Contraception Access Research Team

Our official CART newsletter for summer 2016 has just been published! Click here to take a look: http://med-fom-cart-grac.sites.olt.ubc.ca//CART-GRAC-Newsl

Congratulations to our new post-doc fellow, Sarah Munro, for receiving a trainee award from the The Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research. Sarah is working on our mifepristone study, with the aim of understanding the effectiveness of health care provider training on the adoption of medical abortion into practice. http://www.msfhr.org//msfhr-announces-2016-trainee-award-r

WHRI investigator, Dr. Deborah Money, was recently interviewed about the current state of Zika-affected pregnancies in Canada. http://www.theprovince.com//seven+conf/12037734/story.html

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Edith Guilbert, one of our key investigators and a member of our governing council, was recently elected on the board of directors for the Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada (SOGC)!

As we finish up writing the technical report of our Canadian Sexual Health Survey, we'd like to thank everyone who participated in our survey or helped us throughout this journey. Read more about the survey on our website: http://cart-grac.ubc.ca/research/current-projects/

We are excited to announce that our project about mifepristone implementation and research just received funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research Partnerships for Health System Improvement Program! Our project aims to understand health policy, system and service facilitators and barriers to the distribution and implementation of mifepristone abortion practice. We are also creating a Community of Practice platform to support clinical, health service, and system challenges faced by clinicians adopting mifepristone.

How does the scientific info about abortion compare with the common myths? #cartinthenews http://ubyssey.ca//what-does-science-have-to-say-about-ab/

What does Big Data mean for Women's Health Care?

Congratulations to Dr. Saied Samiedaluie for winning first place out of all the post-doctoral fellows at CFRI's annual trainee research forum for his presentation on our SMART program! http://www.cfri.ca//aw/training-awards/poster-presentation

We'd like to congratulate one of the members of our CART governing council, Dorothy Shaw, on being named an Officer of the Order of Canada! Dr. Shaw is the Vice President of Medical Affairs at BC Womens and a professor at University of British Columbia.

Scientists Map Molecular Interactions at Point of Conception.

Canada is one of the only societies that pays for universal health care but doesn't provide a universal subsidy for contraception... #cartinthenews http://www.metronews.ca//canada-birth-control-policy-needs

We are currently working on our technical report from the Canadian Sexual Health Survey, read our blog post about the survey for more details about our goals and our experience: http://cart-grac.ubc.ca/the-canadian-sexual-health-survey/

CART in the news - check out this article from some advice from Dr. Norman about the morning after pill. http://www.hercampus.com//morning-after-pill-everything-yo

When it comes to sex differences in health, women are not just smaller versions of men with a few different body parts.... https://www.linkedin.com//sex-matters-when-comes-personali

Data can transform womens healthcare. But how do we move from conversation to personalized care? http://ow.ly/GOcs300YU4r -Video by the Society for Women's Health Research

BC Cancer Agency has updated their provincial cervical cancer screening guidelines to: women and all others who have a cervix between the ages of 25-69 should h...ave a cervical cancer screening every three years. The test is covered by MSP and only takes a few minutes of your time. Have questions? Call Action Canada associate Options for Sexual Health BC at 1-800-SEX-SENSE

Health Canada's restrictions on the abortion pill are making it very difficult for women, especially in rural areas, to gain access to the drug. Check out this interview with Dr. Norman for more information: #cartinthenews http://www.cbc.ca//abortion-pill-restrictions-mifegymiso-1

Congratulations to WHRI investigator Dr. Kelly Smith for receiving the 2016 Nelly Auersperg Award in Womens Health Research. http://obgyn.ubc.ca/dr-kelly-smith-wins-nelly-auersperg-aw/

What can assisted dying advocates learn from abortion policies? #CARTinthenews Interview with Dr. Norman. http://www.metronews.ca//what-assisted-dying-advocates-can

If you are not aware of suboxone therapy check out this website to help you understand our study of the day #7daysofcart http://bluewatermethadoneclinic.ca/suboxone/

There are numerous barriers and facilitators that affect womens contraception choices. We are particularly interested in exploring contraception method choices and access among women on methadone or suboxone maintenance therapy for substance dependence. This unique patient group highlights the overlap of reproductive health and addictions medicine. Unfortunately, there is currently little Canadian data on this topic. This project utilizes the Canadian Sexual Health Survey (CSHS) as a tool to assess the barriers to care and knowledge that women experience. #7daysofcart

Take a look at this fact sheet about IUDs to help understand our SMART program #7daysofcart http://kinseyconfidential.org/iuds-facts-matter/

Our SMART program #7daysofcart. Women seeking abortion often have difficult lives and face many obstacles to achieving their reproductive goals. For these and many reasons, they are at high risk for future unintended pregnancy. Despite the availability of intrauterine devices (IUDs), which offer very effective contraception, most women facing so many challenges are unable to afford these effective contraception methods. We have shown more pregnancies will be prevented when of...fering free IUDs for women after an abortion. Our SMART Program (Safe Methods at the Right Time) analysis using data from two large Randomized Controlled Trials found that more than half of the subsequent pregnancies within two years after an abortion would be prevented, with an overall health system cost saving of over 20%, when providing free IUDs to all women at the time of abortion. See more

Although access to health care is a fundamental human right, health policy differences in regions across Canada can affect a women's access to abortion services. Our CAPS Abortion Services Survey examined the number and location of abortions, techniques, provider/facility characteristics and experiences in abortion facilities across Canada. #7daysofcart

CART-GRAC collaborators from coast to coast met during the annual meeting of the SOGC (Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada) meeting to plan advances in Family Planning Health Policy Research for Canada! (Pictured, Dr. Edith Guilbert, INSPQ, Quebec; Dr. Melissa Brooks, Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia; Dr Wendy Norman, University of British Columbia, BC)

Inter-pregnancy interval study - #7daysofcart With many women choosing to pursue careers before having children, age 18 seems like a very early age for pregnancy. But did you know that biologically, this is the optimal age for having children? Since there are more complications in women giving birth after 30 years of age, we will seek evidence to help women understand the safety if they wish to shorten the interval between pregnancies at a later age. We are currently testing the relationship between inter-pregnancy interval and adverse health effects in women above 30 in our Systematic Review of the best evidence available.

If you're wondering about the different types of permanent contraception mentioned in today's earlier post, check out this resource: http://www.healthywomen.org//permanent-birth-control-under

Permanent contraceptives systematic review - #7daysofcart. While tubal ligation, or tying the fallopian tubes, is one of the most common permanent contraceptive methods, there are also other, possibly more effective, contraceptive techniques like the levonorgestrel releasing intrauterine contraceptive, that are often overlooked. Also, a recent method where the fallopian tubes are removed, has rapidly gained popularity in BC after having been suggested to theoretically preve...nt ovarian cancer. We believe that it is essential for women to be counselled on all available contraception options, however there is no study that brings together the latest evidence to help inform decisions between all methods of permanent contraception. In our permanent contraceptive methods Systematic Review, we will combine and compare the best known evidence in the world on effectiveness, adverse effects, accessibility of these options for women seeking permanent contraception. See more

Many women have to travel long distances or wait for lengthy periods of time to receive a surgical abortion. The abortion pill, or mifepristone, was created with the intention of facilitating women's access to abortion services. However, despite extensive high quality evidence that mifepristone is safe and effective, Health Canadas restrictive policies will make it difficult for women to gain access to the drug. Our mifepristone study seeks to examine the facilitators and barriers for successful initiation of mifepristone throughout Canada. Read more here about policies that may reduce safety and access: http://med-fom-cart-grac.sites.olt.ubc.ca//Briefing-Note_H #7daysofcart #day2

For our first day of #7daysofcart we would like to highlight our contraception cost-effectiveness model! This model aims to evaluate the potential health and financial benefits of free contraception for women. We are creating a sexual health and family planning model to predict at a provincial level the number of pregnancy outcomes based on survey indicators for sexual partners and activity, contraception use and social determinants of health. Through policy analyses using this model, the government could understand health improvements resulting from the provision of free contraception for women. When women have access to effective contraceptive techniques that they may have not otherwise been able to afford, they are able to avoid unintended pregnancies and abortions.

Thanks to everyone who participated in our sexual health survey, read more about it here: http://cart-grac.ubc.ca/the-canadian-sexual-health-survey/

We believe that, for our research to make a meaningful impact on the lives of Canadian women, our goals and research need to be easily accessible to the public. This is why we are launching our week-long initiative #7daysofcart where we will post a brief description of each of our projects each day, to allow you to familiarize yourself with what we are current working on without having to search through complex journal articles and abstracts!

Health Research for Canadians One of the most important investments we can make as a nation http://ow.ly/4cnJ3013r06

Clinical & Systems Transformation (CST) is a joint undertaking between Vancouver Coastal Health, Provincial Health Services and Providence Health Care to comple...te a significant transformation of clinical practices and systems. Care will be streamlined, with clinical design teams creating standardized, evidence-informed clinical practices. A powerful, new integrated clinical information system will also be developed. CST is our path to smarter, seamless care. Please click below to watch: https://youtu.be/KshRgQC2NCk

Throughout Miracle Weekend countless stories, photos and memories were shared from all around the province. We would like to thank each and every family who sha...red their emotional and inspirational story. Well be sharing a few stories, like Audreys, over the next few weeks. In 2013, Audrey was diagnosed with cancer. She finished treatment in May 2014 after almost a year of chemotherapy and 28 rounds of radiation. Today, she is living her dream, dancing her heart out. This spring she was chosen to compete in local dance festivals with a ballet solo. This past weekend she won a highland dance competition, performing the sword dance. As a parent, I am so grateful that she is here, alive and able to follow her dreams. Thank you, BCCH for saving her life! Pamela Saulters

What is health equity? This webpage from Health Nexus provides a brief background on the following issues: 1) What is health equity? 2) Which groups face the greatest health inequities? 3) How is equity related to health promotion? 4) Planning for health equity.