Health and social services organisation

Establishing a CISSS/CIUSSS to support community development

In Québec, an integrated health and social services centre (a Centre intégré de santé et de services sociaux CISSS) or an integrated university health and social services centre (a Centre intégré universitaire de santé et de services sociaux – CIUSSS), along with its area network (réseau territorial de services – RTS) partners, is responsible for improving and maintaining the health of the population it serves. It must offer the best possible services to the clients who consult with it and, at the same time, anticipate problems relating to health and well-being. For that reason, it is called on to play a role in addressing several health determinants, including housing conditions, education, social support, access to employment, etc.

Community development support is an essential response measure in doing so. In addition to helping a CISSS/CIUSSS carry out its mission, community development support encourages CISSS/CIUSSS stakeholders to adopt practices that reflect populatio…

Initiative sur le partage des connaissances et le développement des compétences

Helping Front-Line Health and Social Services Professionals Detect Elder Abuse: Summary

Elder abuse is increasingly acknowledged to be a health and social problem that must be addressed. Unfortunately, few recent studies provide a measure of the scope of the problem in Canada. The only Canada-wide study reports that 4% of seniors are victims of elder abuse in any given year. However, the actual proportion is probably higher, considering that such abuse is often misunderstood and under-reported.

It is important that the clinical community play a role in combatting this serious problem. On account of their frequent contact with seniors, frontline health professionals are well-placed to detect cases of elder abuse. However, not all of them are adequately equipped to meet the challenge of recognizing the many different forms of this type of abuse.

This summary is intended in particular for managers and decision makers in the health and social services network. It suggests possible courses of action for promoting early detection of elder abuse by health and…

Measuring Organizational Attributes of Primary Healthcare: A Scanning Study of Measurement Items Used in International Questionnaires

The present scanning study is part of Canadian Institute for Health Information's Primary Healthcare Survey Project. It has been done in order to support the development of an organizational questionnaire that can be used to assess the organizational attributes and delivery of primary healthcare in all parts of Canada.

This study aims to facilitate primary healthcare research by presenting the process which led to the elaboration of a questionnaire designed to measure organizational attributes of primary healthcare. This questionnaire, developed for the Canadian Institute for Health Information project, is different from the two accompanying instruments that help to evaluate healthcare provider practices and patient experience.

It is important that decision-makers, managers and healthcare providers have access to reliable and comparable data generated by assessments of the organization and delivery of PHC, through questionnaires that properly measure PHC organization…

Infection Prevention and Control Measures in the Emergency Department

Every year, over 3 million patients, including many cases of transmissible infections, arrive at Québec's emergency departments on foot or by ambulance. In Québec, reference documents are available on emergency department organization and design. However, at present, there are few recommendations for infection prevention and control (IPC) in the literature that focus on practice in an emergency care setting.

This document has been prepared in connection with Action 8 of the Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux' (MSSS) Plan d'action sur la prévention et le contrôle des infections nosocomiales 2010-2015 [2010-2015 Action plan for healthcare-associated infections prevention and control]. Its purpose is to make recommendations for IPC in the emergency departments of Québec's hospitals. The recommendations are primarily intended for general and specialized hospital centres. They will have to be adapted according to the facility's mission, the patien…

Comité sur les infections nosocomiales du Québec

Language Adaptation in Health Care and Health Services: Issues and Strategies

For the 20% of Québec's population whose mother tongue is not French, communication in this language can create difficulties when dealing with the health and social services system. The presence of linguistic barriers in available services can have major negative repercussions on the health of patients. To ensure that anglophones and other linguistic minorities have access to services in their mother tongue, Québec health care facilities may use bilingual or translated documents, hire bilingual employees, offer second language courses to health professionals, or use interpretation services.

While bilingual or translated documents can make it easier to ask questions in another language, they do not ensure that the answers will necessarily be understood. Moreover, in Québec, documents translated into English may not be relevant in communications with allophone or aboriginal clienteles.

The use of bilingual employees has many benefits in terms of communication quality.…

Expedited knowledge synthesis on factors affecting implementation of integrated services networks for the elderly: the experts' viewpoint

This document summarizes the main observations delivered by the experts on the implementation processes involved for RSIPAs, thus constituting a part of the expedited knowledge synthesis we realised on this subject. We grouped the comments under six themes: a general appreciation of the model (even if this aspects extended beyond the object of the synthesis), questions related to the general governing of the system (at the ministerial level), those concerning appropriation at the local level, special considerations implied by the function of case manager, incentives to consider and the various elements to take into account in monitoring implementation.

Highlights from the descriptive report of the organizational survey in the Montérégie region

This document aims to describe the reform-related changes observed between 2005 and 2010 in primary care organizations in Montérégie. Findings are reported first on the change in number of medical clinics between 2005 to 2010, and then on the analysis of the modifications in the characteristics of these clinics during this period. The findings are presented for the region as a whole and for each CSSS territory in the region.

  • In the region, we observed a very slight decline in the number of primary care medical clinics between 2005 and 2010 (-4); this decrease, mostly due to small (mostly solo) clinics closures, was compensated by merges and the ongoing implementation of FMG, and the beginning of NC implementation.
  • There was also, in the region, clear improvement in the index of conformity to organizational ideal type (ICIT) between 2005 and 2010.
  • This improvement was due mostly to existing clinics implementing FMG.
  • Given the nature of the…

Highlights from the descriptive report of the organizational survey in the Montréal region

This summary report aims to describe the reform-related changes observed between 2005 and 2010 in primary care organizations in Montréal. Findings are reported first on changes in number of medical clinics between 2005 to 2010, and then on an analysis of the modifications in clinic characteristics over this period. The findings are presented for the region as a whole and for each CSSS territory in the region.

  • In the region, we observe a decline in the number of primary care medical clinics between 2005 and 2010; this decrease, mostly due to small (mostly solo) clinics closures, was compensated by merges and the spread of larger clinics, and especially by the marked increase in FMG, NC and FMG-NC.
  • There was also significant improvement in the index of conformity to organizational ideal type (ICIT) between 2005 and 2010.
  • This improvement is due mostly to the implementation of FMG and NC in existing clinics.
  • Given the nature of these changes…

Highlights from the report on clinical preventive services: results of the 2010 population survey

This summary conveys highlights of the 2010 population survey results on exposure to clinical preventive services of respondents who have a regular source of primary care. Respondents were instructed to refer to preventive health services received at their regular source of care, regardless of whether the nurse or the doctor conducted the intervention. All data are weighted, taking into account sample characteristics.

Highlights from the descriptive report of the population-based survey of care experiences in the Montréal region

This summary includes highlights of the population survey results on services utilization by the Montréal population, unmet service needs and the assessments of care experiences of respondents who have a regular source of primary care. Moreover, the values obtained in 2010 are compared with those for 2005.