Research & Clinical Trials

Our research focuses on health services evaluation and quality improvement initiatives, such as the early mobilization multisite project, delirium prevention, antipsychotic medication utilization, the Virtual Ward project and the Proactive Geriatric Medicine Trauma Consultation Service study.

We are the lead site for the Mobilization of Vulnerable Elders in Ontario (MOVE ON) implementation project. The study grew from a Sunnybrook initiative to a four-site collaboration with Department of Medicine Innovation funding, to a 14-site provincial collaboration funded by the Council of Academic Hospitals Adopting Research to Improve Care (CAHO ARTIC) program. It has been further expanded to MOVE ON+ with additional units implemented in 7 hospitals. We continue to refine our outcome measure and develop an implementation readiness assessment tool.

Leveraging our successes in Sunnybrook's corporate senior friendly strategy, we secured support from AFP innovation funding to implement a delirium  prevention and management initiative. We are leading education, knowledge-to-practice coaching and process change to reduce the rates of incident delirium and improve use of non-pharmacological interventions for delirium. We continue to gather momentum with our senior friendly initiatives and have received approval for another AFP innovation project to lead the implementation and evaluation of antipsychotic stewardship at Sunnybrook.

We are recognized by the Toronto Central LHIN and the MOHLTC as a leader in senior care, and are implementing educational iniatives & processes to support the Ministry’s Assess and Restore policy. This is the important first step to build system capacity to provide care for frail seniors with responsive behaviours or delirium needing inpatient rehabilitation.

The virtual ward project was a CIHR-funded, UofT collaborative looking at improving the transition of care from the hospital to the community. The study randomized more than 1500 patients and was completed in 2013. Our Proactive Geriatric Trauma Consultation Service study continued with the initiation of phase two, where all seniors over 65 who are admitted under trauma are reviewed by the Geriatric Consult service. We are also active collaborators on a number of studies on falls prevention and patient safety.

In total, there is more than $3.5 million in peer reviewed funding relating to the division’s research.

Visit our research showcase to learn more about our researchers and their work.