Congratulations to Dr. Patricia Li and the REIaL-P Research Team!
The Race, Ethnicity, Indigenous identity and Language preference for Pediatric research in the hospital setting (REIaL-P) research project has been awarded a one-year project grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), and will be led by several POPCORN platform members, including Drs. Patricia Li, Samina Ali, Ananya Banerjee, Brett Burstein, Matthew Carwana, Evelyn Constantin, Olivier Drouin, Jessica Foulds, Gabrielle Freire, April Kam, Christina Maratta, Nathalie Orr-Gaucher, Shazeen Suleman, and Gita Wahi.
In the United States, research shows that children’s hospital care and health outcomes are not the same for everyone. They often differ depending on a child’s race, ethnicity, Indigenous identity, or language (REIaL). In Canada, there isn’t much known about these differences because this kind of information isn’t usually collected. Without it, health providers and researchers can’t fully understand or address racism and discrimination in children’s health care.
This study will work directly with youth and parents to create a safe and respectful way to collect REIaL information (called REIaL-P). Together, the team will:
Learn how REIaL factors affect children’s health care experiences, including decision-making with doctors, use of hospital services, and safety events.
Listen to youth and parents from different REIaL backgrounds about their experiences in hospitals and emergency departments.
Partner with Indigenous and non-Indigenous Parent and Youth Advisory Boards to help design the project, guide the research, and share results.
They will involve families from seven children’s hospitals across Canada and use what they learn to help improve health care for all children and reduce unfair differences in care.
Congratulations to the entire REIaL-P research team!