Newsroom

Researchers tap into human behaviour to improve patient safety


February 2, 2017


The Canadian Patient Safety Institute (CPSI) announced a new partnership with Dr. Jeremy Grimshaw and his colleagues at The Ottawa Hospital’s Centre for Implementation Research. They will apply their knowledge of implementation and behavioural science to help increase the success of CPSI’s patient safety programs. The partnership is part of the CPSI’s SHIFT to Safety campaign, which aims to give patients, health care providers and organizations the tools and resources they need to keep patients safe in a health care setting. However, for these programs to work they need patients, health-care providers, managers and policy makers to change their behaviours and the choices they make. Dr. Grimshaw and his team will use implementation and behavioural science to identify strategies to support these individuals to make changes that will improve patient safety, such as increased hand-washing. This involves identifying what behaviour needs to be changed, and finding barriers to that change, including environment, social influence, and professional identity. See Dr. Grimshaw’s presentation for details.

The Ottawa Hospital: Inspired by research. Driven by compassion


The Ottawa Hospital is one of Canada’s largest learning and research hospitals with over 1,100 beds, approximately 12,000 staff and an annual budget of over $1.2 billion. Our focus on research and learning helps us develop new and innovative ways to treat patients and improve care. As a multi-campus hospital, affiliated with the University of Ottawa, we deliver specialized care to the Eastern Ontario region, but our techniques and research discoveries are adopted around the world. We engage the community at all levels to support our vision for better patient care. See www.ohri.ca for more information about research at The Ottawa Hospital.

University of Ottawa: —A crossroads of cultures and ideas


The University of Ottawa is home to over 50,000 students, faculty and staff, who live, work and study in both French and English. Our campus is a crossroads of cultures and ideas, where bold minds come together to inspire game-changing ideas. We are one of Canada’s top 10 research universities—our professors and researchers explore new approaches to today’s challenges. One of a handful of Canadian universities ranked among the top 200 in the world, we attract exceptional thinkers and welcome diverse perspectives from across the globe. www.uottawa.ca

For further information, please contact


Amelia Buchanan
Senior Communication Specialist
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute
Office: 613-798-5555 x 73687
Cell: 613-297-8315
ambuchanan@ohri.ca