M a r c h / A p r i l 2 0 1 0 V o l . 2 I s s u e 2

THIS ISSUE:

Page 2 -FOREWORD FROM THE STEERINGCOMMITTEE - Page 2 - PROJECT PROFILE: WESTERN CANADIANINTERPROFESSIONAL HEALTH COLLABORATIVE & TEKTIC - Page 4- INTERVIEW WITH DEAN GIUSTINI - Page 7 - THE 2.0 FACTOR:MUSINGS OF A HYPERCONNECTED WORLD - Page 8 - eHEALTH2010: FROM INVESTMENT TO IMPACT - Page 9 - HOW DO YOU SAYSEXUAL HEALTH IN MANDARIN -Page 10 - HEADLINE IN eHEALTH- Page 12 - FOCUS OF THE MIND:BOY INTERRUPTED....

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The Western CanadianInterprofessional HealthCollaborative & TEKTIC:

Using an electronic Community of Practice to support knowledge translation

By Lesley Bainbridge, Sandra Jarvis-Selinger,and Rebecca Jagdis

As a result o seed unding granted by EKIC, anelectronic Community o Practice (eCommunity) hasbeen successully established to enhance communicationand dissemination as part o a Knowledge Synthesis Grantrom the Canadian Institute o Health Research (CIHR).In 2009, the Western Canadian Interproessional HealthCollaborative (WCIHC), a partnership o researchers anddecision-makers across Canada’s our western provincesreceived unding to undertake a knowledge synthesis. Tissynthesis examined the peer-reviewed and grey literatureor studies linking interproessional education and practiceto health human resource (HHR) issues. Members o the UBC Faculty o Medicine’s e-Health Strategy Oce were invited to join the WCIHC in this initiative, andhave been instrumental in establishing the eCommunity as the online collaborative component o the study.o acilitate communication among members o theknowledge synthesis team and engage stakeholders indiscussion, the team developed an electronic platorm which acilitated document sharing, discussions, emailalerts, meeting planners and calendars. Once usersgained access, they were able to review documents anddiscussions posted on the eCommunity site. o enhanceuser experience and ensure timely updates, the eCommunity oered users the opportunity to request email alerts o announcements, updates and changes made to the site.Tis asynchronous eCommunity was also augmented by asynchronous meeting tool (WebEx) which supported ‘real

Can you believe that it has already been one year since our Kick-off issue of the TICr? Over thepast year we have seen the TICr slowly evolve inaesthetics, content, and in size. This month’s issuecontinues to build on that and is the biggest issueto date.Our one year anniversary issue beginswith a showcase of the Western CanadianInterprofessional Health Collaborative and thelessons learned in improving the electroniccommunity of practice platform used in theirproject. This is followed up with a very interestinginterview with Dean Giustini. Dean provides histhoughts on being a Health Librarian at UBC,eHealth, and his insights on social media and its’role in his projects.We also decided to include some Vancouvercontent in this issue since it was the global focalpoint for 17 days in February. Cisco discussesthe different public health surveillance systems putin place in preparation for the Olympics. Faridawrites about ASIA - a Vancouver based initiativethat uses ICTs to bridge the gap between the HIVresrouces available and the diverse Vancouverpopulation.Lastly, this issue previews eHealth 2010: FromInvestment to Impact. Held in Vancouver this year,this eHealth conference is chaired by our executivedirector Dr. Kendall Ho and will feature somesessions by our TEKTIC members.Hope you enjoy this jam-packed issue and we willsee in a couple of months!

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time’ electronic collaboration amongstthe our provinces. For example, inMay o 2009, the WCIHC hosted amid-term event or potential knowledgeusers to share the progress o theknowledge synthesis and preliminary ndings. Across the our westernprovinces, these stakeholders joinedthe meeting in person (at a site ineach province) or by webconerencerom their oce or home. Te WebEx platorm was key to thismeeting, enabling each attendee toview and listen to the presentation ata computer, as well as participate indiscussions. Evaluation ollowing theevent suggested that participants elt theplatorm to be an eective method orengaging multiple stakeholders acrossa geographic expanse in importantconversation and inormation sharing.Further, in November o 2009, an end-o-grant workshop was held utilizingthe same technology – only this time,the event wasve hoursin lengthand requiredcentralacilitation as well as localdiscussiontime.Eighty-veparticipantsacross theour westernprovinces andsix sites usedtechnology to:

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Validate and oer eedback on thendings o the knowledge synthesis;

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Explore the implicationso this knowledge or each jurisdiction, across the westernprovinces, and nationally; and

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Identiy synergies acrossthe provinces and sharepossible action strategies.Participant eedback post-workshopagain asserted that this use o technology was a cost-eective way to conduct a knowledge synthesis workshop across several sites andgeographic locations. Participantsalso commented on the eectivenesso central acilitation in supportingthe involvement o all sites.Recommendations or improvingthe use o technology in this settingand unction included the need to:

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Create a backup host (as there were some initial technicaldiculties at the host site);

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Consider the room set up sothat participants can be seatedclose to the microphones; and

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Establish ground rules or how questions, comments and interactionrom each site can be supported.Te WCIHC strongly supports the useand continuation o their eCommunity,in inormation sharing and engagingstakeholders as well as the use o WebExtechnology to acilitate meetingsand discussions. Te technology-enabled acilitation and knowledgesharing aspects o this project wouldnot have been possible without thehelp o EKIC seed unding.Te WCIHC itsel continues toengage in research that links healthhuman resources and interproessionaleducation and research. An upcomingHealth Canada project will involvethe WCIHC in using sites acrossthe our western provinces to assessinterproessional practice andlearning environments. A variety o interventions will be used, and theevaluation o changes in practice,recruitment, retention, studentlearning and patient outcomes will all be part o the study. Teelectronic platorm and meetingsotware built during the knowledgesynthesis will be continually used toengage stakeholders and to developthe WCIHC’s expanding network.