Randomized controlled trial demonstrates novel tools to assess patient outcomes of Indigenous cultural safety training.

BACKGROUND: Health care routinely fails Indigenous peoples and anti-Indigenous racism is common in clinical encounters. Clinical training programs aimed to enhance Indigenous cultural safety (ICS) rely on learner reported impact assessment even though clinician self-assessment is poorly correlated with observational or patient outcome reporting. We aimed to compare the clinical impacts of intensive and brief ICS training to control, and to assess the feasibility of ICS training evaluation tools, including unannounced Indigenous standardized patient (UISP) visits. METHOD: Using a prospective parallel group three-arm randomized controlled trial design and masked standardized patients, we compared the clinical impacts of the intensive interactive, professionally facilitated, 8- to10-h Sanyas ICS training; a brief 1-h anti-bias training adapted to address anti-Indigenous bias; and control continuing medical education time-attention matched to the intensive training. Participants included 58 non-Indigenous staff physicians, resident physicians and nurse practitioners from family practice clinics, and one emergency department across four teaching hospitals in Toronto, Canada. Main outcome measures were the quality of care provided during UISP visits including adjusted odds that clinician would be recommended by the UISP to a friend or family member; mean item scores on patient experience of care measure; and clinical practice guideline adherence for NSAID renewal and pain assessment. RESULTS: Clinicians in the intensive or brief ICS groups had higher adjusted odds of being highly recommended to friends and family by standardized patients (OR 6.88, 95% CI 1.17 to 40.45 and OR 7.78, 95% CI 1.05 to 58.03, respectively). Adjusted mean item patient experience scores were 46% (95% CI 12% to 80%) and 40% (95% CI 2% to 78%) higher for clinicians enrolled in the intensive and brief training programs, respectively, compared to control. Small sample size precluded detection of training impacts on clinical practice guideline adherence; 100% of UISP visits were undetected by participating clinicians. CONCLUSIONS: Patient-oriented evaluation design and tools including UISPs were demonstrated as feasible and effective. Results show potential impact of cultural safety training on patient recommendation of clinician and improved patient experience. A larger trial to further ascertain impact on clinical practice is needed. TRIAL REGISTRATION: Clinicaltrials.org NCT05890144. Retrospectively registered on June 5, 2023.

Wait times and breast cancer survival: a population-based retrospective cohort study using CanIMPACT data.

PURPOSE: The time from breast cancer surgery to chemotherapy has been shown to affect survival outcomes; however, the effect of time from first breast cancer-related healthcare contact to first cancer specialist consultation, or the time from first breast cancer-related healthcare contact to adjuvant chemotherapy on survival has not been well explored. We aimed to determine whether various wait times along the breast cancer treatment pathway (contact-to-consultation, contact-to-chemotherapy, surgery-to-chemotherapy) were associated with overall survival in women within the Canadian province of Ontario. METHODS: We performed a population-based retrospective cohort study of women diagnosed with stage I-III breast cancer in Ontario between 2007 and 2011 who received surgery and adjuvant chemotherapy. This was the Ontario cohort of a larger, nationwide study (the Canadian Team to improve Community-Based Cancer Care along the Continuum - CanIMPACT). We used Cox-proportional hazards regression to determine the association between the contact-to-consultation, contact-to-chemotherapy, and surgery-to-chemotherapy intervals and overall survival while adjusting for cancer stage, age, comorbidity, neighborhood income, immigration status, surgery type, and method of cancer detection. RESULTS: Among 12,782 breast cancer patients, longer surgery-to-chemotherapy intervals (HR 1.13, 95% CI 1.03-1.18 per 30-day increase), but not the contact-to-consultation (HR 0.979, 95% CI 0.95-1.01 per 30-day increase), nor the more comprehensive contact-to-chemotherapy intervals (HR 1.00, 95% CI 0.98-1.02 per 30-day increase) were associated with decreased survival in our adjusted analyses. CONCLUSION: Our findings emphasize the prognostic importance of a shorter surgery-to-chemotherapy interval, whereas the contact-to-consultation and contact-to-chemotherapy intervals have less impact on survival outcomes.

Public experiences and perspectives of primary care in Canada: results from a cross-sectional survey.

BACKGROUND: Through medicare, residents in Canada are entitled to medically necessary physician services without paying out of pocket, but still many people struggle to access primary care. We conducted a survey to explore people's experience with and priorities for primary care. METHODS: We conducted an online, bilingual survey of adults in Canada in fall 2022. We distributed an anonymous link through diverse channels and a closed link to 122 053 people via a national public opinion firm. We weighted completed responses to mirror Canada's population and adjusted for sociodemographic characteristics using regression models. RESULTS: We analyzed 9279 completed surveys (5.9% response rate via closed link). More than one-fifth of respondents (21.8%) reported having no primary care clinician, and among those who did, 34.5% reported getting a same or next-day appointment for urgent issues. Of respondents, 89.4% expressed comfort seeing another team member if their doctor recommended it, but only 35.9%, 9.5%, and 12.4% reported that their practice had a nurse, social worker, or pharmacist, respectively. The primary care attribute that mattered most was having a clinician who "knows me as a person and considers all the factors that affect my health." After we adjusted for respondent characteristics, people in Quebec, the Atlantic region, and British Columbia had lower odds of reporting a primary care clinician than people in Ontario (adjusted odds ratio 0.30, 0.33, and 0.39, respectively; p < 0.001). We also observed large provincial variations in timely access, interprofessional care, and walk-in clinic use. INTERPRETATION: More than 1 in 5 respondents did not have access to primary care, with large variation by province. Reforms should strive to expand access to relationship-based, longitudinal care in a team setting.

Policies in Canada fail to address disparities in access to person-centred osteoarthritis care: a content analysis.

BACKGROUND: Women are disproportionately impacted by osteoarthritis (OA) but less likely than men to access OA care, particularly racialized women. One way to reduce inequities is through policies that can influence healthcare services. We examined how OA-relevant policies in Canada address equitable, person-centred OA care for women. METHODS: We used content analysis to extract data from English-language OA-relevant documents referred to as policies or other synonymous terms published in 2000 or later identified by searching governmental and other web sites. We used summary statistics to describe policy characteristics, person-centred care using McCormack's six-domain framework, and mention of OA prevalence, barriers and strategies to improve equitable access to OA care among women. RESULTS: We included 14 policies developed from 2004 to 2021. None comprehensively addressed all person-centred care domains, and few addressed individual domains: enable self-management (50%), share decisions (43%), exchange information (29%), respond to emotions (14%), foster a healing relationship (0%) and manage uncertainty (0%). Even when mentioned, content offered little guidance for how to achieve person-centred OA care. Few policies acknowledged greater prevalence of OA among women (36%), older (29%) or Indigenous persons (29%) and those of lower socioeconomic status (14%); or barriers to OA care among those of lower socioeconomic status (50%), in rural areas (43%), of older age (37%) or ethno-cultural groups (21%), or women (21%). Four (29%) policies recommended strategies for improving access to OA care at the patient (self-management education material in different languages and tailored to cultural norms), clinician (healthcare professional education) and system level (evaluate OA service equity, engage lay health leaders in delivering self-management programs, and offer self-management programs in a variety of formats). Five (36%) policies recommended research on how to improve OA care for equity-seeking groups. CONCLUSIONS: Canadian OA-relevant policies lack guidance to overcome disparities in access to person-centred OA care for equity-seeking groups including women. This study identified several ways to strengthen policies. Ongoing research must identify the needs and preferences of equity-seeking persons with OA, and evaluate the impact of various models of service delivery, knowledge needed to influence OA-relevant policy.

Adaptation and qualitative evaluation of the BETTER intervention for chronic disease prevention and screening by public health nurses in low income neighbourhoods: views of community residents.

BACKGROUND: The BETTER intervention is an effective comprehensive evidence-based program for chronic disease prevention and screening (CDPS) delivered by trained prevention practitioners (PPs), a new role in primary care. An adapted program, BETTER HEALTH, delivered by public health nurses as PPs for community residents in low income neighbourhoods, was recently shown to be effective in improving CDPS actions. To obtain a nuanced understanding about the CDPS needs of community residents and how the BETTER HEALTH intervention was perceived by residents, we studied how the intervention was adapted to a public health setting then conducted a post-visit qualitative evaluation by community residents through focus groups and interviews. METHODS: We first used the ADAPT-ITT model to adapt BETTER for a public health setting in Ontario, Canada. For the post-PP visit qualitative evaluation, we asked community residents who had received a PP visit, about steps they had taken to improve their physical and mental health and the BETTER HEALTH intervention. For both phases, we conducted focus groups and interviews; transcripts were analyzed using the constant comparative method. RESULTS: Thirty-eight community residents participated in either adaptation (n = 14, 64% female; average age 54 y) or evaluation (n = 24, 83% female; average age 60 y) phases. In both adaptation and evaluation, residents described significant challenges including poverty, social isolation, and daily stress, making chronic disease prevention a lower priority. Adaptation results indicated that residents valued learning about CDPS and would attend a confidential visit with a public health nurse who was viewed as trustworthy. Despite challenges, many recipients of BETTER HEALTH perceived they had achieved at least one personal CDPS goal post PP visit. Residents described key relational aspects of the visit including feeling valued, listened to and being understood by the PP. The PPs also provided practical suggestions to overcome barriers to meeting prevention goals. CONCLUSIONS: Residents living in low income neighbourhoods faced daily stress that reduced their capacity to make preventive lifestyle changes. Key adapted features of BETTER HEALTH such as public health nurses as PPs were highly supported by residents. The intervention was perceived valuable for the community by providing access to disease prevention. TRIAL REGISTRATION: #NCT03052959, 10/02/2017.

Anti-Black discrimination in primary health care: a qualitative study exploring internalized racism in a Canadian context.

OBJECTIVES: A growing body of evidence points to persistent health inequities within racialized minority communities, and the effects of racial discrimination on health outcomes and health care experiences. While much work has considered how anti-Black racism operates at the interpersonal and institutional levels, limited attention has focused on internalized racism and its consequences for health care. This study explores patients' attitudes towards anti-Black racism in a Canadian health care system, with a particular focus on internalized racism in primary health care. DESIGN: This qualitative study employed purposive maximal variation and snowball sampling to recruit and interview self-identified Black persons aged 18 years and older who: (1) lived in Montréal during the COVID-19 pandemic, (2) could speak English or French, and (3) were registered with the Québec health insurance program. Adopting a phenomenological approach, in-depth interviews took place from October 2021 to July 2022. Following transcription, data were analyzed thematically. RESULTS: Thirty-two participants were interviewed spanning an age range from 22 years to 79 years (mean: 42 years). Fifty-nine percent of the sample identified as women, 38% identified as men, and 3% identified as non-binary. Diversity was also reflected in terms of immigration experience, financial situation, and educational attainment. We identified three major themes that describe mechanisms through which internalized racism may manifest in health care to impact experiences: (1) the internalization of anti-Black racism by Black providers and patients, (2) the expression of anti-Black prejudice and discrimination by non-Black racialized minority providers, and (3) an insensitivity towards racial discrimination. CONCLUSION: Our study suggests that multiple levels of racism, including internalized racism, must be addressed in efforts to promote health and health care equity among racialized minority groups, and particularly within Black communities.

Up-to-date on cancer screening among Ontario patients seen by walk-in clinic physicians: A retrospective cohort study.

Walk-in clinics are typically viewed as high-volume locations for managing acute issues but also may serve as a location for primary care, including cancer screening, for patients without a family physician. In this population-based cohort study, we compared breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screening up-to-date status for people living in the Canadian province of Ontario who were formally enrolled to a family physician versus those not enrolled but who had at least one encounter with a walk-in clinic physician in the previous year. Using provincial administrative databases, we created two mutually exclusive groups: i) those who were formally enrolled to a family physician, ii) those who were not enrolled but had at least one visit with a walk-in clinic physician from April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020. We compared up to date status for three cancer screenings as of April 1, 2020 among screen-eligible people. We found that people who were not enrolled and had seen a walk-in clinic physician in the previous year consistently were less likely to be up to date on cancer screening than Ontarians who were formally enrolled with a family physician (46.1% vs. 67.4% for breast, 45.8% vs. 67.4% for cervical, 49.5% vs. 73.1% for colorectal). They were also more likely to be foreign-born and to live in structurally marginalized neighbourhoods. New methods are needed to enable screening for people who are reliant on walk-in clinics and to address the urgent need in Ontario for more primary care providers who deliver comprehensive, longitudinal care.

Practice Facilitation to Support Family Physicians in Encouraging COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake: A Multimethod Process Evaluation.

PURPOSE: We offered a practice facilitation intervention to family physicians in Ontario, Canada, known to have large numbers of patients not yet vaccinated against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). METHODS: We conducted a multimethod process evaluation embedded within a randomized controlled trial (clinical trial #NCT05099497). We collected descriptive statistics regarding engagement and qualitative interview data from family physicians and practice facilitators, as well as data from facilitator field notes. We analyzed and triangulated the data using thematic analysis and mapped barriers to and enablers for implementation to structural, organizational, physician, and patient factors. RESULTS: Of the 300 approached, 90 family physicians (30%) accepted facilitation. Of these, 57% received technical support to identify unvaccinated patients, 29% used trained medical student volunteers to contact patients on their behalf, and 30% used automated calling to reach patients. Key factors affecting engagement with the intervention were staff shortages owing to COVID-19 (structural), clinic characteristics such as technical issues and gatekeeping by staff, which prevented facilitators from talking with physicians (organizational), burnout (physician), and specialized populations that required targeted resources (patient). The facilitator's ability to address technical issues and connect family physicians with medical students helped with engagement. CONCLUSIONS: Strategies to help underresourced family physicians serving high-needs populations for issues of public health importance, such as vaccine promotion, must acknowledge the scarcity of physicians' time and provide new resources. To successfully engage family physicians, practice facilitators should seek to build trust and relationships over time, including with front-office staff.

Preventive care recommendations to promote health equity.

BACKGROUND: Avoidable disparities in health outcomes persist in Canada despite substantial investments in a publicly funded health care system that includes preventive services. Our objective was to provide preventive care recommendations that promote health equity by prioritizing effective interventions for people experiencing disadvantages. METHODS: The guideline was developed by a primary care provider-patient panel, with input from a patient-partner panel with diverse lived experiences. After selecting priority topics, we searched for systematic reviews and recent randomized controlled trials of screening and other relevant studies of screening accuracy and management efficacy. We used the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach to develop recommendations and followed the Appraisal of Guidelines for Research and Evaluation (AGREE II) reporting guidance. We managed competing interests using the Guideline International Network principles. The recommendations were externally reviewed by content experts and circulated for endorsement by national stakeholders. RECOMMENDATIONS: We developed 15 screening and other preventive care recommendations and 1 policy recommendation on improving access to primary care. We recommend prioritized outreach for colorectal cancer screening starting at age 45 years and for cardiovascular disease risk assessment, to help address inequities and promote health. Specific interventions that should be rolled out in ways that address inequities include human papillomavirus (HPV) self-testing, HIV self-testing and interferon-γ release assays for tuberculosis infection. Screening for depression, substance use, intimate partner violence and poverty should help connect people experiencing specific disadvantages with proven interventions. We recommend automatic connection to primary care for people experiencing disadvantages. INTERPRETATION: Proven preventive care interventions can address health inequities if people experiencing disadvantages are prioritized. Clinicians, health care organizations and governments should take evidence-based actions and track progress in promoting health equity across Canada.

Multi-level strategies to improve equitable timely person-centred osteoarthritis care for diverse women: qualitative interviews with women and healthcare professionals.

BACKGROUND: Women are more likely to develop osteoarthritis (OA), and have greater OA pain and disability compared with men, but are less likely to receive guideline-recommended management, particularly racialized women. OA care of diverse women, and strategies to improve the quality of their OA care is understudied. The purpose of this study was to explore strategies to overcome barriers of access to OA care for diverse women. METHODS: We conducted qualitative interviews with key informants and used content analysis to identify themes regarding what constitutes person-centred OA care, barriers of OA care, and strategies to support equitable timely access to person-centred OA care. RESULTS: We interviewed 27 women who varied by ethno-cultural group (e.g. African or Caribbean Black, Chinese, Filipino, Indian, Pakistani, Caucasian), age, region of Canada, level of education, location of OA and years with OA; and 31 healthcare professionals who varied by profession (e.g. family physician, nurse practitioner, community pharmacist, physio- and occupational therapists, chiropractors, healthcare executives, policy-makers), career stage, region of Canada and type of organization. Participants within and across groups largely agreed on approaches for person-centred OA care across six domains: foster a healing relationship, exchange information, address emotions, manage uncertainty, share decisions and enable self-management. Participants identified 22 barriers of access and 18 strategies to overcome barriers at the patient- (e.g. educational sessions and materials that accommodate cultural norms offered in different languages and formats for persons affected by OA), healthcare professional- (e.g. medical and continuing education on OA and on providing OA care tailored to intersectional factors) and system- (e.g. public health campaigns to raise awareness of OA, and how to prevent and manage it; self-referral to and public funding for therapy, greater number and ethno-cultural diversity of healthcare professionals, healthcare policies that address the needs of diverse women, dedicated inter-professional OA clinics, and a national strategy to coordinate OA care) levels. CONCLUSIONS: This research contributes to a gap in knowledge of how to optimize OA care for disadvantaged groups including diverse women. Ongoing efforts are needed to examine how best to implement these strategies, which will require multi-sector collaboration and must engage diverse women.

Opportunities to improve quality of care for cancer survivors in primary care: findings from the BETTER WISE study.

PURPOSE: The BETTER WISE (Building on Existing Tools to Improve Chronic Disease Prevention and Screening in Primary Care for Wellness of Cancer Survivors and Patients) intervention is an evidence-based approach to prevention and screening for cancers and chronic diseases in primary care that also includes comprehensive follow-up for breast, prostate and colorectal cancer survivors. We describe the process of harmonizing cancer survivorship guidelines to create a BETTER WISE cancer surveillance algorithm and describe both the quantitative and qualitative findings for BETTER WISE participants who were breast, prostate or colorectal cancer survivors. We describe the results in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: We reviewed high-quality survivorship guidelines to create a cancer surveillance algorithm. We conducted a cluster randomized trial in three Canadian provinces with two composite index outcome measured 12 months after baseline, and also collected qualitative feedback on the intervention. RESULTS: There were 80 cancer survivors for whom we had baseline and follow-up data. Differences between the composite indices in the two study arms were not statistically significant, although a post hoc analysis suggested the COVID-19 pandemic was a key factor in these results. Qualitative finding suggested that participants and stakeholders generally viewed BETTER WISE positively and emphasized the effects of the pandemic. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: BETTER WISE shows promise for providing an evidence-based, patient-centred, comprehensive approach to prevention, screening and cancer surveillance for cancer survivors in the primary care setting. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN21333761. Registered on December 19, 2016, http://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN21333761 .

Reach and effectiveness of an HPV self-sampling intervention for cervical screening amongst under- or never-screened women in Toronto, Ontario Canada.

BACKGROUND: Cervical cancer is almost entirely preventable with appropriate and timely screening. In Ontario, Canada, South Asian, Middle Eastern and North African women have some of the lowest rates of screening and a suggested higher burden of cervical cancer. With increasing international evidence and adoption of HPV testing, many screening programs are making the move away from Pap tests and towards HPV testing with the option of HPV self-sampling seeming promising for under- or never-screened (UNS) women. Our study aimed to understand the uptake and acceptability of an HPV self-sampling intervention amongst these disproportionately UNS women in Peel region and surrounding areas in Ontario. METHODS: A community -based mixed methods approach guided by the RE-AIM framework was used to recruit approximately 100 UNS racialized immigrant women aged 30-69, during the period of June 2018 to December 2019. The main recruitment strategy included community champions (i.e. trusted female members of communities) to engage people in our selected areas in Peel Region. Participants completed a study questionnaire about their knowledge, attitudes and practices around cervical cancer screening, self-selected whether to use the HPV self-sampling device and completed follow-up questions either about their experience with self-sampling or going to get a Pap test. RESULTS: In total, 108 women participated in the study, with 69 opting to do self-sampling and 39 not. The majority of women followed through and used the device (n = 61) and found it 'user friendly.' The experience of some participants suggests that clearer instructions and/or more support once at home is needed. Survey and follow-up data suggest that privacy and comfort are common barriers for UNS women, and that self-sampling begins to address these concerns. Across both groups addressing misinformation and misconceptions is needed to convince some UNS women to be screened. Family, friends and peers also seemed to play a role in the decision-making process. CONCLUSIONS: HPV self-sampling is viewed as an acceptable alternative to a Pap test for cervical screening, by some but not all UNS women. This method begins to address some of the barriers that often prevent women from being screened and is already being offered in some jurisdictions as an alternative to clinical cervical cancer screening.

Effectiveness of family-centred sexual health education and HPV self-sampling in promoting cervical cancer screening among hard-to-reach indian women in rural and tribal areas: a community-based pilot study.

BACKGROUND: While cervical cancer deaths have declined steeply in high-income countries due to the widespread use of the Papanicolaou test (Pap test), the same trend has not emerged in low or middle-income countries (LMICs). Access to screening in LMICs like India is limited due to barriers such as limited healthcare infrastructures, lack of sexual health education, and stigma demarcating sexually transmitted infections (STIs). HPV self-sampling (HPV-SS), a woman-centered and at-home method for screening, can be utilized as a unique screening tool to overcome some of these barriers. Our study examined the effectiveness of HPV-SS, supported by family-centred arts-based sexual health literacy on the uptake of cervical cancer screening among hard-to-reach women in rural and remote areas in India. METHODS: Our community-based mixed methods pilot study recruited 240 participants (120 women and 120 male partners or family members) through female Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) across 3 Indian villages of Shirgoan, Khodala, and Jamsar in Palghar district. Inclusion criteria included women ages 30-69 who were under or never screened (UNS) and their male partners/family members aged 18 or over. Knowledge and attitudes about cervical cancer and screening and their perceived stigma surrounding STI were assessed using validated scales prior to and after attending a 2-hour arts-based sexual health education (SHE). In addition, participants' uptake of cervical cancer screening was assessed after attendance in SHE. FINDINGS: Results revealed significant improvement in knowledge and attitudes about cervical cancer and screening, and a reduction in the STI stigma after participation in SHE sessions (overall mean difference in Knowledge: z = 6.1 ± 2.4, P < 0.001; attitudes about Pap-test and VIA: z = 2.2 ± 8.4, P < 0.001 and z = 2.9 ± 8.2, P < 0.001; STI stigma: z = 2.8 ± 12.4, P < 0.001). 118 out of 120 female participants chose to be screened and 115 opted for HPV-SS. CONCLUSIONS: The implementation of HPV-SS coupled with family-centered arts-based and culturally appropriate SHE is highly promising in promoting cervical cancer screening among hard-to-reach women. Evidence from our study can be used to advance public health policies and inform the scale-up of similar initiatives in other villages and states across rural India and other LMICs.

Identifying strategies that support equitable person-centred osteoarthritis care for diverse women: content analysis of guidelines.

INTRODUCTION: Women are disproportionately impacted by osteoarthritis (OA) but less likely than men to access early diagnosis and management, or experience OA care tailored through person-centred approaches to their needs and preferences, particularly racialized women. One way to support clinicians in optimizing OA care is through clinical guidelines. We aimed to examine the content of OA guidelines for guidance on providing equitable, person-centred care to disadvantaged groups including women. METHODS: We searched indexed databases and websites for English-language OA-relevant guidelines published in 2000 or later by non-profit organizations. We used manifest content analysis to extract data, and summary statistics and text to describe guideline characteristics, person-centred care (PCC) using a six-domain PCC framework, OA prevalence or barriers by intersectional factors, and strategies to improve equitable access to OA care. RESULTS: We included 36 OA guidelines published from 2003 to 2021 in 8 regions or countries. Few (39%) development panels included patients. While most (81%) guidelines included at least one PCC domain, guidance was often brief or vague, few addressed exchange information, respond to emotions and manage uncertainty, and none referred to fostering a healing relationship. Few (39%) guidelines acknowledged or described greater prevalence of OA among particular groups; only 3 (8%) noted that socioeconomic status was a barrier to OA care, and only 2 (6%) offered guidance to clinicians on how to improve equitable access to OA care: assess acceptability, availability, accessibility, and affordability of self-management interventions; and employ risk assessment tools to identify patients without means to cope well at home after surgery. CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that OA guidelines do not support clinicians in caring for diverse persons with OA who face disadvantages due to intersectional factors that influence access to and quality of care. Developers could strengthen OA guidelines by incorporating guidance for PCC and for equity that could be drawn from existing frameworks and tools, and by including diverse persons with OA on guideline development panels. Future research is needed to identify multi-level (patient, clinician, system) strategies that could be implemented via guidelines or in other ways to improve equitable, person-centred OA care. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: This study was informed by a team of researchers, collaborators, and thirteen diverse women with lived experience, who contributed to planning, and data collection, analysis and interpretation by reviewing study materials and providing verbal (during meetings) and written (via email) feedback.

The potential benefits of "community champions" in the healthcare system.

In a study to understand acceptability and uptake of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) self-sampling, we engaged community champions to lead recruitment and other study activities. This article describes qualitative findings relevant to the role of the community champion. We found that community champions were critical to promoting awareness about and encouraging cervical screening and HPV self-sampling. They were well-connected community members who had healthcare backgrounds, which created trust in their messages. They were highly effective at encouraging screening because of their education and cultural congruency, combined with the time for thorough and clear explanations. Women had an inherent level of comfort with the community champions that often did not exist with their physician. The community champions were seen as being able to address some of the barriers that exist within the healthcare system. We encourage health leaders to consider how this role can be sustainably and meaningfully incorporated into the healthcare system.

Primary care utilization for patients with newly diagnosed cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic: a population-based study.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic greatly impacted primary care and cancer care. We studied how primary care utilization in Ontario, Canada changed for patients who were newly diagnosed with cancer just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic compared to those diagnosed in non-pandemic years. METHODS: This population-based, retrospective cohort study used linked healthcare databases to compare outcomes for patients with a new malignancy diagnosed within the year prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, between July 1 and September 30, 2019 (COVID-19 cohort) to those diagnosed in the same months in 2018 and 2017 (pre-pandemic cohort). We used Poisson regression models to compare rates of in-person and virtual visits to patients' usual primary care physician (PCP), emergency department (ED) visits, and hospitalizations, all reported per person-year of follow-up. RESULTS: In-person visits to usual PCPs decreased from 4.07/person-year in the pre-pandemic cohort to 2.58 in the COVID-19 cohort (p < 0.0001). Virtual visits to usual PCPs increased from 0.00 to 1.53 (p < 0.0001). Combined in-person and virtual visits to patients' usual PCPs was unchanged from 4.07 to 4.12 (p = 0.89). The rate of ED visits decreased from 0.99/person-year to 0.88 (p < 0.0001). Non-elective hospitalizations remained unchanged, from 0.49/person-year to 0.47 (p = 0.1675). CONCLUSION: There was a sizeable shift in primary care visits for cancer patients from in-person to virtual during the pandemic, although there was no resultant increase in hospitalizations. This suggests that early in the pandemic, virtual care allowed for continuity in utilization of primary care, though further studies are required to confirm this persisted later in the pandemic.

Influence of previous experience with and beliefs regarding anal cancer screening on willingness to be screened among men living with HIV.

BACKGROUND: Implementation of anal cancer screening requires the procedure to be acceptable to the target population. Our objective was to assess the beliefs of men living with HIV regarding anal cancer screening and identify factors associated with their willingness to participate in screening. METHODS: We developed a cross-sectional questionnaire using the Theory of Planned Behavior to examine beliefs regarding prevention of human papillomavirus (HPV)-related diseases, administered to men living with HIV in 2016-2017 in a multi-site HIV clinical cohort. Correspondence analysis was used to examine the interrelationships between men's beliefs and willingness to undergo anal cancer screening. We used multivariable proportional odds models to identify factors associated with increasing willingness. Results were reported as adjusted odds ratios (aOR) with 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS: Among 1677 male participants, the vast majority (90%) would be willing to undergo screening by "anal Pap test"; willingness clustered with positive beliefs (e.g. confident they can get screened; disagree that they will feel pain) in the correspondence analysis. Higher self-perceived risk for anal cancer and positive beliefs regarding screening were associated with higher willingness to be screened. Gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men had higher willingness (aOR = 1.62; 95% CI: 1.15, 2.29) than heterosexual men. Racialized men reported lower willingness (aOR = 0.68; 95% CI: 0.54, 0.89) than white men. CONCLUSIONS: Men generally had positive beliefs and were willing to undergo screening, though there were differences by sexual orientation and racial identity. Tailored community-led initiatives could focus on men's understanding of their risk and expectations of anal cancer screening to facilitate participation.

Clinician acceptability of self-collected human papillomavirus swabs as a primary cervical cancer screening method.

OBJECTIVE: To determine knowledge and acceptability of and opinions about human papillomavirus (HPV) self-screening as an alternative to Papanicolaou testing among Canadian primary care providers (PCPs: family physicians and nurse practitioners) and obstetrician-gynecologists (OB-GYNs). DESIGN: Descriptive, cross-sectional, anonymous, online pilot survey. SETTING: Two academic teaching hospitals in downtown Toronto, Ont. PARTICIPANTS: Staff physicians and nurse practitioners in the Department of Family and Community Medicine and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Women's College Hospital and St Michael's Hospital. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Recommended patient groups for, potential advantages and disadvantages of, and likelihood of recommending HPV self-sampling for cervical cancer screening. RESULTS: The overall response rate was 30.9%. More than three-quarters of survey respondents were female PCPs. Slightly more than half of clinicians had poor knowledge of HPV self-sampling. However, more than three-quarters would recommend it if there were adequate collection of cervical samples, high patient acceptability, and high sensitivity (almost 100% of respondents), followed by high specificity and cost-effectiveness (more than 80% of respondents). Primary care practitioners were more likely than OB-GYNs to agree that HPV self-sampling made screening easier and less embarrassing for patients. Although not statistically significant, OB-GYNs tended to be more concerned than PCPs were about patients failing to follow up on abnormal HPV results and missed opportunities to address other health issues. CONCLUSION: Although knowledge of HPV self-sampling for cervical screening was poor, it was generally acceptable to clinicians if certain screening test conditions were met. However, the potential for missed opportunities to visualize pathology and address other health concerns were raised. These and other clinical practice and health systems issues must be addressed before broad implementation of HPV self-sampling in Canada.

Equity-Mobilizing Partnerships in Community (EMPaCT): Co-Designing Patient Engagement to Promote Health Equity.

Equity-Mobilizing Partnerships in Community (EMPaCT) is a novel approach to patient engagement that centres diverse lived experiences and promotes equity-oriented and inclusive partnerships. As an independent community table, EMPaCT is made up primarily of patients/diverse members of community. Researchers and other decision makers come to this table with their projects to learn how to make their project more inclusive and equitable. In this paper, we detail how we used participatory co-design to define, build and grow EMPaCT as an innovative and scalable patient partnership model that promotes bottom-up action for health equity.

Patient and provider determinants of breast cancer screening among Ontario women aged 40-49: a population-based retrospective cohort study.

PURPOSE: Canadian breast cancer screening guidelines state that mammography screening for women 40-49 should be individualized based on risk assessment and preferences. This retrospective cohort study describes the frequency of screening in women aged 40-49 and identifies patient and provider-level associations with screening. METHODS: Administrative databases were linked. The overall cohort included Ontario women aged 40-49 between April 1, 2009 and March 31, 2019. Subgroups were created: the "screen" group included women who received a mammogram defined as screening (using a set of exclusion criteria) and the "routine screen" group included women with three or more screening mammograms. A multivariable multilevel logistic regression model accounting for patient and provider characteristics was fit to determine characteristics associated with routine screening. The intracluster correlation co-efficient was used to quantify the degree of variation across providers. RESULTS: Of approximately 2 million eligible women, there were 532,596 (25.5%) in the screen group and 90,651 (4.3%) the routine screen group. There was an average of 0.30 and 0.52 screening mammograms per woman year, in the screen and routine screen groups, respectively. Routine screening was associated with periodic health exams (OR 1.21, 95% CI 1.20-1.22), receiving pap smears (OR 1.38, 95% CI 1.37-1.39), and fee-for-service models of care (OR 1.32, 95% CI 1.27-1.36). Over 20% of the variation in screening was due to systematic between-provider differences. CONCLUSIONS: Approximately 4.3% of women aged 40-49 in Ontario received routine breast cancer screening with substantial variation across providers. Routine screening is associated with periodic health examinations, receipt of pap smears, and fee-for-service models of care.