Green Shield Canada Foundation - Health Innovation Collaborative
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Green Shield Canada Foundation
Health Innovation Collaborative
BIG PICTURE HEALTHCARE CHANGE: GREEN SHIELD CANADA FOUNDATION
LAUNCHES NEW COLLABORATIVE PROJECT
The Green Shield Canada Foundation Health Innovation Collaborative Seeks to Positively
Change Current Outcomes in Eldercare and Expand Opportunities for Care at Home
May 15, 2013 (Toronto, ON) – The Green Shield Canada Foundation (GSCF) announces the launch of
the Green Shield Canada Foundation Health Innovation Collaborative (GSCF HIC), a three-year
outcomes-driven project funding five innovative health care organizations in Canada with a focus on big-
picture change in health care for seniors. This project addresses two challenges affecting the Canadian
health care system: the country’s aging population and the costs of supporting those with multiple
complex chronic conditions in a hospital or long-term care setting.
The GSCF acts as the funder and facilitator of the GSCF HIC, investing $3-million over the next three
years to support the unique initiatives developed by each GSCF HIC partner.
“We are fortunate to have the opportunity to bring together five passionate, like-minded organizations that
are experts in the field of eldercare to identify the unmet needs of seniors living with multiple chronic
conditions,” says Sarah Saso, Executive Director of the GSCF. “Each partner has developed an
innovative initiative to help address these essential needs and we believe that by working together as a
true collaborative, we can achieve system-wide change that will positively affect current outcomes and
expand opportunities for care at home.”
Over the next three-years, the GSCF HIC strives to:
• Improve quality and accessibility of care for seniors in the GTA region, aged 65+ with multiple
complex chronic health issues.
• Expand opportunities for care at home, improving the quality of life of seniors and their
caregivers.
• Reduce emergency department visits, hospital admissions/re-admissions, and admissions to
long-term care facilities by improving community or at-home services and support.
• Increase the skills of personal support workers who work directly with seniors in their homes.
• Increase the availability of online and mobile resources that offer practical tools to connect
seniors and their informal caregivers to local healthcare providers.
Each Health Innovation Collaborative member organization was chosen for their unique and innovative
approach to improving health care. The organizations and their respective projects funded by the GSCF
include:
• Bridgepoint Active Healthcare, Health Gateway: a website of recommended health information
resources for people living with complex conditions and disabilities, and their families.
• Centre for Global eHealth Innovation, Health eConcierge: an online ecosystem that makes it
easier for the public to find health and social services that meet their needs.
• Alzheimer Society of Toronto, Dementia Care Training Program: an online training program for
Personal Support Workers and primary caregivers in dementia care excellence.
• SPRINT Senior Care, HouseCalls: an interdisciplinary, home-based, primary healthcare program
for frail and homebound seniors.
• St. Michael's Hospital, Virtual Ward: a program designed to improve health outcomes for
patients who have been recently discharged from the hospital by improving access to home-
based interdisciplinary team-based care.
Green Shield Canada Foundation
Health Innovation Collaborative
“Within the next 25 years, seniors will account for more of Canada’s population than ever before and it is
essential that we find ways to better support the needs of this aging demographic while maximizing the
efficient use of our health care resources,” says Saso. “In short, the GSCF HIC aims to improve the ‘life in
the years’ and the ‘years in the life’ of seniors over the age of 65.”
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About Green Shield Canada Foundation
GSC, the country’s only national not-for-profit health and dental benefits specialist, created the Green
Shield Canada Foundation (GSCF) in 1992 to act as a catalyst, supporting innovative ideas that pave the
way for fundamental, big-picture change in Canadian health care. Its strategy is designed to build
community capacity, strengthen public policy and advance knowledge in the health care field to ensure
long-term change and address urgent needs. Projects currently funded by the GSCF include The CFCC
Capacity Development and Expansion Program in conjunction with Community Food Centres Canada
(CFCC), The First Nations, Inuit & Métis Caregiver Support Program with the Saint Elizabeth Foundation
and the GSCF’s HIC. For additional information, please visit greenshield.ca, or connect with GSCF on
Facebook @GSC Foundation and Twitter @GreenShieldFDN
Media Contact
Lisa Kwong | NKPR | lisa@nkpr.net | 416.365.3630 x242
Green Shield Canada Foundation
Health Innovation Collaborative
GSCF HIC: BACKGROUNDERS
GREEN SHIELD CANADA FOUNDATION
GSC, the country’s only national not-for-profit health and dental benefits specialist, created the Green
Shield Canada Foundation (GSCF) in 1992 to act as a catalyst, supporting innovative ideas that pave the
way for fundamental, big-picture change in Canadian health care. Its strategy is designed to build
community capacity, strengthen public policy and advance knowledge in the health care field to ensure
long-term change and address urgent needs. Projects currently funded by the GSCF include The CFCC
Capacity Development and Expansion Program in conjunction with Community Food Centres Canada
(CFCC), The First Nations, Inuit & Métis Caregiver Support Program with the Saint Elizabeth Foundation
and the GSCF’s HIC.
BRIDGEPOINT ACTIVE HEALTHCARE
Bridgepoint Active Healthcare manages, delivers, researches and teaches leading healthcare practices
so that people with complex health conditions can live better. Bridgepoint Active Healthcare is made up of
the Bridgepoint Hospital, Bridgepoint Family Health Team, Bridgepoint Collaboratory for Research and
Innovations, and Bridgepoint Foundation. For more information, please visit bridgepointlivebetter.ca
ST. MICHAEL’S HOSPITAL
St. Michael’s Hospital provides compassionate care to all who enter its doors. The hospital also provides
outstanding medical education to future health care professionals in more than 23 academic disciplines.
Critical care and trauma, heart disease, neurosurgery, diabetes, cancer care, and care of the homeless
are among the hospital’s recognized areas of expertise. Through the Keenan Research Centre and the Li
Ka Shing International Healthcare Education Centre, which make up the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute,
research and education at St. Michael’s Hospital are recognized and make an impact around the world.
Founded in 1892, the hospital is fully affiliated with the University of Toronto. For more information,
please visit stmichaelshospital.com
CENTRE FOR GLOBAL eHEALTH INNOVATION
The Centre for Global eHealth Innovation is one of the few research institutes devoted to eHealth in the
world. Launched in 2004, the Centre is a joint initiative of the University of Toronto and University Health
Network. Our vision and passion is to improve health for all through collaborative efforts that cross
traditional boundaries thanks to the innovative use of information and communication technologies. Our
combination of compassionate innovators, research expertise, public engagement and state-of-the-art
facilities gives us a unique perspective from which we develop and evaluate tools that enable people to
live the healthiest and happiest possible lives. For more information, please visit ehealthinnovation.org
Green Shield Canada Foundation
Health Innovation Collaborative
SPRINT SENIOR CARE
SPRINT Senior Care has been caring for seniors and enabling seniors to care for themselves since
1983. We continue to do so today as an accredited, not-for-profit community support service agency in
Toronto by offering a wide range of practical and low-cost services to seniors and their caregivers. Our
services help seniors stay safe, connected, and live as independently as possible, as well as prevent
premature or inappropriate institutionalization. Our services include: Adult Day Services, community
dining, dementia care residence, friendly visiting, health and wellness programs, in-home care, Meals on
Wheels, social work, supportive housing, transportation, and security checks. We are also co-direct the
HouseCalls program and are the lead agency of Toronto Ride. For more information, please visit
sprintseniorcare.org
ALZHEIMER SOCIETY OF TORONTO
Established in 1981, the Alzheimer Society of Toronto provides through the course of the disease,
multiple interventions to people with Alzheimer’s disease & other dementias, and their families, such as
free counseling, support groups, and education. The Society delivers specialized training and
professional development for Personal Support Workers and other health-care providers such as the
Dementia Care Training Program (DCTP) including UFirst! Certification. In addition to public awareness
and information events, the Society provides access to dementia-related books, journals, videos, audio
files – many in over 90 languages – through a free lending library and a rapidly-expanding online library.
For more information, please visit alzheimertoronto.org
Green Shield Canada Foundation
Health Innovation Collaborative
GSCF HIC: BIOGRAPHIES
GREEN SHIELD CANADA FOUNDATION
SARAH SASO is the Executive Director, Green Shield Canada Foundation where she manages its
operations, including strategic direction, program development, community giving, corporate social
responsibility, communications, financial management and investment monitoring. Sarah has extensive
experience in the non-profit, private and public sectors working for arts, heritage, communications and
financial services organizations in the areas of corporate social responsibility, sponsorship, public
relations, marketing, communications and event management. In 2011, Sarah received her designation
as a Corporate Social Responsibility Professional (CSR-P).
A big believer in giving back to the community, Sarah was invited by the Minister of Citizenship to be a
consulting member of The Partnership Forum a group of individuals working with the government on
issues related to strengthening the relationship between the Ontario government and the not-for-profit
sector. Sarah is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Conference Board of Canada’s Community
Investment Council and she enjoys getting her hands dirty volunteering for Habitat for Humanity.
BRIDGEPOINT ACTIVE HEALTHCARE
SUSAN HIMEL is a health care leader in hospital health promotion at Bridgepoint Active Healthcare,
Canada’s leader in complex care and complex rehabilitation. Her primary responsibilities include
integrating chronic disease prevention, support for self-management and consumer health information
into clinical care. As an adult educator and advocate for patient and family-centred care, she provides
leadership to address the challenges of health equity, health literacy, and to improve patient transitions to
community. Susan co-leads Smoke Free Brigepoint and the Health Gateway project.
Susan is Coordinator of the Ontario Health Promoting Hospitals and Health Services (HPH) Network, one
of two World Health Organization-affiliated HPH Networks in Canada, and Co-Chairs the Hospital
Collaborative on Marginalized and Vulnerable Populations in Toronto. She is also a member of the
Toronto Central Local Health Integration Network’s (LHIN) Self Management Advisory Committee.
ST. MICHAEL’S HOSPITAL
DR. IRFAN DHALLA practices general internal medicine and conducts research at St. Michael's Hospital
in Toronto. His research primarily focuses on improving the quality of health care by changing the way we
organize, deliver and pay for health care.
He is the founder of the Toronto Virtual Ward, a multi-organizational initiative designed to improve post-
hospital care, and is leading a Canadian Institutes of Health Research-funded randomized controlled trial
comparing the Virtual Ward with usual care. He also serves on the board of Canadian Doctors for
Medicare, an organization that advocates for improvements in healthcare for all Canadians.
His research has been recognized with several awards, including a Rising Star Award and a New
Investigator Award from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, a New Investigator Award from the
Canadian Society of Internal Medicine, as well as the the 2012 Labelle Lectureship in Health Services
Research. He was also recognized as one of “12 to watch in 2012” by the Toronto Star.
Green Shield Canada Foundation
Health Innovation Collaborative
CENTRE FOR GLOBAL eHEALTH INNOVATION
DR. ALEJANDRO JADAD holds the Canada Research Chair in eHealth Innovation at the University of
Toronto and the University Health Network, where he is the Founder of the Centre for Global eHealth
Innovation and Principal Investigator, Techna. He is also a Professor in the Department of Anesthesia, in
the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, and in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health,
Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto. He is a physician, innovator, educator and public advocate
whose mission is to optimize health and wellness for all, thorough the innovative use of information and
communication technologies.
His research and innovation work focuses on virtual tools to support the encounter between the public
and the health system (with emphasis on the management of polypathologies); interactive tools to
promote knowledge translation and mentorship of health professionals and the public; and online
resources to support social networks, to respond to major public health threats (e.g., chronic conditions,
pandemics), to support international collaboration, and to enable the public (particularly young people) to
shape the health system and society.
JACKIE BENDER, PhD, a social and behavioural health scientist, is a researcher at the Centre for Global
eHealth Innovation, and the ELLICSR Health, Wellness and Cancer Survivorship Centre at the University
Health Network, and an instructor in the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto.
Dr. Bender’s research focuses on identifying ways to improve the health and wellness of people living
with chronic conditions using information and communication technologies.
SPRINT Senior Care
STACY LANDAU has been with SPRINT Senior Care for five years and is currently the Executive
Director. With over 15 years of project development and management experience at a variety of health
and seniors’ organizations, Stacy has demonstrated keen strategic thinking that has led to many
successes within her work environments. An excellent example of this was leading SPRINT Senior Care
through its first full accreditation process, which resulted in SPRINT Senior Care meeting 100% of the
applicable quality standards for providing care support to seniors. Stacy’s passion for and dedication to
client-centred care across the age-continuum has been instrumental in the development and growth of a
number of programs that support seniors, including HouseCalls, an interdisciplinary, home-based primary
healthcare program for frail and homebound seniors.
DR. MARK NOWACZYNSKI began practicing family medicine in Toronto in 1992, and from the beginning
involved himself in the home-based primary care of frail elders. This became his main clinical focus, and
as a result he closed his office practice in 2007 to make house calls full-time. Dr. Nowacyznski is the
Clinical Director of HouseCalls, an interdisciplinary program providing ongoing comprehensive home-
based primary care to frail and marginalized seniors. Funded through the Aging at Home Strategy of the
MOHLTC, HouseCalls is based at SPRINT Senior Care, a community support service agency in Toronto.
Using photography to raise awareness and advocate for change, his work has been profiled in print,
radio, television, and in the NFB documentary HouseCalls. A solo exhibit of his photographs, HouseCalls
with my Camera, opened at the Royal Ontario Museum in 2010 and remained on display for over a year.
Lecturing and speaking widely, he has been a tireless advocate for improved access to care for frail,
marginalized, and house-bound elders. He is actively involved in teaching, training, program
development, and research on home-based primary care.
Green Shield Canada Foundation
Health Innovation Collaborative
ALZHEIMER SOCIETY OF TORONTO
MARIJA PADJEN, MSW, has devoted most of her career to ensuring individuals and families facing
Alzheimer's disease and other dementias maintain quality of life for as long as possible, as well as raising
awareness about the disease. She started with the Alzheimer Society of Toronto in 1998 and is currently
the Chief Program Officer. In her role, she is responsible for developing and facilitating a broad range of
educational and support programs to guide people through the different stages of the disease, including
complex life-altering decisions. After graduating from McGill University in Montreal with a Bachelor of Arts,
Marija earned her Bachelor and Masters degrees in Social Work at York University.
Green Shield Canada Foundation
Health Innovation Collaborative
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1. What is the Green Shield Canada Foundation (GSCF)?
Green Shield Canada (GSC) created the Green Shield Canada Foundation in 1992 to act as a catalyst,
supporting innovative ideas that pave the way for fundamental, big-picture change in Canadian health
care. The GSCF funds a number of projects and initiatives, one of which is the Green Shield Canada
Foundation Health Innovation Collaborative (GSCF HIC).
2. What kind of strategies will the GSCF adopt to achieve its mission to create innovative
solutions that improve access to better health?
The GSCF has adopted three strategic directions:
• Optimizing care – exploring and promoting ways to improve the effective use of medications and
increase the scope of pharmacists’ practice to better address patient adherence and engage
patients in more actively managing their conditions/health
• Improving access to extended health coverage for uninsured and underinsured groups /
individuals (including those with small employers, casual / part-time employees, seniors, early
retirees, unemployed, immigrants, students, individuals with pre-existing conditions and
marginalized populations)
• Care coordination to support in-home care solutions - to keep people living in their homes as
long as possible
3. What is the Green Shield Canada Foundation Health Innovation Collaborative (GSCF HIC)?
The GSCF funded the launch of the GSCF HIC in 2012 as a three-year collaborative project involving five
innovative health care partners in Canada. As a true healthcare collaborative in Canada, the GSCF
HIC partners are working together with the GSCF to share their knowledge, expertise and resources to
identify and solve the unmet needs of seniors living with multiple chronic conditions.
4. What are the main goals for the GSCF HIC?
Over the next three years, the GSCF HIC aims to:
• Improve quality and accessibility of care for seniors in the GTA region, aged 65+ with multiple
complex chronic health issues.
• Expand opportunities for care at home, improving the quality of life of seniors and their
caregivers.
• Reduce emergency department visits, hospital admissions/re-admissions, and admissions to
long-term care facilities by improving community or at-home services and support.
• Increase the skills of personal support workers who work directly with seniors in their homes.
• Increase the availability of online and mobile resources that offer practical tools to connect
seniors and their informal caregivers to local healthcare providers.
5. Who are the GSCF HIC partners and how did these partners come together?
The GSCF is fortunate to have the opportunity to bring together five passionate, like-minded
organizations that are experts in the field of eldercare to identify the unmet needs of seniors living with
multiple chronic conditions.
Green Shield Canada Foundation
Health Innovation Collaborative
Each Health Innovation Collaborative member organization was chosen for their unique and innovative
approach to improving senior health care. The organizations and their respective projects funded by the
GSCF include:
• Bridgepoint Active Healthcare, Health Gateway: a website of recommended health information
resources for people living with complex conditions and disabilities, as well as for the families who
care for them. With a focus on vetted information, Health Gateway has been designed to
empower patients and caregivers to navigate their health care journey so they can manage and
live better with their chronic health conditions and disabilities.
• Centre for Global eHealth Innovation, Health eConcierge: a people-centred web-based toolkit
that enables patients and caregivers to identify and communicate their unmet needs, and that
connects them to a wide array of health and social services that could address them. The Health
eConcierge also allows providers of any size to share information about their services in an open
and collaborative fashion.
• Alzheimer Society of Toronto, Dementia Care Training Program: an online training program for
Personal Support Workers (PSW) providing dementia care, is being developed with a goal of
increasing access to the training, and ultimately making it possible for more people with dementia
to be cared for at home.
• SPRINT Senior Care, HouseCalls: an interdisciplinary, home-based, primary healthcare program
for frail and homebound seniors that is co-directed by Dr. Mark Nowaczynski and SPRINT Senior
Care and includes ongoing care, as well as occupational therapy, physiotherapy, social work and
connections to community support services.
• St. Michael's Hospital, Virtual Ward: a program designed to improve health outcomes for patients
who have been recently discharged from the hospital. High-risk patients are “admitted” into the
Virtual Ward on the day of discharge, and while at home, receive case management and medical
support from an interdisciplinary team that integrates hospital, primary and home care.
6. Why has the GSCF chosen to support senior health as the main initiative for the GSCF HIC?
• In keeping with our objectives to enhance the common good, GSC provides funding to programs
or projects that further our objective of enabling access to health and social support services for
the most vulnerable in our communities.
• The purpose of the GSC Foundation is to act as a catalyst supporting innovative ideas that pave
the way for fundamental 'big picture' change in Canadian health care. One of the biggest issues
affecting our health care system is our aging population and the costs to support those with
multiple chronic conditions in a hospital or long-term care setting. GSCF has chosen to bring
together five innovative organizations who are each working around the issue and the goal is to
see if by working together, over the next three years, we can change current outcomes and help
seniors live with their conditions in the comfort of their own homes. In essence, to put more ‘years
in the life’ and ‘life in the years’ of patients and their caregivers.
Green Shield Canada Foundation
Health Innovation Collaborative
7. What is unique about the GSCF HIC?
• This is the first true collaborative health project in Canada - led by the GSCF, the five health
care partners work closely, meeting on a regular basis to share their individual knowledge,
expertise and resources to develop a greater solution that will change current health outcomes
and expand opportunities for care at home.
• Rather than simply fund the collaborative, the GSCF is hands-on and involved in every aspect of
this three-year project.
8. Who is the GSCF HIC’s primary target audience and what are the goals for each audience?
• Industry/Trade: Game-changers and decision-makers in the health care industry such as
doctors, pharmacists and personal support workers as well as members of the government. The
goal is to inspire other health organizations to adopt the collaborative model and to inspire big-
picture change in the industry.
• Public: The general public in Ontario and across Canada; seniors; family members and primary
caregivers given the responsibility of caring for seniors over age 65 living with multiple complex
chronic illnesses. The goal is to generate overall awareness of the GSCF HIC.
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