The Centre of Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences (CHÉOS) is presenting a hybrid Work in Progress Seminar on April 5 featuring our Program Head of Patient-Reported outcomes Dr. Rick Sawatzky and Associate Director Dr. Amy Salmon to share their work looking at how to account for social determinants of health in patient-reported outcomes.

It is widely recognized that social inequities are associated with health outcomes. There has been significant progress made in measuring patients’ perspectives of their health (including symptoms, mobility, mental health, and other aspects of their wellbeing). These patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are intended to understand the patient’s experience independent of conventional clinical assessments. Yet, current methods of measuring PROs do not take social determinants of health (SDOH) into account. People from diverse genders, cultures, traditions, and life experiences may understand and interpret some questions about their health differently. Ignoring such individual differences in how people respond to questions could lead to measurement biases that reinforce inequities by concealing or misrepresenting how they view their health. In view of this systemic injustice, our team is developing and evaluating a new methodology for equitable people-centred health measurement (EPHM). We intend to tailor PRO measurements by directly integrating information about patients’ SDOH. In this presentation, you will learn about: (a) this novel measurement methodology, (b) the findings of our research that led to the development of this methodology, and (c) the EPHM measurement project currently in progress.