Dr. Kadia Petricca
Health System Impact Fellow Profile

Name:

Kadia Petricca

Host Partner Organization:

North York General Hospital

Name of Host Partner Organization Supervisor:

Dr. Monika Kastner

Location (city, province):

Toronto

Academic Institution:

University of Toronto

Name of Academic Supervisor:

Dr. Adelsteinn Brown

Duration of Fellowship:

1 year

Title of Fellowship / Program of Work:

Knowledge Translation

Biography

How do we strengthen effective implementation of policy and/or programs? What strategies are most successful when we seek to apply evidence to improve existing practice? Over the past decade, my research interests have been driven by these fundamental questions. While completing a PhD in health services and policy research at the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto, I collaborated with the Ethiopian Ministry of Health to investigate system-level barriers and facilitators influencing the implementation of a district health planning strategy. With this insight, I then went on to work as a Research Associate for Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health where we collaborated with the Tanzanian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to strengthen the implementation of a national community health worker policy. As a CIHR Health System Impact Fellow, I am keen to work with a passionate team at North York General Hospital, who are committed to translating research evidence into sustainable tools that will enhance patient care.

Fellowship Program of Work

Seniors are the largest growing proportion of our population in Canada. Given that many are living longer than previous generations, there is a greater chance that many may also develop multiple chronic conditions. Since 2014, the research and innovation lab at North York General Hospital has been working to optimize the application of research evidence into the development of products that have the potential to enhance patient care. Over the course of my fellowship, I will be collaborating with researchers, patient groups and engineers to test the usability of the KeepWell tool; a self-management tool designed to assist older adults in the management of their multiple morbidities. Most tools that have been created and applied to date have focused only on one disease (e.g., diabetes or hypertension). While some have noted variable success, such tools fail to recognize that many older adults are often confronted with balancing multiple chronic conditions such as, dementia, heart failure, depression and diabetes. The testing of the KeepWell tool will therefore advance our understanding of the effectiveness and sustainability of e-Health strategies that aim to promote patient self-management.

Date modified:

2017-11-16