As an innovative academic health science centre, The Royal seeks to foster a dynamic culture where research and care are connected in all aspects of our work. Connecting research and care is really about connecting people – bringing together varied knowledge and experiences to create greater understanding.
Interprofessional research is a collaborative approach to inquiry that involves experts from different disciplines and professions. By working together and bringing their own perspectives and expertise to the table, research teams produce new scientific knowledge with the goal of improving client outcomes.
Research teams can include a range of experts that include scientists and researchers, frontline staff, managers and directors, as well as clients and families.
When clients and families are brought in at the very beginning when developing the research question and conceptualizing the idea, they make sure the research questions and methods are relevant and meaningful, provide insights on future impacts, and facilitate the implementation and dissemination of the research outcomes.
While the positive effects of interprofessional research are far-reaching, some of the biggest benefits happen around the teams themselves. Interprofessional research enhances the quality and impact of research outcomes by integrating diverse knowledge and methods, as well as foster education and collaboration among mental health professionals, which ultimately boosts client-centred care.
Interprofessional research at The Royal is truly a winning formula for everyone. This approach to research helps cultivate a question, where the research helps answer that question and bring it back to practice. It’s a full circle.
The following studies – all at different stages in the research process – are examples of the exciting and diverse range of questions being explored at The Royal:
- “Does using a trishaw help decrease behavioral reactivity and increase wellness in long-term care clients?” A trishaw is a three-wheeled bicycle with passengers seated in front of a pilot who peddles and steers. This study is looking at how use of the trishaw bike impacts mood, depression, and responsive behaviours of residents in long-term care at Royal Ottawa Place.
- “Exploring mental health nurses’ experiences of associative stigma when accessing physical health care for their patients” is the title of a completed nursing research study that looked at the stigma experienced by mental health nurses when caring for clients with a mental illness. The team has had three publications to date** and will be presenting their findings at two international conferences. This study also informed the development of a new nursing strategy at The Royal.
- “Community reintegration and recovery: Exploring and embedding social work advocacy practices to influence the social determinants of health” is a social work research study currently underway in collaboration with Carleton University and funded by Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). Research experts from Carleton are paired with frontline social workers at The Royal to look at advocacy practices that social workers engage in for clients’ mental illness.
- “Development of a recovery-oriented cognitive therapy intervention for inpatients in a Schizophrenia Program” is a research study at the program level that is funded by Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). In this study, researchers are examining the impact of physical exercise on the therapeutic relationship between nurses and their clients.
** Domingue, J., Jager, F., Lusk, J., Ezeani, C., Pryer, B., & Davis, S. (2023). "The Person Gets Lost in the Whole Process": Access to Physical Healthcare for Patients Hospitalized in a Psychiatric Hospital. Research and theory for nursing practice, 37 2, 214-230 .
Domingue, J., Jager, F., Lusk, J., Pryer, B., Ezeani, C., & Davis, A. (2023). “You’re Just a Mental Health Nurse”: Nurses’ Experiences of Associative Stigma When Accessing Physical Health Care for Their Patients. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 44, 121 - 129.
Domingue, J., Jager, F., Lusk, J., Davis, A.E., Ezeani, C., Perkins, M., & Pryer, B. (2022). An Integrative Review of Mental Health Nurses’ and Other Professionals’ Experience of Associative Stigma. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 43, 843 - 851.