Investigative Techniques

Description:  The BC Generations Project is the British Columbia component of the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow Project, a landmark study with a broad scope and strong, rigorous design, which is establishing a large, high-quality population laboratory. By following 300,000 Canadians for their adult lives, the project hopes to answer some of cancer’s most challenging questions, including “Why do some people get cancer and other chronic diseases, and others do not?”

Description:  A landmark study with a broad scope and strong, rigorous design, the Canadian Partnership for Tomorrow Project is establishing a large, high-quality population laboratory. By following 300,000 Canadians for their adult lives, the project hopes to answer some of cancer’s most challenging questions, including “Why do some people get cancer and other chronic diseases, and others do not?” The project’s five regional teams – in Alberta, Atlantic Canada, British Columbia, Ontario and Quebec – aim to recruit and track a total of 300,000 healthy Canadians over decades. Participants provide information about their health, lifestyle and environment. The collection of baseline and ongoing data and biological samples, such as urine and blood, and physical measurements, such as weight and height, will build a database and bio-repository. Participants are followed for decades, building layers of information that will create a rich database. Researchers will have access to data and can propose analyses that will identify patterns and information that will potentially explain some of the causes of cancer and other chronic diseases such as diabetes and heart and lung disease.

Description:  The Health Supplements Information Service (HSIS) is a communication service providing accurate balanced information about vitamins, minerals and food supplements. HSIS works to present the facts about health supplementation in a simple way by consulting with independent experts in the fields of medicine, science and nutrition. The website provides factsheets, research articles, current news and evidence about health supplementation.

Description:  In "Decisions, Decisions", the Health Council of Canada discusses the role of family physicians as gatekeepers of prescription drugs and diagnostic imaging. Being the first point of contact for Canadians, physicians directly affect the specific health services ordered and utilized. The report identifies what factors – such as available tools and resources – that influence physician decision-making and how care is provided in a safe and appropriate manner. Ensuring a sustainable health system is an objective shared by all Canadians including the gatekeepers.