September 29, 2021 – Congratulations to Brian Fung Lo and Amr Farghali, 2021 Steven Huesing Scholarship recipients!
Amr Farghali is pursuing a doctorate at the School of Health Information Science, University of Victoria, exploring automated methods for analyzing and visualizing clinical data to optimize wait times in secondary and primary care settings, with the objective of enhancing the triaging systems used in the specialists’ offices. Amr’s research could help healthcare providers better understand and organize their workflows to deliver services in a timely and efficient manner. Using analytical tools to evaluate the performance of different practices and providing metrics for assessing the accessibility of care could play a significant role in reducing delays.
“I feel privileged and humbled to win the Steven Huesing Scholarship this year. Receiving this scholarship is a great honour and a symbol of recognition for my contribution and ongoing effort in exploring digital solutions in the field of Health Informatics in Canada. I feel highly motivated and driven to devote more time to pursue my learning and further extend my knowledge in Health Informatics to be able to develop innovative solutions that will improve the delivery of care to patients in Canada.”
Brian Fung Lo is pursuing a doctorate at University of Toronto’s Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation. The restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic have reiterated the important role of digital/virtual health tools in supporting the mental health of Canadians. However, the value of mobile apps and other digital mental health tools in clinical care environments remains futile without sufficient engagement from patients and family members over time. Brian’s dissertation focuses on addressing this barrier by identifying the factors that influence how users stay engaged with these tools. Brian’s work includes a review of factors that can influence someone to stay engaged or disengage from digital mental health tools in clinical care, as well as engage a diverse group of stakeholders (e.g., patients, family members, clinicians, policymakers) to identify which factors are considered essential for influencing user engagement. These findings are expected to provide a theoretically-driven yet practical evidence base to enhance effective engagement with digital mental health tools.
“I am overwhelmed with gratitude to be one of the recipients of the 2021 Steven Huesing Scholarship from Digital Health Canada. Receiving this prestigious award means a lot to me and serves as a testament that the work that I do at the intersection of digital health and mental health resonates with others. This award will be instrumental in helping me partner with other health system leaders to expand the impact of digital health on improving the mental health of Canadians. I would like to thank the Huesing family as well as my colleagues, mentors, and friends at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health and the University of Toronto, Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation for their support along this journey.”
The Steven Huesing Scholarship honours the contributions our founding president made to the industry. The scholarship was established in 1999 to reflect the spirit, dedication and innovation that our founding president brought to the field of health informatics. The scholarship consists of a cash honorarium of $1,000; a one-year Digital Health Canada Student Membership; and a student registration for the next e-Health Conference and Tradeshow.
Scholarship applications are accepted from any student currently enrolled in a Health Informatics or related program at an accredited post-secondary institution. The applicant should be of sound academic standing, demonstrate active involvement and achievement in HI, and show how his/her educational work has made a recognized contribution to advancing the thinking in HI.