Researchers Set To Improve Pediatric Care In Canada

Main Category: Pediatrics / Children's Health
Also Included In: Public Health
Article Date: 28 Nov 2011 - 0:00 PST


When it comes to providing healthcare for children across Canada, a team of researchers say there's an apparent gap between the levels of care received by children in urban and rural areas.

The group, which includes two scholars from the University of Alberta, says healthcare professionals who provide pediatric care at emergency rooms in community hospitals in rural areas across the country do not always have the information to provide the best paediatric care for children.

The National Centre of Excellence agrees and has announced a $2 million grant to fund Translating Emergency Knowledge for Kids, or TREKK. U of A nursing assistant professor and project co-director Shannon Scott says they aim to close the knowledge gap with how healthcare professionals in rural hospitals diagnose, care for and treat children.

"Evidence shows that as many as 40 per cent of children cared for in emergency room departments do not receive treatment from the latest and best research available to treat and manage an illness such as a respiratory disease like croup. And up to 20 per cent of children in these community hospitals may receive treatment that provided no benefit to them," she said.

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