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Message from the Chair

June 2011

Research Focus of the National Diabetes Management Strategy

As the Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA) Chair in Diabetes Management, I provide leadership for the National Diabetes Management Strategy. As part of my mandate, I hope to provide regular overviews of progress made in realizing the objectives of the Strategy. Periodically, I will be circulating the latest information about the Strategy in a Message from the Chair. This first message has a research focus.

The objectives of the Strategy are operationalized through five areas of research focus, training and mentorship, advocacy and this website.

The five current areas of research in the Strategy include:

Research with First Nations

In 1991, I collaborated with a team of researchers establishing a partnership with the First Nations community of Sandy Lake in Northwestern Ontario resulting in the Sandy Lake Health Diabetes Program. This year represents the 20^th anniversary of this unique and important collaboration that has resulted in 31 grants and 78 peer-reviewed papers. The First Nations Diabetes Surveillance System, currently underway, includes community diabetes registries identifying all adult cases of type 2 diabetes accessible through a secure community portal. This portal will enable communities to view their historic clinical indicators and prevalence, enter data, and review and track progress and plan quality improvement initiatives at the touch of a button. CIRCLE: The Canadian First Nations Diabetes Clinical Management Epidemiologic Study, recently completed, was a 3-year national research study aimed at documenting the current state of clinical management of type 2 diabetes and rates of diabetes-related complications and comorbidities in First Nation communities.

Clinical Research Databases

WebDR, a web-based diabetes electronic decision support system including a patient portal is currently under development and will be launched in 2011. WebDR will integrate patient records from two databases and will have the ability to interface with the hospital’s medical records system. This unique, innovative researchable patient registry/EMR will not only enhance patient care, but will provide an excellent resource for clinical trial recruitment and to monitor trends in diabetes care and related complications.

Diabetes Evaluation of New Models in Primary Care

A team of researchers at the Centre for Studies in Family Medicine recently completed a comprehensive, third-party, mixed-method, Evaluation of Partnerships for Health project. This demonstration project, which aimed to improve diabetes management in the family practice, improved knowledge of chronic care and quality improvement strategies, primary care team functioning, the delivery of diabetes care and clinical outcomes. In partnership with Queen’s University we initiated a comprehensive third-party Evaluation of the Quality Improvement & Innovation Partnership (QIIP) Learning Collaboratives. QIIP’s Learning Collaboratives program aims to improve the care of diabetes patients, colorectal screening, and access to care. The evaluation will include the collection of information through surveys, interviews, chart reviews, and an analysis using health administrative data.

Clinical Trials

I continue to participate in international multicentre clinical trials evaluating new treatments/compounds for improving blood glucose control in patients with diabetes and evaluating strategies to reduce cardiovascular disease in high-risk individuals with type 2 diabetes.

Evaluation Framework & Diabetes Registry

The goal of this initiative is to create an evidence-based evaluation framework with the flexibility to be applied locally, provincially and nationally. A methodological review of key evaluation frameworks has been initiated. A list of national frameworks, their primary components and associated data sources has been generated. In addition, lessons learned in the development of the framework, unique contributions and the challenges and limitations of their framework have been documented. Submission of this review for publication is planned. A National Diabetes Management Strategy framework with potential indicators and associated logic model has been drafted.

I am interested in your feedback about this website and the National Diabetes Management Strategy. If you are interested in receiving these periodic updates from me you can do so by subscribing.

Sincerely,

Stewart Harris MD

 

Stewart B. Harris,
MD, MPH, FCFP, FACPM
CDA Chair in
Diabetes Management