Knowledge transfer
Our targeted knowledge transfer program is designed to improve access to evidence-informed care by building expertise in targeted settings throughout the province of Quebec. Partnerships are established with healthcare settings. Institutions are selected because of their mission, or we approach them because they are responsible for a high volume of referrals to the EDC. Targeted Knowledge Transfer provides best-practice training and ongoing case consultation/supervision to clinicians working in the selected settings. The approach motivated close collaboration between 1st line-3rd line of care trajectories. Our training generally involves: (i) A virtual 3-hour workshop open to all interested clinicians in the institution in question; (ii) Three workshops (3 hours each) with a subgroup of clinicians with the idea that they become the local eating-disorder “experts” in their institution. (iii) Ongoing supervision and case consultation (usually at 4-6 week intervals) of the now “expert” clinicians, offered via telehealth by our clinical staff members.
Since 2015, we have reached over 40 healthcare installations throughout Quebec, trained over 1600 health professionals, and offered direct case supervision to over 230 staff menbers, who have followed over 1,000 patients under our supervision. A scientific paper on the project by the eating Disorders Continuum (see Thaler et al, 2018) showed that the trainings enhanced clinicians’ confidence in treating eating disorders, and that individuals treated by these clinicians were satisfied with their services and did equally well compared to people treated at the Eating Disorders Continuum. The program was named an “Exemplary Practice” in the 2011 Canadian Hospital Accreditation exercise, and received Prizes for Excellence from the Association Quebecois des Établissements de Santé et de Service Sociaux (AQESSS, 2014) and the Institut d’Association Publique de Quebec (IAPQ, 2014).
A study of the effectiveness of the knowledge transfer program is ongoing. Once training is offered by us to a site, we ask the trained health professionals and their clients who are being followed for their eating disorders to fill in questionnaires. In this way, we can monitor the effectiveness of the program and keep improving it.
ECHO training program for eating disorders
The EDC is responsible for the organization of Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes Telementoring for Eating Disorders (ECHO-TA), a virtual educational initiative with the aim to support the exchange of best-practice clinical information.
For more details: https://www.ciusss-ouestmtl.gouv.qc.ca/installations/centre-hospitalier-de-soins-psychiatriques/programme-de-telementorat-echo-sur-les-troubles-de-lalimentation/