Eight New Projects Funded to Align Research and Saskatchewan Health

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a leading cause of hospitalization and death in Canada and lung hyperinflammation is one of its characteristics. Healthy cells cope with stressors and toxins by activating the integrated stress response, which suppresses protein synthesis potentially including inflammatory modulators.

Measuring the activation of the integrated stress response and the release of key inflammatory modulators in non-COPD and COPD tissue procured from donors' airways during bronchoscopy will reveal insights into the role of the airways in inflammation regulation. If the integrated stress response in COPD airway cells is defective compared to healthy airway cells, our findings will guide the development of novel targeted interventions to help airway cells control inflammation in COPD airways and slow disease progression.

Following Canada’s formal commitments to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2010, disability policies over the past 15 years have increasingly involved people with disabilities to consult and advise on new policy instruments. However, despite these advances, people labelled with intellectual disabilities have often been excluded from community consultations in Canadian disability policy co-design. Moreover, in the rare instances where they have been included in consultations, they report that their involvement is tokenistic, with no substantive impact on policy design. Drawing from participant-led co-design and our multidisciplinary team – comprised of a group of self-advocates with lived experience, a former senior civil servant, and researchers from nursing and public policy, this project asks: how can people labelled with intellectual disabilities be effectively included in disability health and social policy co-design?

Early detection of cancerous tumours increases the chances of providing treatment successfully and at a lower cost, reducing the economic burden of the disease and improving cancer survival rates. Currently, typical thyroid nodule screening includes palpation of the nodule and ultrasound with a fine needle aspiration to determine if it is benign or cancerous. This method has limitations, as nodules can only be detected after they reach a size of 1 cm or larger, and detection depends largely on where they are located in the neck. This project proposes infrared thermography as a non-invasive, low-cost diagnostic alternative which detects heat emitted by the skin. Patients referred for thyroid nodule assessment will be screened by infrared thermography in addition to fine needle aspiration to create heat map images that can be used to train an AI model to detect and differentiate thyroid nodules.

Peyote ceremonies have been part of Saskatchewan First Nations communities for hundreds of years but have not always been recognized locally or externally for their contributions to traditional medicine and Indigenous spiritual healing. In this project elders and cultural knowledge keepers from 3 Saskatchewan Cree Nations collaborate with a University of Saskatchewan medical historian to develop protocols within the community for preserving history. These indigenous practices align with current efforts to indigenize health knowledge by paying close attention to the practices and traditions that exist outside of Western medicine. This project will work with key Indigenous knowledge keepers in Saskatchewan about how to preserve this history for the community and develop a community-based strategy for preserving this history in the context of Indigenous traditional medicine and healing practices in Saskatchewan.

Substance use-related health and social harms are significant public health issues in Saskatchewan. However, there is a lack of discussion that respects both research evidence and the lived realities of communities. Framing the complex issues associated with substance use as a failure of harm reduction strategies can negatively impact access to services and worsen immediate substance use-related harms. Without a deeper analysis of health strategies related to substance use, policymakers and communities lack the information needed for a meaningful dialogue to formulate impactful policy responses. This project aims to conduct a discourse analysis to understand how health policies on substance use utilize various arguments to convey meaning, shape perspectives, and influence public opinion. The findings will improve the quality of the discussion on substance use and will be shared with policymakers, community members, and the public, as well as inform future research on substance use in the province.

First Nation, Métis, and Inuit communities often experience difficulties accessing information and support for child and adolescent mental health needs. Each community differs in the level of resources, supports, needs, and obstacles that influence mental health service needs. Community members have the expertise to identify what exists within their communities and where services can be further developed. This project seeks to engage community organizations to develop a map of resources providing mental health and wellbeing services to First Nation, Métis, and Inuit youth, while identifying areas for future service development. This project will allow the research team to develop meaningful, trusting relationships that can lead to more relevant mental health services being developed.

Provinces are experiencing a critical shortage of healthcare providers, including anesthesiologists, resulting in serious consequences for patient care, the growing surgical backlog, and responsible management of public funds. Incorporating more non-physician health professionals practicing alongside physicians in a team-based model could alleviate the shortage of anesthesia providers and allow more patients to access care.

Our goal is to explore and identify Saskatchewan-based solutions to the shortage of anesthesia providers. A province-wide study using surveys and interviews with anesthesiologists, family practice anesthetists, anesthesia assistants, resident physicians, surgeons, obstetricians, patients, and administrators will comprehensively assess the aspects of work that could be task-shared and task-shifted, openness to change, and finally, use this information to identify targeted initiatives to alleviate the shortage of anesthesia providers.

Young adults with cancer often experience severe pain that requires opioid medications like morphine or oxycodone for relief. While these medications are effective, they carry a risk of misuse and addiction. This pilot study serves as the foundational step in research aimed at understanding how common opioid misuse is among young people with cancer in Saskatchewan and identify factors that may contribute to it. In addition to collecting preliminary data, this pilot study will evaluate optimal strategies for participant recruitment, survey distribution, and methodological refinement. Insights from this study will guide a larger future study to inform the development of targeted interventions and guidelines for safe opioid use in cancer care in Saskatchewan.