Getting to Uptake : Speaker’s Abstracts

Building social capital in online communities
Dr. Alexandra Samuel

Over the past decade, researchers have shown that social capital -- understood in terms of the strength and density of social relationships in a community -- is a key determinant of individual and community health. Recognizing the health value of social capital can lead to concerns about the growing time that people (and especially young people) spend online, since online interaction is frequently perceived as displacing real-world relationship. But social media and online community can help to strengthen social capital in ways that support both individual and community health. In this participatory session, Alex will introduce online community cases studies that represent the range of ways in which online interaction can support stronger relationships and better health. Working from these examples, we'll talk about how different kinds of online community approaches could be applied to the challenge of youth mental health.

“e-harmony” for patients: listening, learning, and connecting
Neil Seeman, JD, MPH

We can learn a great deal from self-reported online patient stories about their needs and wants. For example, we can learn about how patients discuss highly stigmatized conditions such as depression, post-partum, and obesity. We can learn about patients’ values and perspectives, and what they desire from their care experience. Self-reported patient stories online can lead to complementary forms of patient satisfaction information that can support “real-time” quality improvement interventions, and necessary remediation efforts to address patient concerns. Ultimately, these online conversations can help us connect to patients who are suffering: to offer them reliable information, support, self-management advice and encouragement.
Attendees at this session will hear about:

• Ideas about how to “push out” information to patients who are suffering
• How Web-based networks can positively influence the patient-provider relationship

Changing our practices in the age of the Internet and global telecommunications
Alejandro (Alex) R. Jadad, MD DPhil FRCPC FCAHS

At the dawn of the 21st century, the rapid evolution of the Internet and mobile telecommunication devices is giving humans, perhaps for the first time in their history, the speed and efficiency they need to connect with each other, to learn from each other, and to transmit and disseminate knowledge across the world.

New and emerging online tools are ushering a second wave in the evolution of the Web, known as ‘online social networking’, which is gathering power at an unprecedented speed. Very rapidly, social networking applications such as Wikipedia, FaceBook, YouTube and MySpace, have risen to be among the top 10 most used sites on the Web, re-shaping how we communicate, learn and live. Mobile communication devices, also known as “smart phones”, are penetrating every region of the world at a speed that dwarfs the growth in the adoption of personal computers, ushering the era of the “Mobile Web” and “mHealth.

Participants in this session will join a discussion of how this technological Renaissance could transform health-related practices, in Canada and beyond. In particular, they will:

• Become aware of emerging technologies that are forcing a re-definition of the roles of health professionals, managers, policy makers, researchers, patients and the general public,
• Be exposed to large collaborative initiatives pursuing global (dis)economies of scale to promote optimal levels of health with limited resources, and
• Realize the importance of the untapped power of patients and other members of the public to become reverse mentors, able to shape and promote the development of innovative health practices

Harnessing the power of wiki’s: Facilitating scientific collaboration and practice change
Dr. Melanie Barwick, Dr. Bruce Ferguson & Mr. Alan Lepofsky

Exploring the use of social media to support research collaboration and practice change within the work of the CHSRG at SickKids is in its infancy.  Through partnership with SocialText, a social media provider situated in Palo Alto California, we have been exploring the use of wikis in two contexts.  In our Wikinnovation project, we are using wikis to bring together researchers who have participated in our CHSRG symposia series, of which this conference is part.  In the realm of practice change, we have been using a wiki environment to support practitioners in the child and youth mental health sector in their use of a mandated outcome measurement tool.  These projects mark a beginning for us, and we have much to learn.

Research, policy and practice: We what know, what we need to learn and what we need to do
Dr. Ben Levin

The last decade has seen an explosion of interest in stronger links between research, policy and practice, not only in education but in many other fields as well. Ben Levin has been interested in this question for many years, and has worked on it both from the standpoint of policy and practice (in his multiple roles as a leader in education organizations) and as a researcher. He currently leads a research team on 'knowledge mobilization' at OISE (see www.oise.utoronto.ca/rspe). This presentation draws on these diverse experiences and perspectives to address three key questions.

• What is the state of knowledge about the relationship between research, policy and practice in education?
• What do we need to do to advance our knowledge?
• What steps should be taken now, based on what we already know, that would have the most positive effect on the relationship between research, policy and practice?

The science of implementation: Guides for policy and practice
Dr. Dean Fixsen

A goal is full and effective use of evidence-based practices and other innovations in human services to benefit children, families, adults, communities, and society. Pathways for accomplishing this awesome task are beginning to emerge from implementation science. This presentation will focus on the links between implementation, organization change, and system transformation in social and therapeutic environments fraught with wicked problems.