RESEARCH THEMES
Solving Today's
Challenges
Discover leading research that brings eHealth and mHealth technologies into the hands of Albertans.
Our mission is to improve patient-centered care, healthcare access, and timeliness for Alberta's diverse populations.
Enhancing Healthcare Equity in Alberta
Health innovation for infection prevention and control
The bundle of projects will look at the application of various eHealth tools to enhance aspects of infection prevention control, starting with hand hygiene compliance. This area includes a partnership with Cisco Canada to implement an interactive hand hygiene...
Theme 1: Bridging Community and Acute Care
OUR RESEARCH
Uniting researchers, decision-makers, and digital health innovators to ensure seamless, inclusive, and scalable healthcare implementation in acute and community-based care settings.
Led by: Matthew James and Neesh Pannu
Improve CV Care
Patients and physicians currently face challenges in effectively discussing non-physiological factors that impact cardiovascular health—such as mental health, support systems, and medication affordability—within the limited time available in appointments. This lack of structure can lead to tunnel vision, where only immediate physiological symptoms are prioritized, leaving other crucial aspects unaddressed.
Pressure Wound Staging App
An audit of Alberta’s acute care sites revealed that about one in six patients had a hospital-acquired pressure injury. These injuries cause painful, rapidly progressing sores that can lead to severe complications and even death. Pressure injuries are seen as an important indicator of healthcare quality. A high number of these injuries may indicate systemic problems with how care is being provided. Accurate staging and assessments are crucial in wound care as they ensure the right treatment plan is applied, which is vital for effective healing and avoiding further complications.
Presuna: Empowering Remote Point-of-Care Ultrasound Imaging
Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is a portable, non-invasive tool that offers real-time imaging. This, along with its ease of use, is expected to play a vital role in home-based care and remote locations. Advancements in handheld technology have enabled POCUS to integrate into programs like Hospital at Home, enabling faster and more accurate diagnoses in patient homes. Presuna, a cloud-based software, enhances POCUS by enabling clinicians to send and interpret ultrasound images remotely. It facilitates remote assessments and improves decision-making for conditions like CHF and COPD in home-based care settings. Beyond clinical use, it acts as an educational tool, tracking training progress to help physicians monitor provider skill development.
PAUSE: Preventing medication complications during Acute illness through Symptom Evaluation and sick day guidance
The PAUSE app is a digital tool designed to help patients manage their medications safely during times of illness. By providing personalized, symptom-based guidance, the app instructs users on when to temporarily stop or restart medications, helping to prevent complications. Many corporate pharmacies now offer digital apps for accessing prescriptions, which creates new opportunities for providers across Alberta. The PAUSE team is developing an app that integrates with the industry, aiming to bring innovative self-management tools to the community.
UPTAKE
Acute Kidney Injury (AKI) causes long-term complications like cardiovascular issues and hospital readmissions. Rapidly developing and often under-managed, AKI poses risks when follow-up care is lacking. Many patients leave the hospital unaware of their condition or next steps. The UPTAKE platform (Using Personalized risk and digital tools for Transitions in care after Acute Kidney Events) delivers tailored after-visit summaries with AKI-specific information, follow-up instructions, and guidance, improving care continuity and empowering patients.
The Integrated Care Pathway
In Canada, adults with multiple chronic conditions represent 30% of healthcare spending, with frequent and costly readmissions emphasizing the need for models that reduce hospital dependency and enhance care continuity. The Integrated Care Pathway (ICP) aims to improve care management and continuity of care for complex inpatients in the Calgary Zone by redesigning existing roles. This project is endorsed by AHS as part of the Acute Care Bundle Improvement initiative and is modelled after UHN's Connect Care model, with the evaluation led by Dr. Karen Okrainec.
Improving specialist access programs
Theme 2: Remote Monitoring and Virtual Care
OUR RESEARCH
By leveraging academic research, industry collaboration, and community engagement, Health Everywhere creates a foundation for scaling virtual and mobile health innovations for virtual care.
Led by: Martin Ferguson-Pell and Mary Brindle
Addictions Treatment Support App
A major barrier to recovery for individuals seeking treatment for substance use is building mental skills to cope with stress and maintain daily routines. This is particularly challenging for those in intensive in-patient programs seeking full abstinence. The iPath (Integrated Pathway from Addiction to Health) project addresses these challenges by leveraging Zamplo, a digital app to empower individuals to monitor their progress and access the resources they need to stay on track with their sobriety goals.
Emergency Department Wearables and Remote Monitoring
Traditional medical monitoring systems are often costly and complex.
Remote monitoring is transforming healthcare, allowing continuous patient oversight outside clinical settings. Consumer wearables like Apple Watches and Fitbits empower users to track vital signs, activity, and sleep in real-time. This project seeks to adapt consumer-grade wearables for scalable, real-time health data access, integrating them with remote health systems. This approach enables continuous monitoring by healthcare professionals and automatic alerts for both patients and providers, ensuring timely care and peace of mind from
any location.
Sense: A Video-Based Telehealth Platform for Mental Health Support
The Sense (Supporting Emotional Wellness in Nurses and Social Workers in E-Mental Health) program was co-designed with healthcare professionals to address the need for emotional wellness support in healthcare workers. This program addresses the mental health challenges of healthcare professionals through six weekly sessions on a video-based telehealth platform. It combines virtual group cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) with real-time feedback from an AI-enabled stress monitoring assistant, tailoring CBT modules to participants' stress responses.
NeoApp: ERAS at Home
Parents of neonatal babies who have undergone surgery face challenges during recovery. Transitioning from hospital care to managing their high-needs baby at home can be overwhelming and stressful, with many parents unsure how to identify normal versus concerning signs or when to seek help. NeoApp: ERAS at Home offers personalized support to empower parents, while reducing unnecessary ER visits. It helps track recovery, share progress with healthcare providers, and provides resources like videos and discussion boards for confident at-home care. Grounded in Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) principles, NeoApp offers evidence-based guidance tailored to each baby.
Therapeutic Effects of EVS on Gait and Balance
The team at Neursantys have developed an innovative wearable device, to maintain and restore vestibular balance and motor control. The initial application was intended for astronauts, but has been adapted to aid rehabilitation in seniors and prevent falls. This device uses low-level non-invasive electrical vestibular stimulation (EVS) to activate long-lasting neuroplastic restoration of balance and gait. The tech is being tested on older adults and individuals with multiple sclerosis, with potential applications for Parkinson’s disease, stroke and cognitive decline. Pilot testing has demonstrated increased ambulatory confidence, mobility, and independence in users. The Neursantys team is currently pursuing Health Canada and FDA approvals.
Intergenerational Pelvic Floor Exercise Programs
Women in rural and remote areas face barriers to accessing pelvic floor rehabilitation, resulting in delayed or missed care. While pelvic floor exercises are effective, many postpartum women don’t receive timely treatment, and older women’s symptoms are often overlooked. Research shows that intergenerational approaches enhance community engagement and social support. This project explores the effects of intergenerational vs. monogenerational exercise programs through telerehabilitation to improve incontinence outcomes and promote community engagement.
Start-the-Breathe: Using Drones to Deliver Immediate Care At-the-Scene for Respiratory Distress in Remote Settings
Access to immediate medical care is challenging for those injured in remote or high-risk areas, such as Indigenous communities, hiking paths, or during wildfires. Delays faced by firefighters and EMS responders can lead to critical time loss and increased fatality risks. Limited telemedicine networks and the inability to monitor vital symptoms like blood pressure and oxygen levels further strain emergency response efforts. The Start-the-Breathe project utilizes drone technology to deliver kits with medical supplies in inaccessible areas, where emergency responders can't reach easily or quickly.
Evaluate distributed data vending with blockchain to transform electronic health records by encouraging data distribution from owners and enabling large-scale data aggregation with robustness. Working with policy leads and government stakeholders to encourage legislation to comply with recommended standards.
Building the basic infrastructure to allow data to flow securely
Develop a synthetic data sandbox that drives innovation by allowing innovators to develop products using synthetic health data that reflects the real world and protects citizen privacy during product development.
Developing a pipeline for exceptional analytics and research
Theme 3: Connectivity and Data Access
OUR RESEARCH
We face significant challenges with the lack of health data integration, leading to interoperability issues among patients and care providers. This theme seeks to establish secure and seamless data access and interoperability for improved healthcare.
Led by: Tyler Williamson
Bill C-72: Connected Care for Canadians Act
Bill C-72 aims to empower Canadians with easier access to their health data, while supporting healthcare providers (HCPs) in delivering coordinated, high-quality care through improved access to comprehensive patient information for better clinical decision-making.
Decentralizing Health Data to Improve Data Sharing
Patients currently have limited control over their health data, placing full trust in Alberta Health Services (AHS) for its management and protection. Centralized storage heightens the risk of data breaches, while siloed systems hinder access and collaboration. Privacy concerns about data use without explicit consent create distrust. Blockchain technologies facilitate decentralized, transparent data sharing and decision-making in a world of disarrayed health data. This concept explores the broad application of generative AI agents assisting healthcare practitioners and researchers in reducing burnout and leveraging blockchain for trustworthy health outcomes.
Interoperability as a Lifeline
Health data is a vital component of our health systems supporting everything from individual care, population health, research, and innovation. Like a river nourishing its surroundings, health data must move freely to sustain the ecosystem of care. When barriers obstruct the river’s flow, vital areas are cut off, negatively impacting patients, healthcare providers, and the overall system. The Interoperability Saves Lives report highlights the importance of a holistic, patient-centered approach to health information system design.
A series of projects to better understand the factors, processes, and tools needed to support a vibrant ecosystem. This includes real-time, longitudinal research on if eHealth and mHealth technology development and innovation in Alberta is meeting current goals.
Evaluating the current eHealth and mHealth ecosystem
While innovators experience challenges navigating the support available to them, there are also unique services that innovators in eHealth and mHealth require that are not readily available. We will work to identify and fill critical gaps in the services available to innovators.
Bespoke ecosystem support services
Theme 4: Integrated Innovation Ecosystem Support
OUR RESEARCH
By addressing gaps and opportunities in the current ecosystem, our aim is to create a dynamic eHealth and mHealth ecosystem, by identifying resources, matching them with innovators, and improving overall integration.
Led by: Chad Saunders
The GAITS Platform
This project evaluates GAITS within the SPARK Program to assess a tool’s potential for advancing health-tech solutions and facilitating adoption of new technologies by:
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Helping academic innovators manage and anticipate their projects milestones more effectively better aligning the technical development of innovations with product
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Market fit (e.g. clinical needs and organizational requirements) , regulatory requirements, and business goals
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Better aligning the technical development of innovations with product-market fit (e.g. clinical needs and organizational requirements) , regulatory requirements, and business goals
Navigating Trade-offs in Health Technology Implementation
Implementing Health Information Technology (HIT) often results in unintended consequences, such as workflow disruptions, user resistance, and increased workloads, due to insufficient understanding of trade-offs. This makes it hard for healthcare organizations to adapt to new technologies and provide safe, efficient care. Traditional approaches to HIT evaluation have been reactive, addressing problems post-implementation rather than proactively identifying and mitigating potential challenges. The framework combines concepts from the Social Business Process Management (BPM) and qualitative content analysis to better understand and improve HIT implementation.
Land Acknowledgement
The University of Calgary, located in the heart of Southern Alberta, both acknowledges and pays tribute to the traditional territories of the peoples of Treaty 7, which include the Blackfoot Confederacy (comprised of the Siksika, the Piikani, and the Kainai First Nations), the Tsuut’ina First Nation, and the Stoney Nakoda (including Chiniki, Bearspaw, and Goodstoney First Nations). The City of Calgary is also home to the Métis Nation of Alberta (Districts 5 and 6).