Sara Urowitz, MSW, PhD
Director, Research and Innovation; Acting Lead, Regional Integration | Canadian Partnership Against Cancer
Toronto, ON, CANADA
Cancer research and health policy expert, working to redefine cancer care in Canada
Biography
Sara Urowitz is the Director, Research & Innovation at the Partnership. She is also the Executive Director of the Canadian Cancer Research Alliance (CCRA).
Sara has a PhD in Health Policy and Bioethics. Prior to joining the Partnership, she was the Group Manager of Palliative Care and the Ontario Palliative Care Network Secretariat at Cancer Care Ontario. She has a background in strategic planning, palliative care, and cancer research. Sara is also an Assistant Professor in the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto.
Areas of Expertise (7)
Cancer Research
Research Funding
Health Policy
Hospital & Health Care
Informatics
Clinical Research
Health Services Research
Education (4)
University of Toronto: PhD, Health Policy & Bioethics 2005
University of Pennsylvania: MSW, Macro Health Policy 1995
University of Virginia: MA, Applied Religious Ethics & Bioethics 1993
University of Toronto: BA, Zoology & Religious studies 1992
Articles (5)
The CaregiverVoice Survey: A Pilot Study Surveying Bereaved Caregivers To Measure the Caregiver and Patient Experience at End of Life
Journal of Palliative Medicine
2016 Objective: To integrate patient and caregiver feedback into end-of-life (EOL) care improvement, we tested the feasibility of a standardized, common instrument to measure care experiences across multiple settings in the last three months of life.
Engaging Patients in Online Self-Care Technologies for Chronic Disease Management
Healthcare Quarterly
2016 A common perception is that the use of Internet-based self-care systems is best suited for a younger, tech-proficient population, and that these systems will increase the burden on patients with complex chronic conditions. The study stratified patients with diabetes into three regimens of use of an Internet-based diabetes self-care portal. Results show that patients were more likely to adhere to a diurnal regimen than a variable regimen, and older patients, over the age of 60, were more adherent than younger patients, regardless of regimen. This suggests that common misconceptions should be reconsidered when prescribing Internet-based interventions for patients with chronic illness.
Informational needs of gastrointestinal oncology patients
Health Expectations
2015 Objectives: In response to the dearth of consumer health information for patients with gastrointestinal cancers, this study examined the informational needs of these patients to build a plan for future resource development. Although studies have examined informational needs of some such cancers, no published literature has investigated the comprehensive informational needs across all sites of gastrointestinal cancer.
Concordance with the ASCO Provisional Clinical Opinion on the integration of palliative care into standard oncology care in Ontario.
Journal of Clinical Oncology
2015 In 2012, ASCO released a Provisional Clinical Opinion for patients with stage IV non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and the need for integration of palliative care services concurrent with standard treatment from the time of diagnosis. To understand if this recommendation is being followed in Ontario, provincial administrative data was used to explore concordance.
Development of provincial clinical standards for the province of Ontario
Journal of Clinical Oncology
2015 The province of Ontario is committed to improving palliative care services. This commitment to change is outlined in The Declaration of Partnership, the provincial roadmap for improving palliative care. To help drive this change in the clinical environment, a Clinical Council for Palliative Care was established to be responsible for providing direction on clinical implications of policy, and advancing clinical improvement in palliative care in Ontario. To this end, Clinical Council has articulated a set of 12 interrelated provincial clinical standards which outline priority areas for clinical change and improvement in the province.
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