Trinity Western University’s Rick Sawatzky is the new Methods Cluster Lead for Patient-Centred Measurement (PCM) with the BC SUPPORT Unit, a multi-partner organization that carries out patient-oriented research in order to improve healthcare outcomes for all patients. Dr. Sawatzky will continue in his role as a faculty member in the TWU School of Nursing while carrying out this leadership role with the BC SUPPORT Unit.
As Methods Cluster Lead, Dr. Sawatzky will foster a province-wide community of methodologists interested in the field of PCM, and coordinate work focused on PCM methods development related to patient-oriented research by working alongside leaders and colleagues on B.C.’s PCM Working Group.
"This position is a valuable opportunity to work collaboratively with scientists and knowledge users of health care research in British Columbia, and to play a leading role in developing scientific approaches for measuring what matters to patients in British Columbia. It reinforces the important value that research and expertise at TWU brings to society.” says Dr. Sawatzky.
The BC SUPPORT (Support for People and Patient-Oriented Research and Trials) Unit is It is one of ten SUPPORT Units across Canada, part of the Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research initiative led by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
Dr. Sawatzky, a Registered Nurse and Professor in TWU’s School of Nursing, currently holds a Canada Research Chair in Person-Centred Outcomes at TWU and serves as a Patient-Reported Outcomes (PRO) Lead at the UBC Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcome Sciences (CHEOS).
“Dr. Sawatzky is a highly respected faculty member in the TWU School of Nursing. We are so pleased to see his expertise receive provincial acknowledgement through this appointment. It is further demonstration of the high regard with which TWU faculty and research are held within the health care community in British Columbia – and beyond,” says Dr. Sonya Grypma, Dean of the TWU School of Nursing.
Dr. Sawatzky’s current research at TWU has a strong emphasis on enhancing person-centred care and integrating a palliative approach for people who have chronic life-limiting illnesses and their family caregivers.
More information from the BC SUPPORT UNIT on appointment of Dr. Rick Sawatzky and the Methods Cluster and its leaders is found on the Unit’s website.