CHPP’s research program aims to identify, understand and remove barriers that impede access to healthcare for animals.
Led by Dr. Lauren Van Patter, the research team has a number of projects currently on the go.
Characterizing the Access to care landscape in Canada
Through generous funding by PetSmart Charities of Canada, Dr. Van Patter, assisted by Quinn Rausch (Graduate Research Assistant) and Maryam Alhamdan (Undergraduate Research Assistant), are exploring questions including:
- What organizations are working to mitigate access to care barriers across the country?
- Where are they working, and which communities are being served?
- What tools are being used and what are their impacts?
The project goal is to grow the access to veterinary care network across the country, synthesize information about key actors, strategies, and impacts, and design and pilot a program evaluation tool.
Best practices for Community Animal Health Workers (CAHW)
In partnership with Veterinarians Without Borders, MSc student Hannah Liao is exploring what we can learn globally from CAHW programs. This will include surveys and semi-structured interviews, and a consideration of possible applications of programs to mitigate access to care barriers within remote communities in northern Canada.
Co-developing Indigenous Cultural Safety training for student veterinarians
This project is funded through the U of G Learning Enhancement Fund, and is being carried out in collaboration with Dr. Angela Mashford-Pringle, the Associate Director of the Waakebiness Institute for Indigenous Health at the University of Toronto. The aim is to co-develop online Indigenous Cultural Safety modules for OVC Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) students in collaboration with partnering Nations, grounded in the question: what should students know before visiting during the Phase 4 CHPP rotations?
Scholarship of teaching and learning
Ongoing research explores student experiences and learning outcomes within the new CHPP curriculum over Phases 1-4. This includes surveys with current students, and focus groups/interviews with OVC DVM graduates to understand career impacts over time as our new curricular focus on Community and Shelter Medicine is fully implemented.
