Hello! My name is Gayle Halas, RDH, MA, PhD. and I am the the inaugural Rady Chair in Interprofessional Collaborative Practice at the University of Manitoba (Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada). This locally supported research chair focuses on interprofessional collaborative practice research and scholarship; provides leadership in training, educating, and mentoring future leaders in interprofessional collaborative practice; and builds upon collaborative relationships between educational and practice systems.
My current research is focused on team-based primary health care, and the communication and interactions that enable collaborative practice, particularly for addressing complex needs and care. Focusing on complex needs has resulted in collaborations with teams examining the older adult care continuum, team approaches for addressing substance use disorders, and transitions in care that are informed by stakeholder experiences and perspectives. My current work is exploring virtual visits in primary care, practice-level factors influencing interprofessional teamwork, and patient/public/caregiver experiences of team-based care. I have also been working with a team developing an interprofessional student-infused community health centre, targeting community needs for chronic disease and experiential learning for interprofessional practice building.
I am also a provincial research lead in a pan-Canadian primary and integrated health care research network, launched in 2014 by the Canadian Institutes for Health Research. This alliance of researchers, policy makers, clinicians and patient/public members aims to create evidence that can inform learning and practice systems as well be readily implemented for improved health services.
In 2006, after a clinical career as a dental hygienist, I moved into a research role with the department of family medicine and, with some great mentorship, later appointed director of research in the department. I developed (perhaps even inherited!) an appreciation for the expertise of a team in providing patient-centred comprehensive primary care. In many ways, interprofessional practice was an assumption within the research that was conducted and the ways in which care was provided.
What achievement are you most proud of in the area of interprofessional education and research?
Diverse partnerships. I am currently working with a breadth of key stakeholders, including members of the community with various lived experiences of homelessness, caregiving through to managing one’s own health and basic communication with health care providers. I value the partnerships I have formed with policy-makers and realize the importance of situating research within the systems of care. I am fortunate to have dedicated researchers with whom I collaborate, from within my own academic institution as well as from other Canadian universities and extending to one international team.
What does IPR.Global mean to you?
The experts in Interprofessional Education and Practice Research – and a focused community of practice! The structures and processes supporting interprofessional collaboration are ripe for investigation and there is great potential to collaborate, compare and contrast what is working and why.
And finally, should pineapple be on pizza? Yes or No?
Absolutely and especially if accompanied by Canadian bacon!
