Population Health

Population health research completes the knowledge transfer pipeline at Alberta Diabetes Institute. Community-based research by ADI scientists greatly contributes to the understanding of how cultural, economic and social frameworks affect choices related to health and diabetes. This type of research also helps scientists understand the underlying behaviours that are related to health issues, as well as the effectiveness of specific interventions for improving quality of life. Scientists also use biomonitoring and bio-informatics to assess the impact of health policies and health care delivery in regards to diabetes. This is not a simple exercise, and the true measure of 'health outcomes' requires evaluation at various levels that include clinical, economic and humanistic. Leading research in this field is provided by the Alliance for Canadian Health Outcomes Research in Diabetes (ACHORD), which integrates expertise from academia, health care providers and the government to evaluate the effectiveness of health care delivery for diabetics.