Healthcare Services for an Aging Population: Using Administrative Data to Help Prepare for the Future Healthcare Policy Vol. 6 Special Issue

摘要

Three concurrent developments in the 1970s has led to Manitoba becoming a leader in the field of research into aging. First, the provincial government launched the Continuing Care Program, to provide home care and nursing home placement if needed – the first such program in Canada. Second, the province hired the late Dr. Betty Havens to initiate a study on the needs of Manitoba elders, which became known as the Longitudinal Study on Aging (LOS). Third, Drs. Noralou Roos, Betty Havens, the late Evelyn Shapiro and others decided to link the LOS data with healthcare use data housed at the University of Manitoba Medical School, to conduct studies that have developed critical knowledge on the use, delivery and quality of care delivered to its elders. Many of the questions addressed were developed in consultation with provincial stakeholders, providing key evidence to support planning decisions (Doupe et al. 2006; Menec et al 2002; Roos et al. 2001). This team-based approach has also fostered strong partnerships that still exist today and, in some respects, are unique in Canada.