Partnering for health access: Developing an innovative health clinic

ORI Grant ID
00301-2022
Research Area(s): Social Innovation | Funder: CIHR | Program: CCSIF
PI Name: Heidi Siu | Faculty/Department: Faculty of Health Sciences & Wellness

The COVID-19 pandemic has widened disparities in access to care particularly for marginalized populations, further positioning them at a greater risk for increased poverty, food insecurity, mental health challenges, overdose deaths, social isolation, and discrimination. Seeing the impact of these challenges within their local communities, our partner organizations shared wishes to provide expanded health services support for their clients during these unpredictable times. Nurse-led mobile health clinics (MHCs), a nursing unit that travels to communities to provide health services, are promising care delivery models for reaching populations who face barriers in accessing healthcare. However, without an approach designed for integration, MHCs can result in transitory, fragmented care with unintended consequences for clients’ health. This project proposes a community-driven, collaborative research approach to co-create a nurse-led MHC that is integrated with our partners’ existing social services; thereby providing responsive and accessible care for their marginalized communities. This will result in a mobile health partnership model that can be adopted by interested academic and community organizations across Canada, as an innovative approach to effectively bridge the gap between health care and social services and provide better care for vulnerable people with complex health and social needs.