The Health Care System in Ontario: Annotated Bibliography

The Health Care System in Ontario: Annotated Bibliography

Ontario Family Health Teams

Ashcroft, R., McMillan, C., Ambrose-Miller, W., McKee, R., & Brown, J. B. (2018). The emerging role of social work in primary health care: a survey of social workers in Ontario family health teams. Health & social work, 43(2), 109-117.

This article examines the role of Canadian social workers within the settings of the primary health care system. The method employed in the study was exploratory and qualitative to understand how family health teams integrated the role of social work. Consequently, Rachelle et al. conducted a survey with the social work practitioners working with the family health teams. The survey was conducted online and was completed by 128 (One hundred and twenty-eight) respondents. The article reports that barriers to the integration of social work in family health teams as organizational barriers, confusion on the work role of social workers, and difficulties relating to the medical care environment. Factors that facilitated the social workers’ integration in family health teams included appropriate organizational structures, collaborative engagement, adequate competencies, and education.

Cordeiro, K., Foroughe, M., & Mastorakos, T. (2015). Primary mental health care in the family health team setting: tracking patient care from referral to outcome. Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health, 34(3), 51-65.

This article describes a distinctive collaboration model between primary care medicine, social work, and psychology. It also reports on mental health care offered at multi-site Ontario family health teams. Data collection involved indirectly gathering information using EMR (Electronic medical records) and directly from the patients’ self-reports upon obtaining their informed consent. Examination of the clinical outcomes and satisfaction ratings of the patients were examined before and after treatment. A report was prepared on treatment services, wait times, presenting concerns, and referral patterns. Results further indicated that 82.4% of patients who received mental health care had significant improvements in daily functioning and general well-being. Therefore primary health care that is integrated and collaborative is essential in alleviating mental health symptoms, improving the functioning of mental health, and overall patient satisfaction.

                                                        Ontario Team-Based Care

Lee, L., Hillier, L. M., Heckman, G., Gagnon, M., Borrie, M. J., Stolee, P., & Harvey, D. (2014). Primary care–based memory clinics: expanding capacity for dementia care. Canadian Journal on Aging/La Revue canadienne du vieillissement, 33(3), 307-319.

This article evaluates the interprofessional memory clinics that represent distinctive team-based care management aimed at improving dementia care at the level of primary care. Linda et al. used a mixed quantitative and qualitative approach to describe the services provided and the population served and the implementation and development of the memory clinics. Assessment of patient and caregiver satisfaction was undertaking by distributing Paper-based Surveys to 582 patients. Sixteen (16) family health teams serving 4149 to 118,000 people participated in the evaluation study. Results indicated that the caregivers and patients expressed satisfaction with the care received. There was a general demonstration of the effectiveness, feasibility, and acceptability of the model.

Town, M., Smoliak, O., Brauer, P., & Forbes, L. (2019). Prenatal Nutrition in Team-Based Care: Current Practices and Opportunities for Optimization of Care. Canadian Journal of Dietetic Practice and Research, 80(3), 96-103.

This article describes the current delivery of prenatal nutrition care by Community Health Centers and Family Health Teams in Ontario, from the viewpoint of the providers. It also identifies the opportunities required for the improvement of care. Seventy-three health care providers participated in the study involving ten one-hour, interdisciplinary focus groups. The size of the focus groups ranged from three to eleven team members, with at least three different professionals participating in each group. The shared experiences and perspectives regarding prenatal care were collected through semi-structured interview guides and analyses carried out via thematic analysis. Results demonstrated that the professionals spent little time on counseling and prenatal nutrition education. The gaps existing in care were described by two themes, including the provision of care in high-risk pregnancies and the provision of care in gestational weight gain. The finding is essential in formulating strategies that will provide for new practices supported by the professionals.