When a person who is addicted to intravenous drugs lands in hospital with a serious health issue, staff have a double-barrelled crisis on their hands: now, they have a patient who is medically unstable due to illness and also at risk of life-threatening opioid withdrawal.
Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA) researchers at the QEII Health Sciences Centre have received a $1.4 million grant towards eliminating the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) in the province. The grant, from Gilead Sciences Inc., SCALE (SCreening Access and Linkage to carE) program, supports a project initiated and led by principal investigator Dr. Lisa Barrett.
In early July, a small but mighty group of novice researchers met for the first time to decide what community-based research question they wanted to pursue in relation to the health of the Preston Township.
Timely access to health services related to gender transition is critical. People going through a gender transition often face stigma, discrimination and loss of support networks, which can lead to depression and poor mental health.
This past April, 14 community members who had not previously met came together with a common purpose - to learn how to do research, and to dream up a community based research question that they would tackle as a team.
