi-layered approach mitigated the risk of COVID-19 exposure while also conserving resources, preserving capacity and supporting supply chains.
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COVID-19 , Humanos , COVID-19/epidemiologia , COVID-19/prevenção & controle , Pesquisa Qualitativa , Canadá , Atenção à Saúde , Atenção Primária à SaúdeRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Comprehensiveness of primary care has been declining, and much of the blame has been placed on early-career family physicians and their practice choices. To better understand early-career family physicians' practice choices in Canada, we sought to identify the factors that most influence their decisions about how to practice. METHODS: We conducted a qualitative study using framework analysis. Family physicians in their first 10 years of practice were recruited from three Canadian provinces: British Columbia, Ontario, and Nova Scotia. Interview data were coded inductively and then charted onto a matrix in which each participant's data were summarized by code. RESULTS: Of the 63 participants that were interviewed, 24 worked solely in community-based practice, 7 worked solely in focused practice, and 32 worked in both settings. We identified four practice characteristics that were influenced (scope of practice, practice type and model, location of practice, and practice schedule and work volume) and three categories of influential factors (training, professional, and personal). CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates the complex set of factors that influence practice choices by early-career physicians, some of which may be modifiable by policymakers (e.g., policies and regulations) while others are less so (e.g., family responsibilities). Participants described individual influences from family considerations to payment models to meeting community needs. These findings have implications for both educators and policymakers who seek to support and expand comprehensive care.
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Medicina de Família e Comunidade , Médicos de Família , Humanos , Canadá , Escolha da Profissão , Pesquisa Qualitativa , Colúmbia BritânicaRESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To describe changes in the comprehensiveness of services delivered by family physicians across service settings and service areas in 4 Canadian provinces, to identify which settings and areas have changed the most, and to compare the magnitude of changes by physician characteristics. DESIGN: Descriptive analysis of province-wide, population-based billing data linked to population and physician registries. SETTING: British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, and Nova Scotia. PARTICIPANTS: Family physicians registered to practise in the 1999-2000 and 2017-2018 fiscal years. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Comprehensiveness was measured across 7 service settings (home care, long-term care, emergency departments, hospitals, obstetric care, surgical assistance, anesthesiology) and in 7 service areas consistent with office-based practice (prenatal and postnatal care, Papanicolaou testing, mental health, substance use, cancer care, minor surgery, palliative home visits). The proportion of physicians with activity in each setting and area are reported and the average number of service settings and areas by physician characteristics is described (years in practice, sex, urban or rural practice setting, and location of medical degree training). RESULTS: Declines in comprehensiveness were observed across all provinces studied. Declines were greater for comprehensiveness of settings than for areas consistent with office-based practice. Changes were observed across all physician characteristics. On average across provinces, declines in the number of service settings and service areas were highest among physicians in practice 20 years or longer, male physicians, and physicians practising in urban areas. CONCLUSION: Declining comprehensiveness was observed across all physician characteristics, pointing to changes in the practice and policy contexts in which all family physicians work.
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Médicos de Família , Web Semântica , Humanos , Masculino , Ontário/epidemiologia , Nova Escócia/epidemiologia , Colúmbia Britânica/epidemiologiaRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Primary care and other health services have been disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic, yet the consequences of these service disruptions on patients' care experiences remain largely unstudied. People with mental-physical multimorbidity are vulnerable to the effects of the pandemic, and to sudden service disruptions. It is thus essential to better understand how their care experiences have been impacted by the current pandemic. This study aims to improve understanding of the care experiences of people with mental-physical multimorbidity during the pandemic and identify strategies to enhance these experiences. METHODS: We will conduct a mixed-methods study with multi-phase approach involving four distinct phases. Phase 1 will be a qualitative descriptive study in which we interview individuals with mental-physical multimorbidity and health professionals in order to explore the impacts of the pandemic on care experiences, as well as their perspectives on how care can be improved. The results of this phase will inform the design of study phases 2 and 3. Phase 2 will involve journey mapping exercises with a sub-group of participants with mental-physical multimorbidity to visually map out their care interactions and experiences over time and the critical moments that shaped their experiences. Phase 3 will involve an online, cross-sectional survey of care experiences administered to a larger group of people with mental disorders and/or chronic physical conditions. In phase 4, deliberative dialogues will be held with key partners to discuss and plan strategies for improving the delivery of care to people with mental-physical multimorbidity. Pre-dialogue workshops will enable us to synthesize an prepare the results from the previous three study phases. DISCUSSION: Our study results will generate much needed evidence of the positive and negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the care experiences of people with mental-physical multimorbidity and shed light on strategies that could improve care quality and experiences.
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COVID-19 , Transtornos Mentais , Humanos , COVID-19/epidemiologia , Multimorbidade , Pandemias , Estudos Transversais , Transtornos Mentais/epidemiologia , Transtornos Mentais/terapia , Doença CrônicaRESUMO
INTRODUCTION: The Canadian population has poor and inequitable access to psychiatric care despite a steady per-capita supply of psychiatrists in most provinces. There is some quantitative evidence that practice style and characteristics vary substantially among psychiatrists. However, how this compares across jurisdictions and implications for workforce planning require further study. A qualitative exploration of psychiatrists' preferences for practice style and the practice choices that result is also lacking. The goal of this study is to inform psychiatrist workforce planning to improve access to psychiatric care by: (1) developing and evaluating comparable indicators of supply of psychiatric care across provinces, (2) analysing variations and changes in the characteristics of the psychiatrist workforce, including demographics and practice style and (3) studying psychiatrist practice choices and intentions, and the factors that lead to these choices. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: A cross-provincial mixed-methods study will be conducted in the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario and Nova Scotia. We will analyse linked-health administrative data within three of the four provinces to develop comparable indicators of supply and characterise psychiatric services at the regional level within provinces. We will use latent profile analysis to estimate the probability that a psychiatrist is in a particular practice style and map the geographical distribution of psychiatrist practices overlayed with measures of need for psychiatric care. We will also conduct in-depth, semistructured qualitative interviews with psychiatrists in each province to explore their preferences and practice choices and to inform workforce planning. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This study was approved by Ontario Tech University Research Ethics Board (16637 and 16795) and institutions affiliated with the study team. We built a team comprising experienced researchers, psychiatrists, medical educators and policymakers in mental health services and workforce planning to disseminate knowledge that will support effective human resource policies to improve access to psychiatric care in Canada.
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Serviços de Saúde Mental , Psiquiatria , Humanos , Ontário , Recursos Humanos , Colúmbia BritânicaRESUMO
Approximately 15% of Canadians are without a primary care provider ("unattached"). To address "unattachment," several provinces introduced a financial incentive for family physicians who attach new patients. A descriptive qualitative approach was used to explore perspectives of patient access and attachment to primary care. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with family physicians, nurse practitioners and policy makers in Nova Scotia. Thematic analysis was performed to identify participant perspectives on the value and efficacy of financial incentives to promote patient attachment. Three themes were identified: (1) positive impacts of the incentive, (2) shortcomings of the incentive and (3) alternative strategies to strengthen primary healthcare. Participants felt that attachment incentives may offer short-term solutions to patient unattachment; however, financial incentives cannot overcome systemic challenges. Participants recommended alternative policy levers to strengthen primary healthcare, including addressing the shortage of primary care providers and developing remuneration and practice models that support sustainable patient attachment.
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Motivação , Atenção Primária à Saúde , Humanos , Nova Escócia , Pessoal Administrativo , Pesquisa QualitativaRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Primary care attachment improves health care access and health outcomes, but many Canadians are unattached, seeking a provider via provincial wait-lists. This Nova Scotia-wide cohort study compares emergency department utilization and hospital admission associated with insufficient primary care management among patients on and off a provincial primary care wait-list, before and during the first waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: We linked wait-list and Nova Scotian administrative health data to describe people on and off wait-list, by quarter, between Jan. 1, 2017, and Dec. 24, 2020. We quantified emergency department utilization and ambulatory care sensitive condition (ACSC) hospital admission rates by wait-list status from physician claims and hospital admission data. We compared relative differences during the COVID-19 first and second waves with the previous year. RESULTS: During the study period, 100 867 people in Nova Scotia (10.1% of the provincial population) were on the wait-list. Those on the wait-list had higher emergency department utilization and ACSC hospital admission. Emergency department utilization was higher overall for individuals aged 65 years and older, and females; lowest during the first 2 COVID-19 waves; and differed more by wait-list status for those younger than 65 years. Emergency department contacts and ACSC hospital admissions decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic relative to the previous year, and for emergency department utilization, this difference was more pronounced for those on the wait-list. INTERPRETATION: People in Nova Scotia seeking primary care attachment via the provincial wait-list use hospital-based services more frequently than those not on the wait-list. Although both groups have had lower utilization during COVID-19, existing challenges to primary care access for those actively seeking a provider were further exacerbated during the initial waves of the pandemic. The degree to which forgone services produces downstream health burden remains in question.
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COVID-19 , Pandemias , Feminino , Humanos , Estudos de Coortes , Condições Sensíveis à Atenção Primária , COVID-19/epidemiologia , Serviço Hospitalar de Emergência , Nova Escócia/epidemiologia , Atenção Primária à Saúde , HospitaisRESUMO
BACKGROUND: Prior to the pandemic, Canada lagged behind other Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries in the uptake of virtual care. The onset of COVID-19, however, resulted in a near-universal shift to virtual primary care to minimise exposure risks. As jurisdictions enter a pandemic recovery phase, the balance between virtual and in-person visits is reverting, though it is unlikely to return to pre-pandemic levels. Our objective was to explore Canadian family physicians' perspectives on the rapid move to virtual care during the COVID-19 pandemic, to inform both future pandemic planning for primary care and the optimal integration of virtual care into the broader primary care context beyond the pandemic. METHODS: We conducted semi-structured interviews with 68 family physicians from four regions in Canada between October 2020 and June 2021. We used a purposeful, maximum variation sampling approach, continuing recruitment in each region until we reached saturation. Interviews with family physicians explored their roles and experiences during the pandemic, and the facilitators and barriers they encountered in continuing to support their patients through the pandemic. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, and thematically analysed for recurrent themes. RESULTS: We identified three prominent themes throughout participants' reflections on implementing virtual care: implementation and evolution of virtual modalities during the pandemic; facilitators and barriers to implementing virtual care; and virtual care in the future. While some family physicians had prior experience conducting remote assessments, most had to implement and adapt to virtual care abruptly as provinces limited in-person visits to essential and urgent care. As the pandemic progressed, initial forays into video-based consultations were frequently replaced by phone-based visits, while physicians also rebalanced the ratio of virtual to in-person visits. Medical record systems with integrated capacity for virtual visits, billing codes, supportive clinic teams, and longitudinal relationships with patients were facilitators in this rapid transition for family physicians, while the absence of these factors often posed barriers. CONCLUSION: Despite varied experiences and preferences related to virtual primary care, physicians felt that virtual visits should continue to be available beyond the pandemic but require clearer regulation and guidelines for its appropriate future use.