Joint Research Project with the BCCA:
Dr. Hal Gunn is working on a collaborative project with two colleagues from the B.C. Cancer Agency to develop a research proposal to assess the value of an integrative cancer care pilot program, within the BCCA, based on InspireHealth's philosophy and programs. The initial research proposal was completed this quarter, and has been sent to a number of potential collaborators for feedback. Dr. Simon Sutcliffe, CEO of the BCCA, has expressed his support for this project. The team will now seek funding for Phase 0/1 of the project, which includes further development of the theoretical framework and the intervention and outcomes, including healthful sustained lifestyle changes. This proposed project has the potential to revolutionize cancer care by engaging people in their own care.

Men with Prostate Cancer:
InspireHealth's medical staff continues to be involved in supporting recruitment for two other studies regarding nutrition and experiences of men with prostate cancer. The first, by UBC PhD Nutrition candidate Larry Mroz, is a study of the nutritional choices of men with prostate cancer and the factors affecting those choices The second, a study by UBC Counseling Psychology PhD candidate Fred Crawford, is a study of the helping and hindering experiences of men undergoing treatment for prostate cancer.

Men with Prostrate Cancer: What You Need to Know - Quarterly Reports (.pdf)

• Vol 1 - May 2008
• Vol 2 - Aug 2008
• Vol 3 - Nov 2008

Retrospective Studies:
To assess the value of InspireHealth's integrative approach to care, our research team has analyzed survival of patients who attended InspireHealth and compared their survival to the standard survival curves for specific types and stages of cancer. The analysis of survival of patients with three of the most common cancer diagnoses: stage 3B/4 lung cancer, stage 4 breast cancer and stage 4 colon cancer are now complete and will be accessible on this site shortly. These analyses found that InspireHealth patients had significantly better survival than the standard survival curves for these cancer types/stages. A summary article of this research, for publication, is being written.

Development of a Patient Experience Assessment Tool for Integrative Medicine Centres:
InspireHealth was one of several integrative medical centres invited to take part in a research project to develop a Patient Experience Assessment Tool for Integrative Medicine Centres. This project, led by Dr. Marja Verhoef, was devised to create an assessment tool template to be used to evaluate patient experience at Inegrative Centres. InspireHealth's physicians contributed substantially to the develop of this tool, which we plan to adapt for ongoing patient experience assessment to ensure continued optimization of our programs/classes.