Category Archives: Conversations in Complexity

Better Dementia Care: Connecting Science to Action

February 18, 2020Conversations in ComplexityDementia care, Excess disability, Exit seeking, Non-pharmacological dementia care, Physical environment, Sense of purpose, Social engagement, WanderingBH

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In this podcast, Ross Upshur interviews Gail Elliot about dementia care and the state of dementia care and how it can measure up to expectations that will provide the kind of care which takes into account the individual’s entirety as a human, focusing on personal narrative, brain, environment, needs, abilities and disease.
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What it Means to be a Good Academic Citizen – Part 2

December 10, 2019Conversations in ComplexityAcademic mentorship, Career advancement, Citation metrics, Equity, Gender, H-index, Institutional ranking, Promotion, Research fundingBH

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The academic research environment is changing and researchers report struggling to adapt in order to be successful. Funding shortfalls are perennial, but what systemic shifts should occur to enable researchers at all career stages to be productive and successful?
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What it Means to be a Good Academic Citizen – Part 1

October 29, 2019Conversations in ComplexityAcademic citizenship, Citations, Research ecosystem, Research funding, Research life-cycle, Skill development, TenureBH

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Upon publishing “Healthy research ecosystem – healthy researchers? The researcher as an organism of focus within a ‘research ecosystem’ in Academic Matters in mid-March 2019, Ross Upshur and Michelle Nelson, convened to critique themes from their paper and discuss a number of other academic matters not originally mentioned in the paper but have boggled the minds of many academics far and wide for a long time. Continue reading What it Means to be a Good Academic Citizen – Part 1 →

“I was there for her”: A Caregiver’s Story

June 4, 2019Conversations in ComplexityALC, Alternate Level of Care, Caregiver, Caregiver strain, Long-term Care, LTC, Mental health, Mental health disorder, Patient experienceBH

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Gordon MacGregor, a member of the Alternate Level of Care Patient and Caregiver Council, in an interview with Ross Upshur reflects upon his personal experience taking care of his wife in a span of nearly 30 years. His experience with the health system is what thousands of patients and family caregivers undergo on daily basis. The interview highlights both positive and not so positive aspects of care and the need to take care of the instances that patients might find rather inconvenient or challenging to overcome. Continue reading “I was there for her”: A Caregiver’s Story →

Striving for a Better Healthcare for the Elderly in Canada; An interview with Jane Barratt, the Secretary General of the International Federation on Ageing

February 11, 2019Conversations in Complexityageing, Ageism, Allocation of health services, Equity, Physical environmentBH

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Jane Barratt in an interview with Ross Upshur reflects on different aspects of elderly care and explains how it could be improved in Canada. In the interview, she gives an example of other countries and how they have been successful in laying the foundation for a more robust elderly care.
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When All Roads Seem to Lead to Healthcare Complexity

November 27, 2018Conversations in ComplexityData visualization, Decision aid, End of life care, Medical decision making, New communication technologies, Patient education, Patients’ medical choices, Quantitative information, Simulated experienceBH

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ST: A Palliative Approach to Decision Aids to Help Improve Patients’ Medical Choices
Pete Wegier in this interview with Ross Upshur discusses complexities of the end of life care and how coordination in this care setting could be optimized by the use of new communication technologies. Interestingly, his journey from computer science to cognitive psychology, to medical decision making and later to the space of palliative care has equipped Pete with tools that could help untangle some of the problems in this most complex area in health care. Continue reading When All Roads Seem to Lead to Healthcare Complexity →

The Need for Intra- and Inter-sectoral Collaboration in Healthcare, in Interview with Michelle Nelson

September 18, 2018Conversations in ComplexityCommunity reintegration, Integrated care, Inter-sectoral collaboration, Patient experience, Single disease approach, Stroke rehabilitation, volunteer sectorBH

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Michelle Nelson in an interview with Ross Upshur discusses the importance of intra- and inter-sectoral collaboration in healthcare and explains how the voluntary sector could be engaged to support improved patient and family experiences and the outcomes. Continue reading The Need for Intra- and Inter-sectoral Collaboration in Healthcare, in Interview with Michelle Nelson →

Simplifying the Complexity of Palliative Care

July 10, 2018Conversations in ComplexityCompetency-based education, Complexity theory, End-of-life experiences, Palliative care, Person-centered decision-makingBH

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Jeff Myers, in this interview with Ross Upshur, discusses the evolution of palliative care and the evidence that has accumulated outlining its impact on outcomes for patients, families, and systems. With early efficacy studies having focused on end-of-life experiences for patients with cancer, strong evidence now clearly delineates a role for palliative care from the time of diagnosis for any person with serious illness and their family. Continue reading Simplifying the Complexity of Palliative Care →

Safer Opioid Prescribing and Non-opioid Alternatives for Chronic Pain

May 22, 2018Conversations in ComplexityChronic pain, Context Sensitive Response, Meditation, Non-opioid Alternatives, Opioid crisis, Pain managementBH

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Abhimanyu Sud, in an interview with Ross Upshur, talks about the current opioid crisis, the challenges and the opportunities to respond to the crisis at different levels including improved prescriber education and use of evidence-based non-opioid alternatives for chronic pain. Continue reading Safer Opioid Prescribing and Non-opioid Alternatives for Chronic Pain →