Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES)

10/30/2026

What’s shaping health research, policy and practice across Canada this week?
This week’s ICYMI brings together new research and upcoming events highlighting key issues in health care, health equity and health system planning.

🔎 In the latest research: Explore findings on heat-related injuries among people experiencing homelessness, medication trends among older adults following hip fractures, and the role of geographic access to family physicians in end-of-life care.

📅 Coming up: Discover practical tools for embedding IDEA in health data research, learn how partnerships are expanding the Nursing Home Without Walls model, and join a national conversation on advancing research into the structural determinants of health.

📰 Also making headlines: This week’s media coverage explores rising substance-related ER visits among young mothers in Ontario, pregnancy outcomes following living kidney donation, and the health risks associated with excess weight gain during pregnancy.

Stay informed on the research, events and conversations shaping Canada's health system!

Read this week's newsletter: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/oct-23-30-2026-ices-research-institute-qlauc

10/29/2026

10/29/2026

If more women are getting thrombectomy, does that mean stroke care is more accessible for women?

Not necessarily.

A new study shows why looking at one treatment statistic can tell an incomplete story.

Researchers examined s*x differences in large vessel occlusion (LVO) detection, thrombectomy use, and long-term clinical outcomes using data from the Ontario Stroke Registry.

The findings raise an important question: what are the steps to determine eligibility for thrombectomy?

Differences in neurovascular imaging and LVO detection can shape who is identified as having a blockage that may be treated. That means treatment rates alone may not capture where disparities occur along the stroke care pathway.

The study also found that among patients with LVO who were treated with thrombectomy, long-term mortality was lower in female patients.

As we mark World Stroke Day on October 29, these findings highlight why understanding the full stroke care pathway matters when working toward more equitable stroke care.

Taken together, the findings highlight the importance of looking at the whole pathway—from imaging and diagnosis to treatment and long-term outcomes—when examining s*x-based differences in stroke care.

🔗 Read the study: https://www.ices.on.ca/publications/journal-articles/s*x-differences-in-screening-for-large-vessel-occlusion-and-thrombectomy/

10/28/2026

🔎 What can we learn about our health by looking at the bigger picture?

Why do some people develop certain diseases while others don’t? The answers may lie in factors we don’t always think about—from our genetics and lifestyle to the environments we live in.

In the latest episode of In Our VoICES, host Misty Pratt explores the Ontario Health Study (OHS), a groundbreaking initiative following approximately 225,000 adults across Ontario to better understand what influences our health over time.

🎙️ Joined by Victoria Kirsh, Interim Director of the OHS, and Sandford Borins, an OHS participant and Professor Emeritus of Public Management at the University of Toronto, Misty discusses how decades of health data, participant experiences and linked ICES records are helping researchers investigate everything from cancer and heart disease to mental health and environmental exposures.

The conversation also explores why long-term research matters, how participant contributions make discoveries possible, and how today’s data could help improve health outcomes for future generations.

🎧 Listen to the latest episode of In Our VoICES: https://www.ices.on.ca/podcast/thousands-of-lives-one-study-the-making-of-the-ontario-health-study/

💬 Know someone interested in health research or curious about what influences our health? Share this episode with them!

📲 Follow In Our VoICES on your favourite podcast platform so you don’t miss future conversations exploring the research shaping health care.

10/27/2026

Substance-related harms are rising, but the trends aren’t the same for everyone.

A new study examines how substance-related emergency department visits and hospital admissions have changed among Ontario mothers with dependent children compared with females who have not had children.

The findings reveal a notable difference:
✅Emergency department visits: Visits increased by an average of nearly 5% per year among mothers with dependent children, compared with 1.7% among females who had not had children.
✅Young mothers: The increase was particularly pronounced among mothers younger than 25, with visits rising by about 8% annually, compared with 2% among other females.
✅Hospital admissions: Among mothers with dependent children, admission rates increased from 99 to 259 per 100,000 person-years. Among females who had not had children, rates rose from 136 to 209 per 100,000 person-years.

These findings highlight the importance of better understanding the healthcare needs of mothers experiencing substance-related harms. They also point to the need to consider the broader circumstances that can affect health and access to care, including housing stability, income supports and intimate partner violence. The study does not explain what is driving these trends. However, it underscores the importance of understanding the barriers people face and ensuring that responses to substance-related harms reflect their diverse needs and circumstances.

🔗 Read the study: https://www.ices.on.ca/publications/journal-articles/substance-related-acute-care-use-among-birthing-parents-with-dependent-children-in-ontario-canada-2008-to-2024/

If you found this useful, share this post with someone who might benefit from it. Follow for more evidence-informed health research and insights.

10/26/2026

Distance is more than geography. It can shape every step of a person's healthcare journey.

For people living in rural, remote and Northern Ontario, accessing care often involves long travel distances, transportation challenges and fragmented care pathways. Yet these realities are not always fully captured in health data or reflected in research findings.

Join Josh Cerasuolo, Staff Scientist at ICES North, and Dr. David Savage, Site Director of ICES North, at the 2026 ICES Research Forum for Breakout Session #2: The Long Road to Care: Rethinking Rural and Northern Health Research.

What will you take away?
💡Learn how geography influences healthcare access, patient pathways and outcomes.
💡Explore how commonly used measures can overlook the complexity of rural and northern experiences.
💡Gain practical insights into measuring rurality and incorporating geography into observational studies.
💡Discover approaches that can help generate more representative evidence to support healthcare planning and decision-making.

Whether you work in health data, healthcare delivery, policy or planning, this session will challenge assumptions about how we define and measure access to care, and offer new perspectives on researching health in rural and northern communities.

📅 Monday, November 16, 2026 🕑 2:15 p.m. | Breakout Session #2

Join us at the 2026 Research Forum to explore how health data can help illuminate the realities of accessing care across Ontario.

Register today: https://www.ices.on.ca/annual-forum/

10/23/2026

ICYMI: Your weekly roundup of health research, events, and insights is here!

What’s happening across health research and innovation? This week, we’re highlighting new findings on continuity of rheumatology care as young people transition to adult services, upcoming opportunities to connect and learn, and the latest research in the news.

In this week’s ICYMI:
📰Research spotlight: New findings reveal gaps in continuity of rheumatology care, with nearly one-third of patients lost to follow-up within five years of diagnosis. The results underscore the importance of supporting young people through the transition to adult care.
📰Mark your calendar: Explore upcoming events, including the OHDSI Canada Symposium 2026, the Ori Rotstein Lecture in Translational Research, and Sunnybrook’s 14th Annual Education Conference.
📰ICES Ontario in the news: Discover research examining the increased risk of early death among marginalized patients newly diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer.

💡 Whether you’re a researcher, clinician, health-care professional, trainee, or knowledge user, stay informed on the evidence, ideas, and events shaping health research and practice.

📩 Catch up on this week’s highlights and share with a colleague who might find them useful: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/oct-16-23-2026-ices-research-institute-nwloc

10/22/2026

What happens between noticing something is wrong and getting a breast cancer diagnosis? And does that journey look different for immigrant women?

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month — a time to look at how we can improve breast cancer screening, diagnosis and care.

A study of women aged 50–74 in Ontario found an important two-part story.

Immigrant women were less likely to be up to date with biennial breast screening: 51.4% compared with 59.9% among long-term residents in 2020. They were also more likely to be diagnosed with Stage 2 or 3 breast cancer (51.7% vs. 46.6%).

However, the study found no significant difference in the time from first clinical presentation to breast cancer diagnosis between immigrant women and long-term residents.

Importantly, the study found that diagnosis could take a long time for women overall: 25% waited at least 60 days, and 10% waited at least 135 days.

As senior author Eileen Rakovitch, Senior Adjunct Scientist and Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and the University of Toronto, explains:

“What was most surprising was the very long delays … among immigrant women and among long-term residents.”

These findings point to two areas for improvement: increasing breast screening uptake among immigrant women and streamlining the diagnostic process for everyone.

👉 Swipe through to learn more about the findings and what they mean for breast cancer screening and diagnosis.

🔗 Read the full study: https://www.ices.on.ca/publications/journal-articles/mammographic-screening-and-time-to-breast-cancer-diagnosis-among-immigrants-and-long-term-residents-in-ontario/

10/21/2026

🌿Data tells a story, but meaningful knowledge translation and exchange helps determine how that story is understood, shared and acted upon. Whose perspectives are shaping that process?

Meaningful knowledge translation and exchange (KTE) goes beyond communicating findings. It involves centering Indigenous perspectives, respecting community priorities and recognizing the importance of Indigenous Data Sovereignty.

Join Alana Pawley, Indigenous Engagement, Knowledge Translation and Exchange Coordinator at , and Maureen Gustafson, Knowledge Translation & Exchange Specialist at Mamow Ahyamowen, at the 2026 ICES Research Forum for the breakout session Approaches to Knowledge Translation and Exchange with Indigenous Communities.

💡 What will you take away?
* Understand key principles for conducting KTE with Indigenous communities.
** Explore how co-interpretation sessions can contextualize quantitative data and support decolonizing approaches to knowledge sharing.
*** Learn from Mamow Ahyamowen’s work in interpreting data alongside communities.
**** Discover practical tools, resources and standards for effective, culturally grounded health communications.

Whether you work in health data, communications, public health or community partnerships, gain insights into approaches that help make knowledge sharing more meaningful, respectful and responsive to Indigenous communities.

📅 Join us this Monday, November 16, at the 2026 ICES Research Forum!
🔗 Register now: https://www.ices.on.ca/annual-forum/

10/21/2026

New research is shedding light on inequities in breast cancer outcomes.

This study from LHSCRI, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES) analyzed public health data from more than 10,000 women in Ontario. It found that women with HER2-negative breast cancer who live in lower-income neighbourhoods have poorer outcomes.

By identifying persistent gaps in care and outcomes, the research team is working to better understand why these inequities exist and how to address them, so everyone has access to the same high-quality care.

Learn more about the study and its findings: https://www.lhscri.ca/news/new-study-sheds-light-on-inequities-in-breast-cancer-survival-rates/