Shoshana
Hahn-Goldberg
Canada
Area of research
Shoshana Hahn-Goldberg has a PhD in Industrial Engineering from the University of Toronto and is a Scientist and Project Lead at UHN OpenLab, a design and innovation shop at Toronto General Hospital. Her research uses mixed methods that span and combine techniques from industrial engineering and user-centred design in order to improve health system processes, quality, and experiences. Many of her projects involve multi-stakeholder engagement including engagement and design with diverse patient populations. Shoshana’s current research addresses the areas of care transitions and social determinants of health.
Research challenge
The healthcare and social systems are complex and often patients and families are not considered central to the design of the services that impact them. This is especially true during transitions in care and for patients and families at increased risk due to social determinants of health, complex care needs, or communication challenges. In recent work, Shoshana aimed to understand, design, and implement a solution to address the need for improved communication at the transition from hospital to home.
Proposed solution
Shoshana’s work aims to use mixed methods to understand the issues facing patients and families and engage them in identifying and designing solutions. She uses data to drive engagement and design and works directly with stakeholders including patients and families most affected by the issues and proposed solutions.
Shoshana recently led the patient-oriented discharge summary (PODS) project, from design with patients through a large-scale implementation. The project involved use of a variety of improvement models and methods in multiple healthcare settings and has resulted in several additional projects. For example, the PODS project highlighted the importance of education and communication about medications and has led to a project studying and developing a tool to support at-risk patients and families in getting the information they need about their medications when they are discharged from hospital to home.
Impact to date
To date, Shoshana has supervised 26 students on ten separate research projects. She has 16 peer-reviewed journal publications, 5 conference publications, and numerous presentations and other knowledge translation activities and products. The PODS project has been implemented in over 50 healthcare organizations across Ontario and Canada.
Publications
Keywords : Care Transitions, Aging, User Experience Design, Simulation Modeling, Patient Centred Care, Social Determinants of Health, Implementation