Oral Papers

Innovation and Collaboration in Team-Based Primary Care

May 13, 2025
11:00 AM - 12:15 PM

  • Presenters: Doret Cheng, Sarah Nestico, Jessica Ferrara, Naomi Tadros, Farnoosh Fakoorziba, Anushi Sivarajah

    Due to the COVID pandemic, patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes have been lost to follow-up (LTFU). A team based strategy using electronic medical record (EMR) data and an inter-professional chart review process; yielded a 75% reengagement success at one of our 5 family health team (FHT) sites in 2023. We wanted to extend this success to other sites.

    In October of 2023 an EMR search using the search criteria of patients with diabetes who have not had an HbA1C or endocrinology visit in the last 6 months yielded a list of 734 patients from 22 family doctors. Over the next 6 months, a team of a nurse, doctor and pharmacist completed manual chart reviews, followed by a case conference with each family doctor and their list of patients. Patients were prioritized with a plan to re-engage through telephone contact, email or mailed letters. Where possible, booking of follow up appointments with the family doctor and team either by telephone or in person ensued. This chart review determined that of the 734 originally identified patients, 503 of them were truly lost to follow up (LTFU). Reasons patients were excluded included patients were discharged, deceased, no longer part of the practice, or had already been engaged and their files were not up to date.

    Efforts were made to reengage these 503 patients through a variety of communication methods by several interprofessional team members, including the family doctor, clinic pharmacist, dedicated clinic diabetes nurse and clerical team. After 8 months of reengagement activities, 324/503 (64.4%) of the patients LTFU completed an AIC within the last 6 months and/or had a shared care visit to address their diabetes management.

    The project identified the need for a dedicated clinical team member to be involved in reengaging patients with diabetes and to provide ongoing support. As such, a dedicated nurse role for the management of patients with diabetes was established. This nurse provides on site education, care, and support to patients with diabetes, offering in office and virtual care. They collaborate with team members, including the dietitian, pharmacist and family doctor, and connect with the family health team central diabetes nurse educator for more complex care needs. Additionally, this nurse will support ongoing lost to follow up list reviews, to support continued efforts for reengagement and aim to improve retention in care for this population. Based on this work, further efforts will be put towards using this model to target other chronic diseases (e.g. hypertension, heart failure, COPD, etc.).

  • Presenters: Cristina de Lasa, Sherida Chambers, Alfredo Ramirez

    Due to the COVID pandemic, patients with chronic diseases such as diabetes have been lost to follow-up (LTFU). A team based strategy using electronic medical record (EMR) data and an inter-professional chart review process; yielded a 75% reengagement success at one of our 5 family health team (FHT) sites in 2023. We wanted to extend this success to other sites.

    In October of 2023 an EMR search using the search criteria of patients with diabetes who have not had an HbA1C or endocrinology visit in the last 6 months yielded a list of 734 patients from 22 family doctors. Over the next 6 months, a team of a nurse, doctor and pharmacist completed manual chart reviews, followed by a case conference with each family doctor and their list of patients. Patients were prioritized with a plan to re-engage through telephone contact, email or mailed letters. Where possible, booking of follow up appointments with the family doctor and team either by telephone or in person ensued. This chart review determined that of the 734 originally identified patients, 503 of them were truly lost to follow up (LTFU). Reasons patients were excluded included patients were discharged, deceased, no longer part of the practice, or had already been engaged and their files were not up to date.

    Efforts were made to reengage these 503 patients through a variety of communication methods by several interprofessional team members, including the family doctor, clinic pharmacist, dedicated clinic diabetes nurse and clerical team. After 8 months of reengagement activities, 324/503 (64.4%) of the patients LTFU completed an AIC within the last 6 months and/or had a shared care visit to address their diabetes management.

    The project identified the need for a dedicated clinical team member to be involved in reengaging patients with diabetes and to provide ongoing support. As such, a dedicated nurse role for the management of patients with diabetes was established. This nurse provides on site education, care, and support to patients with diabetes, offering in office and virtual care. They collaborate with team members, including the dietitian, pharmacist and family doctor, and connect with the family health team central diabetes nurse educator for more complex care needs. Additionally, this nurse will support ongoing lost to follow up list reviews, to support continued efforts for reengagement and aim to improve retention in care for this population. Based on this work, further efforts will be put towards using this model to target other chronic diseases (e.g. hypertension, heart failure, COPD, etc.).

  • Presenters: Renee Logan

    Hepatitis C virus (HCV) remains a significant public health challenge, particularly among people who inject drugs (PWID) (1)(2), where barriers to testing and treatment are prevalent (3)(4). This Quality Improvement (QI) project focused on implementing an HCV screening and treatment protocol within a familiar care team at a hospital addictions outpatient clinic, with the goal of improving cure rates. Utilizing the Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) methodology (5), we addressed barriers to patient referrals and optimized care delivery.

    Despite support from clinical and operational teams, referrals were limited. Root cause analysis using a Fishbone framework (6) identified key barriers, including limited time for prescribers to initiate testing and a need for enhanced support during screening. To mitigate these barriers, we leveraged a regulatory change in Ontario, implemented in 2022, granting nurses authority to perform point-of-care (POC) testing under the Laboratory and Specimen Collection Centre Licensing Act without requiring an order or directive. In partnership with the Viral Hepatitis Care Network (VIRCAN), clinic nurses were trained to perform POC HCV antibody testing during triage. This streamlined the workflow by enabling nurses to initiate testing and ensured prescribers focused on counselling patients with positive results.

    This adaptation has addressed identified barriers and improved the efficiency and feasibility of HCV screening. By incorporating this patient-centered approach, we anticipate increased referral rates, enhanced progression through the HCV care cascade, and improved health outcomes for a vulnerable population. Ongoing evaluation will guide future QI cycles to sustain and scale the program as a model for addiction care settings.

  • Presenters: Nadia Minian

    Primary care in Ontario faces significant challenges in addressing the health needs of its diverse population. With growing rates of chronic diseases, mental health concerns, and preventable risk factors like tobacco use and hazardous alcohol consumption, the demand for effective, scalable, and accessible interventions is greater than ever. Many patients face barriers to traditional care, such as long wait times, geographic limitations, and inconsistent availability of evidence-based treatments.

    Digital interventions offer a promising solution to these challenges by providing scalable tools that can reach patients anytime, anywhere. These interventions can help address health inequities by bridging gaps in access to care and offering personalized support tailored to individual needs. However, the effectiveness of digital solutions depends on their foundation in evidence-based practices and behavioral science principles. Without this grounding, digital tools risk being ineffective in achieving meaningful health outcomes.

    In this presentation, I will discuss how I have designed and implemented digital interventions that are firmly rooted in behavioral science and theory for common chronic disease problems such as smoking, and alcohol use. By leveraging frameworks such as the Behavior Change Wheel, and insights from implementation science, I have ensured that these interventions target specific mechanisms of change and are feasible for integration into primary care.

  • Presenters: Micheal Taglione, Jeremy Chad

    Introduction: 2.3 million Ontarians do not currently have a family doctor and burnout has led many family doctors to leave comprehensive primary care. While several reasons for the current family medicine crisis exist, an overwhelming administrative burden is one of them with the average family doctor spending about 19 hours per week on paperwork. Ambient artificial intelligence (AI) scribe programs have emerged as a potential tool aimed at decreasing time spent charting and improving provider satisfaction.

    Methods: A joint project between the North York Toronto Health Partners OHT Primary Care Network and the North York General Hospital Department of Family and Community Medicine was undertaken to provide office-based family physicians the opportunity to use an ambient AI Scribe tool for 6 months at no cost. Quality improvement data was collected at baseline and throughout a 6-month period. Outcome measures included time spent charting outside of patient encounters and provider satisfaction.

    Results: 57 physicians were onboarded to use the AI scribe tool and supported throughout the duration of the project. In the final survey, 57% of respondents noted they continued to use the tool and felt it reduced documentation time and improved patient encounters. Those who stopped using it cited issues with workflow integration, language limitations, and accuracy/formatting issues.

    Conclusions: AI scribes are an emerging technology with the potential to make an immediate impact on primary care. The presentation will focus on describing the project implementation and summarizing key findings of the quality improvement data collected from participating physicians.

May 13, 2025
11:00 AM - 12:15 PM

Primary Care Research with Populations of Focus

  • Presenters: Aaron Orkin, Bruna dos Santos, Alexandra Kubica, Anna Maria Subic, Nick Rondinelli, Ben Evans-Durán, Melina Hanna, Don Marentette, Joanna Muise, Kevin Paes, Meghan Riley, Samiya Bhuiya, Jeannene Crosby, Keely McBride, Joe Salter

    Setting: Canada’s opioid poisoning crisis claimed 49,105 lives from January 2016 to June 2024. Opioid poisoning education and naloxone distribution programs can reduce fatalities, although access remains inconsistent across Canada. These programs have mostly been delivered in person through community, healthcare, and social service agencies.

    Intervention: The Canadian Red Cross implemented a national, free, bilingual, virtually accessible, opioid harm reduction program, leveraging its expertise in first aid education and community relationships as a humanitarian organization. The program's goals were to reach more people more equitably, deliver life-saving interventions, and reduce opioid-related stigma. It was continuously adapted based on the feedback of program participants and people with lived experience of drug use. The program was delivered from January 2021 to March 2024 and evaluated through quantitative and qualitative methods in partnership with the University of Toronto.

    Outcomes: The program delivered 1,386,995 trainings and successfully reached diverse groups, including those from Indigenous (5.3%) and rural (25.2%) communities, but had an underrepresentation of men (34.3%) and individuals working in the construction industry (4.8%). Participants’ self-reported knowledge and confidence in responding to opioid poisoning increased across all courses (p<0.001), particularly for learners without prior training. In total, 24,098 intranasal naloxone kits were distributed, 60.4% to Ontario, Manitoba, and British Columbia. Most participant feedback received was positive (82%), highlighting the program’s clarity and accessibility.

    Implications: The Canadian Red Cross Opioid Harm Reduction program advanced harm reduction, increased awareness of opioid poisonings, and situated the response to the opioid poisoning crisis as a community health effort.

  • Presenters: Anwar Parbtani, Adriana Di Stefano, Andrea Payne, Noemie Frenette, Althea Martin Vinjose, Erica Stukator Barbazza, Kate Stead, Katherine Rouleau

    AMR is a global epidemic with ~5 million deaths attributed to it in 2019. The Alma-Astana and Astana global conferences (1978, 2018) emphasized importance of strengthening PHC systems for comprehensive, integrated healthcare, and for a robust response to AMR. However in most mid- and low-income countries (MLIC), the structure and functionality of primary care remains unclear. OBJECTIVE: To extract data on primary care and determinants of AMR from the WHO-PHC Country-Case Study Compendium. METHODS: 70 reports from 49 MLIC, including PHC systems (PRIMASYS; n=19), PHC-COVID-19 (n=39), and Private Sector HC (n=12) were reviewed, focusing on 6 themes; governance, information system(s), awareness and education, medicine regulations, prevention (hygiene and vaccinations), diagnosis and treatment. RESULTS: Overall, there was a paucity of data related to AMR. In most MLIC, primary care was unstructured, and unintegrated with hospital and/or public health. The governance and funding varied from public to profit- and non-profit private sectors. Costly and inaccessible primary care coupled with limited laboratory/diagnostic services resulted in non-evidence based prescriping/dispensing, medication overuse and proliferation of counterfeits; recipe for AMR. Unintegrated information technology posed challenges for disease treatment, surveillance, and action plans. The COVID-19 pandemic, despite its devastation, triggered revitalization and innovation of the PHC approach, including effective immunizations, home-healthcare, and digitalized public health information and surveillance. CONCLUSIONS: The review of the WHO-compendium provided insight into determinants of AMR in MLIC, and information on whether AMR is being considered in PHC globally. The review-exercise afforded methodologic insights into data extractions from large health-care system dossiers.

  • Presenters: Ann Burchell

    Introduction: We conducted a needs assessment for implementation of new clinical guidelines for anal precancer screening among people living with HIV in Ontario from the perspectives of healthcare providers, organizations, and the healthcare system.

    Methods: We used a phenomenology qualitative design with semi-structured, virtual interviews with key informants, guided by the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) and the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR). Eligible participants were professionals with experience with the healthcare system in Ontario involving the provision, administration, or management of services. Recruitment was purposive via professional networks. One coder (DG) deductively and inductively analyzed recorded transcripts to identify themes within TDF and CFIR domains.

    Results: To date, we conducted 14 interviews out of an anticipated 30. Identified themes covered all CFIR domains (innovation, individual, and implementation domains, and inner and outer setting) and five TDF domains (environmental context, professional role and identity, skills, emotions, and knowledge). Barriers include a lack of knowledge about the guidelines, who is recommended for screening, and how to screen; lack of resources, including high resolution anoscopy (HRA) services; and, among patients, limited awareness of the need for screening and trauma and stigma. Facilitators include increased access to HRA specialists, simplification of the guidelines for providers, opinion leaders, and, among patients, education, fostering positive beliefs about the process, and patient-peers to support implementation.

    Conclusions: Our findings suggest ways to equitably implement the guidelines tailored to local settings. These will be used to inform the development of an implementation toolkit to support scale-up.

  • Presenters: Elizabeth Niedra, Christa Sinclair Mills

    Home-based primary care in Canada is currently under-powered, despite an increasing homebound older adult population1 and 100% of Canadians hoping to age in place.2 Homebound older adults have increased medical complexity compared to their non-homebound peers3,4. They have increased difficulty accessing office-based primary care due to a complex function of physical, cognitive & social frailty, resulting in higher emergency department (ED) visit and hospitalization rates.4

    House Calls is a community-built, front line-led model of interprofessional home-based primary care, operating in downtown Toronto since 2007. It aims to help older adults age and die in place, through a three-pronged care model: interprofessional, geriatric-focused primary care, urgent care and at-home palliative care.

    This retrospective cohort study aims to assess rates of ED visits and hospitalizations, as well as time spent in the community, for patients receiving care from House Calls from January 1, 2015 to January 1, 2024, compared to frailty- and age-matched homebound older adults in the same postal codes. The study will also assess markers of program implementation including interprofessional visit rates and urgent care encounters over the study period.

    This study is currently in the data collection phase; we hypothesize that intervention from the House Calls model results in fewer ED visits and hospitalizations, and more days spent in the community for homebound older adults.

Primary care education for the future

May 13, 2025
2:45 PM - 4:00 PM

  • Presenters: Nathan Cupido, Nicole N. Woods, Kulamakan Kulasegaram, Risa Freeman, Melissa Nutik, Azadeh Moaveni, Maria Mylopoulos

    Background: Family medicine training has recently been aligned with pedagogies of adaptive expertise in an effort to better prepare learners for practice in primary care. The expertise of family physicians is typically performed within a specific practice context that organizes work around a commitment to comprehensive, continuous patient care in collaboration with other health professionals. While research into adaptive expertise offers a theoretical framework to understand expert development and performance in medicine, the impact of practice context has yet to be elaborated. This understanding is necessary for preparing future physicians for the realities of clinical work.

    Methods: A cognitive ethnography was conducted at a large, urban family medicine clinic. Data comprised 82 observed hours of family physician-patient interactions. Using adaptive expertise as a theoretical framework, data collection and analysis focused on how participants navigated the contextual factors associated with primary care practice during patient care.

    Results: The context of family medicine—continuity of care, comprehensiveness, collaboration with other health professionals—enabled participants to develop a holistic understanding of their patients, allowing them to adapt diagnostic and management strategies to their individual patient’s needs. The variability of patient presentations resulting from this context required both efficiency and innovation in clinical reasoning—a hallmark of adaptive expertise—and provided opportunities for participants to continue to learn throughout the activity of patient care.

    Discussion: Findings highlight how practice context can impact expert performance, currently underemphasized in curriculum frameworks. Future research will explore how different contexts of medicine are represented in training programs.

  • Presenters: Chris Gilchrist, Alina Sami

    The study employed mixed methods, including surveys, interviews, and mastery exercise (ME) performance comparisons. AI-TAs were a supplemental tool that were introduced at the half-way point in ITM to allow for pre- and post-intervention analysis. The primary outcomes were student satisfaction and change in academic performance.

    Results revealed that AI-TAs were easy to implement and well-received by students. They fostered active learning and enhanced students’ engagement with course materials. Students in lower academic standing benefited disproportionately, demonstrating notable improvements in ME scores. Qualitative feedback highlighted the AI-TAs’ ability to provide immediate, targeted support and create a more psychologically safe learning environment.

    This study supports the potential of AI tools to enhance learning, particularly for students in lower academic standing, and provides a model for broader integration into medical education. Further research is recommended to explore long-term impacts and scalability across diverse educational settings.

  • Presenters: Sharona Kanofsky, Judith Peranson

    Family Medicine Community Longitudinal Leadership Enrichment Opportunity (FM CLLEO) was developed to introduce early medical (MD) students to family medicine and assist community family physicians (FPs) with COVID-related healthcare backlogs. Following a successful pilot, the program was expanded to include physician assistant (PA) students, promoting interprofessional collaboration among learners and preceptors.

    The study aimed to evaluate the feasibility of a longitudinal academic year initiative, foster positive attitudes toward primary care careers through early exposure, and enhance collaborative competencies among MD and PA participants. Ten first-year PA and ten second-year MD students from the University of Toronto were paired. Students participated in a series of educational sessions, followed by three clinical placement days, working in MD-PA pairs under the supervision of community FPs. Their clinical experience focused on addressing overdue cancer screening and immunizations. A mixed-methods evaluation utilized feedback surveys, validated collaborative competency self-report surveys administered pre- and post-program, and profession-specific focus groups. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and qualitative thematic analysis.

    The program provided a unique and enriching experience for students and preceptors. While MD learners initially scored lower on collaborative competencies than PA learners, both groups demonstrated improvement after the program. PA students initially expressed concerns about knowledge disparities but recognized their expertise as complementary to MD peers

    This study demonstrates the feasibility and benefits of collaborative learning experiences for early MD and PA students, highlighting the importance of promoting interprofessional education and awareness of PA roles in healthcare for future practice.

  • Authors: Melissa Nutik, Mira Mitri, Risa Freeman, Stu Murdoch, Milena Forte

    Description:

    The current primary care crisis in Canada is well-documented. Additional family physician residency positions unfortunately have not been matched by applicant interest. As family medicine (FM) educators we have been concerned about the declining interest in FM and the attendant effects on the healthcare workforce and health of our communities. We sought to clarify reasons for this decline from the unique perspective of residents at the start of their FM training. We reflect upon two sources of data collected through the Family Medicine Longitudinal Survey (FMLS) administered by all FM residency programs on behalf of the College of Family Physicians of Canada to all residents within three months of the start of training (T1) and within three months of graduation (T2). We examined T1 data as it is the most proximate to residents’ experiences in medical school and their decision to choose a career in FM. Our first source of data is national in scope and includes FM training sites between 2014-2023. The second source of data is extracted from supplementary questions we added to the FMLS (T1) at the University of Toronto (UofT) in 2023 and 2024. All incoming UofT residents were asked their top reasons for choosing a career in FM and their top concerns (n=299, 85% response rate). Residents were also asked at what point they decided to pursue a family medicine career. We offer a FM educator lens on the results and possible educational solutions to address the crisis in FM.

  • Authors: Natalie Morson, Milena Forte

    Background:

    Entrustment scales (ES) have become more common in postgraduate medical education. While literature shows that learner perceptions of assessment tools impact their usefulness, little is known about the perception of ES by resident physicians. This study aims to understand how family medicine residents make meaning from feedback provided via an ES tool.

    University of Toronto Family Medicine residents completing their maternity care rotation at Mount Sinai Hospital were invited to discuss their experience with the ES tool in individual interviews conducted between August 2023 and May 2024. Fourteen residents talked through feedback provided in one of their completed assessments. They were asked to compare feedback received to feedback from traditional Likert-scale tools. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. Data was coded and analyzed iteratively using a constant comparative approach until consensus was achieved regarding emergent themes.

    Four factors were identified related to how residents create meaning from feedback provided by the ES. (1) Receiving feedback in real time is important to allow growth, (2) Specific free-text comments are valued to identify areas of strength and needing improvement, (3) Residents value feedback that situates them relative to their peers, and (4) the shift from a traditional Likert-scale tool requires a shift in mindset that may vary among learners.

    In order to ensure that feedback is valuable and formative for residents, programs should consider the factors that impact how learners create meaning from feedback. These factors should impact tool design as well as how they are used and integrated into programs of assessment.

May 13, 2025
2:45 PM - 4:00 PM

Partnerships in Global Primary Care.

  • Presenters: Baraa Alghalyini, Abdul Rehman Zia Zaidi, Racha Khaled, Mohamed Ameen Alswes, Helen P. Batty

    This pilot curricular intervention focuses on curriculum strategies designed to spark medical students’ interest in Family Medicine and Public Health careers. The four-week Community Medicine block immerses students in diverse community practice environments, offering opportunities to shadow physicians managing chronic diseases, participate in health promotion programs, and observe multidisciplinary care. These locally relevant, innovative strategies aim to capture student interest in primary care careers before hospital-based training dominates their experience.

    Interactive PBL cases and simulation labs cover topics such as sustainability in healthcare, digital health, communicable disease control, and patient safety. By emphasizing real-world applications and showcasing primary care’s relevance to public health challenges, the curriculum demonstrates how early exposure to community practice can inspire long-term career interest in underserved fields.

  • Presenters: Donatus Mutasingwa

    The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a pivotal transformation of primary care from a disease-specific model to one that is continuous, coordinated, and person-centered. In alignment with these global directives, Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS) is pioneering an innovative Family Medicine Residency Program aimed at addressing these critical gaps in Tanzania’s healthcare system. Family Doctors, functioning as generalists, will significantly elevate the quality of primary care by providing comprehensive preventive, curative, and coordinated services, enhancing the referral process, reducing healthcare costs, and addressing the risk factors for non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

    Methods: Over the past three years, a dedicated working group composed of local and international stakeholders from six esteemed institutions has been diligently co-developing a draft curriculum. This collaborative effort has been further refined through a series of teleconferences, engaging additional stakeholders via numerous meetings and seminars.

    Outcomes: The outcomes of this extensive process will be shared using the six-step approach to curriculum development: including needs assessment outcomes, priority curriculum content, educational strategies, and an implementation plan.

    Conclusions: The initiative is ongoing, and we will present the valuable lessons learned throughout this co-development process, which can serve as a model for other countries undertaking similar efforts in family medicine curriculum development.

  • Presenters: Karen Tu, Maria Carla Lapadula, Christine Hallinan, José Carlos Prado Jr, Amy Ng, Tokuharu Tanaka, Sofia Cuba, Javier Silva-Valencia, Lay-Hoon Goh, Zheng Jye Ling, Jo-Anne Manski-Nankervis, Jack Westfall, William Wong

    Anxiety and depression-related visits to primary care increased during the pandemic, as shown by prior INTRePID studies. This study examines demographic factors related to these common reasons for visits to primary care settings across eight countries.

    We analyzed INTRePID data on anxiety- and depression-related primary care visits in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Japan, Peru, Singapore, and the USA from 2018 to 2023. Rates were expressed as a percentage of total visits. Using negative binomial regression, we assessed associations between five-year age groups, sex, and visit rates in adults. Using ages 20-24 and males as the referent groups, rate ratios (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated, and total visits were included as an offset.

    Singapore (0.36%) and Japan (0.42%) had the lowest rates of anxiety/depression visits to primary care settings, while Canada (8.35%) and the USA (11.63%) had the highest. Females had higher rates across all countries, with RRs from 1.88 (95% CI: 1.54–2.29) in Japan to 1.13 (95% CI: 1.01–1.26) in Peru. Amongst adults, regardless of sex, peak rates for anxiety/depression visits were at age 40-44 in Australia (RR: 1.01, 95% CI: 0.89-1.14), 35-39 in Brazil (RR: 1.21, 95% CI: 1.01–1.47), and 20-24 years of age in all of the other countries with RRs ranging from 0.06 (95%CI: 0.04, 0.09) to 0.97 (95%CI: 0.86, 1.08) in the other age groups.

    Females had higher visit rates, with age-related declines starting earlier in Asia and Canada, suggesting the need for targeted mental health interventions in primary care.

  • Presenters: Julia Alleyne,Katherine Rouleau

    Rehabilitation is an essential component of primary health care, optimizing patient function and promoting recovery. Rehabilitation should be accessible to all populations and through all stages of the life course and ideally, funded within universal health care.

    The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched Rehabilitation 2030 and the World Rehabilitation Alliance is the advocacy arm to promote this initiative. DFCM as a WHO Collaborating Centre, is actively involved in this work and would like to share this initiative with our department.

    Primary care providers play a crucial and emerging role in delivering these services, especially in resource-constrained and underserved settings, and within priority population health care planning. Globally, the unmet need for rehabilitation is significant, with 1 in 3 people living with health conditions that would benefit from services, much of these needs can be met in primary care (Cieza et al. 2020).

    Primary care providers are central to their patient's care plans for health prevention and promotion, recovery or stabilization following a medical event or health decline, and maximizing functional independence when living with chronic conditions. Their role as advocates, medical experts, members of interprofessional team,s and communicators are key to patient outcomes.

    Through interventions developed by the World Health Organization and rehabilitation frameworks, attendees will be introduced to high-yield tools that they can implement in office practice. There is a great need for further development of rehabilitation collaborations within the university, the province and the country as Canada embarks on developing a Rehabilitation Strategy.