Christina Spencer's blog

Ethan Basch, M.D.

A patient wants to know about symptoms she may have from a prescription drug she is taking. Consulting the label’s “Adverse Reactions” section, she finds a wealth of data. Little does she realize that this information, largely collected during clinical trials, is based almost entirely on clinicians’ impressions of patients’ symptoms — not on patients’ own firsthand reports of their experiences with the drug.

Seventy-five percent of patients surveyed couldn't name anyone in charge of their care.

Patients at teaching hospitals are unlikely to know the names or roles of the physicians caring for them, according to a study in the Jan. 26 Archives of Internal Medicine.

PAC has some exciting developments to report. We're now represented on a variety of steering committees, such as:

• Canada Health Infoway Clinical Advisory Panel
• Safety-at-Home Knowledge Exchange Board
• Diabetes Self-Management Education Advisory Panel

Please contact us if you're interested in presenting the patient perspective on a board like this!

NavigateThis! is a project of Youth4Health, a community-based research initiative led by Dr. Alex Jadad and Dr. Andrea Cortinois of the People, Health Equity, and Innovation (PHI) Group and Dr. Cameron Norman of the Youth Voices Research Group (YVRG). Youth4Health has been made possible through a grant from Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

Check it out:

Miss our last member meeting? Not to worry, we have notes for you here.

Meeting notes will be posted below the event information under the menu option 'Participate'

Canada Health Infoway is awarding creative inspirations in the field of health innovation. Infoway has set aside more than $35,000 to recognize the most promising ideas and PAC is one of the top 50 winners!

View our winning idea here. Voter registration is needed so please take a minute to answer a few questions and then you're free to vote.

It was recommended that we begin a blog on the PAC website. It could encompass observations about events and trends, and perhaps eventually answer questions and direct people to information. 

See below for the first entry from PAC member Lisa Newman:

We've got a full agenda tonight! Introducing the User Guide, providing updates on PAC and a lot more.

Where: OISE on the University of Toronto campus in Room 5230. Located at 252 Bloor St. West, Toronto, ON M5S 1V6. It's between Bedford Rd. and St. George on the north side of the street.