Research grant to empower patients when it comes to their own health information
A lot of personal health information is collected through a 500-question survey when someone is admitted to an in-patient mental health bed. A St. Joe's psychologist says healthcare institutions need to give that information back to patients.
"It's their information," Dr. Peter Bieling said. "It's time to share it with patients so they can participate in their own treatment plan." The question is, how do we do that in a clear and accessible format that can be easily understood by anyone?
To find out, Dr. Bieling successfully applied for a grant to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Catalyst Grant program. He received $200,000 to work with Dr. Chris Perlman at the University of Waterloo and Dr. Lynn Martin at Lakehead University.
For years, mental health institutions in Ontario have been required to administer the 500-question, "head-to-toe" Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) to new patients. The information collected is used by the province to determine funding.
Dr. Bieling said that information should also be used to empower patients living with mental health and addiction.
"We at St. Joe's have long cared about patient's recovery and rehabilitation. If you share a patient's information with them early in the process, it immediately answers some questions, such as, 'Why are you needing to be in hospital, how can we help, and what are your goals?'"
Having patients review their personal information creates a chance for them to make corrections to their own records and ask questions – it turns their care into a collaboration.
Today, the results of the RAI are presented as difficult-to-interpret charts. Dr. Bieling and his partners are working on a prototype that's much more accessible. It's designed so that it can be given to patients in paper or digital format.
"We want to use the grant to refine the prototype and see the difference it makes," Dr. Bieling said. "The advantage of sharing it electronically – maybe as an app – is that people would be able to take it with them."
The digital format would also allow patients to review their information post-crisis and at their own pace.
Dr. Bieling said any knowledge gained at St. Joe's will be shared with other institutions and that he hopes it'll all be in place by 2020.
"It's not about us as a system. It's about the patient," Dr. Bieling said. "It's their information, it's time to give it back."