Group Studying Optimal Treatment For Hip Fractures Wins Research Team Of The Year
SAINT JOHN – A group of researchers studying hip fractures from across the province won Research Team of The Year at the New Brunswick Health Research Foundation’s 11th annual conference in Saint John on November 6-7.
“I think this award means there’s appreciation from others of the importance of this work and the impact that a good understanding of what’s happening with hip fracture and care has wide-reaching meaning for people, not just the patients but also their families and those that care for them,” said Dr. Pamela Jarrett, a geriatrician at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Saint John and one of the researchers on the team.
The group, made up of 10 healthcare professionals from different jurisdictions and programs across New Brunswick, are taking a comprehensive look at hip fractures across the province. That includes the number of cases, how they happen, and what care paths are offered while a patient is in a hospital. The team is also seeking to better understand recovery time and how many patients can return home and to their previous level of function.
With help from the NB Institute for Research, Data and Training (NB-IRDT) at UNB, they are looking at variables like patient age, sex and pre-existing conditions to look at how those factors impact their length of hospital stay and how they recover after surgery.
The research project was supported by the New Brunswick Trauma Program Research Fund.
The aim is to help inform what best practices might look like so a uniform approach to care can be provided for seniors with hip fractures across the province.
Team member Dr. Bryn Robinson, a Research Engagement Manager at Research Services of the Saint John Regional Hospital (Horizon Health), said it’s important that there’s more attention on hip fractures, something that’s becoming more common in New Brunswick.
“This work is driven by that fact that we see it every day in our practice and research. We have a lot of projects on individuals from the senior population and we know it’s recently becoming a bigger part of our province,” she said.
She says many people might not expect hip fractures to have such a wide-ranging impact, “but it can be extremely significant and life altering for someone’s health.”
New Brunswick Trauma Nurse Susan Benjamin says the mortality rate of hip fractures are also staggeringly high, and an affected patient’s life and family dynamics are often altered by the condition.
“It’s a huge ripple effect on family and friends…and it’s a lot more common than a motor vehicle accident or other types of trauma. This is happening every day in this province, multiple times, and is impacting a lot of people,” Jarrett added.
Something complex like uniform care for a traumatic injury like hip fracture needs a multi-disciplinary approach, says Benjamin.
“This is a team that is representative of multiple specialties and disciplines including geriatric medicine, emergency medicine, orthopaedics and nursing,” says Benjamin. “In addition, other researchers focusing on epidemiology and data analysis are also an integral part of the team. I think [the award] speaks to breaking the silos, collaborating, and bringing clinical care and research together to provide a better understanding that will inform care.”
“To truly have something that’s patient-centred, you need to have as much information to tell the story about that person as possible. It’s really obvious we couldn’t do this on our own, we needed to bring our collective strength together to make this happen,” Robinson added.
The collaboration came about at a workshop two years ago, where many members of the team met. That shows how important it is to have opportunities to exchange ideas.
“It’s a concrete example of networking and everyone coming together and saying, we see this problem as important and each of us brings a different lens to the project so that together we could tackle it in a much better way than any one of us individually, which is what traditionally has happened,” Robinson said.
The team says NBHRF also provides many opportunities for clinical researchers, academic researchers, clinicians and scientists to collaborate. In addition, the annual conference allows for showcasing their research and enables further collaborations.
“I think where we need to go in the future in health-related research at the bed side is the collaboration between the clinicians, the clinical researchers and the academic researchers,” Jarrett said.
NBHRF also understands the research grant opportunities provincially and nationally that teams like theirs can take advantage of, and it has access to a network of people with varying skillsets that could be key.
“The NBHRF is a very supportive organization that fosters these collaborations and allows team to develop the relationships that research teams such as this need,” Jarrett said.
The winning team also includes:
- Dr. James Wagg, Orthopedic Surgeon, Saint John Regional Hospital (Horizon Health)
- Dr. Linda Yetman, Research Coordinator for Geriatric Medicine Research, St. Joseph’s Hospital (Horizon Health)
- Dr. Neil Branch, Orthopedic Surgeon and Medical Director (Reseau de Sante Vitalite)
- Dr. Tushar Pishe, Interim Medical Director (New Brunswick Trauma Program)
- Ian Watson, Administrative Director (New Brunswick Trauma Program)
- Dr. Chris McGibbon, Professor, Faculty of Kinesiology and Institute of Biomedical Engineering (UNB)
- Dr. Dan Crouse, Research Associate, Dept. Sociology and NB-IRDT (UNB)
This story is part of a series sponsored by the New Brunswick Health Research Foundation.
RELATED: Award-Winning Researchers Help Seniors With Hip Fractures Receive Optimal Treatment