Research
We’re a curious group! We’re interested in learning about how communication improves patient care and how it benefits clinicians and the systems they work in.
We aim to contribute to new learning and use data to set a benchmark for best-in-class communication-related teaching and implementation practices.
We’ve published in leading medical journals and shared findings with colleagues at provincial, national and international peer-reviewed conferences.
Current research team members:
Postdoctoral Researcher
Jacqui Forsey, PhD
Clinical Research Fellow
Max Charles, MD
Clinician Investigator, The Institute for Education Research (TIER)
Warren Lewin, MD
Information here
Past research team members:
Clinical Research Fellow
Helen James, MD
Summer Research Student
Kyle Albuquerque-Boutilier, BA
There are currently no available positions in the Lab.
We foster collaboration with other research groups to collectively advance knowledge and innovation across the institution. A sample of our collaborative work is outlined below.
Serious Illness Communication Study
Dr. Karen Okrainec, MD, Internal Medicine is a UHN scientist and VitalTalk faculty member partnering with The Conversation Lab research team to advance serious illness communication implementation work across UHN sites. Below is a spotlight on a recent collaboration:
Richard Dunbar-Yaffe, MD is a General Internal Medicine physician and Assistant Professor in Clinician Quality and Innovation at UHN. His academic interests include developing, implementing, and evaluating novel models of clinical care.
Grants from the PMH Oncology Foundation, GIM Acute Oncology Quality Improvement Research Fund and Dr. Frances Shepherd – TGH QI Innovation Hub were used to fund the Serious illness Communication Study. The authors also received help from the UHN Patient Partner program.
Authors: Isabelle Caven, Warren Lewin, Helen James, Amy Troup, Rajdeep Kaler, Leanne Kim, Senyo Agbeyaka, Aivan Chau, Richard Dunbar-Yaffe, Karen Okrainec and Melissa Frew
Collaborators: Neesha Dhani and Breffni Hanon
Designer: Eliot El Zeinaty
Objectives: The study aimed to characterize the documentation and experiences of serious illness conversations, encompassing code status, goals of care, advance care planning, and values-based discussions, from the perspectives of both patients with cancer and those on general internal medicine (GIM) wards.
Methods: The team reviewed hospital chart data, surveyed clinicians, and interviewed patients and caregivers.
Results: The top 5 reported barriers to serious illness conversations are:
1. Language barriers
2. Uncertainty in estimating prognosis
3. Lack of time to have conversations
4. Perceived discomfort to discuss GOC in some cultures
5. Lack of agreement amongst family members about GOC
Design Principles for Talking Serious Illness informed from co-design workshops:
More findings are illustrated in the infographic below:
