2024 Graham Farquharson Knowledge Translation Fellowship

Primary care is the foundation of Canada's healthcare system. A recent national survey found that 97% of Canadians view access to a regular source of primary care as a basic right, and a large body of local and international evidence demonstrates that strong, accessible primary care systems result in improved health equity, improved health outcomes, and reduced health system costs. Concerningly, Canada's primary care sector is experiencing capacity challenges that threaten access to primary care. More than 6.5 million Canadians and 2.3 million Ontarians are now without a regular source of primary care, and this is predicted to worsen due to factors such as health workforce retirements, declining interest in family medicine among medical students, shifts away from comprehensive, longitudinal family practice among family physicians, and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on health workforce burnout. The investigator team's previous research has also found the pandemic has exacerbated health inequities, widening social disparities in access to primary care. With the Graham Farquharson PSI Early Career KT Fellowship, the investigator will produce and disseminate equity-oriented research guiding decisionmakers' and policymakers' understanding of and responses to the challenges accessing primary care in Ontario.