Children's Health Research Institute

Research Initiatives

• The DELPHI Database -- DELPHI, which stands for Deliver Primary Healthcare Information, is a researchable database of the Electronic Medical Record data of 25 family physicians and 25 interdisciplinary health care providers in Southwestern Ontario.  These data allow the following indicators to be created:  volume; diagnosis; referral; quality of chronic disease care; comprehensiveness of care; interdisciplinary care; adult preventive care; childhood preventive care.
• Patient-Centred Communication -- Patient-centred care is defined by six interacting components in a primary health care practice; patients and providers: exploring both the disease and the illness experience; understanding the whole person; finding common ground; incorporating prevention and health promotion; enhancing the patient-doctor relationship; being realistic.  Measures of patient-centred care have been developed and four studies conducted, which can provide data for students to re-analyze.  Outcomes of interest in these studies included: patient adherence; patient recovery; self-perceived health; utilization of other health services.
• Primary Care Health Services Research -- Patient-centred Clinical Methods; Integrated and Interdisciplinary Care; Information Technology in Primary Health Care