Flynn's research goal is to help health care systems, sustain improvements that are effective and that lead to positive impacts on patient care and outcomes, particularly within the fields of child health.
Rachel Flynn, recipient of a Women and Children's Health Research Institute (WCHRI) and Faculty of Nursing Postdoctoral Fellowship, examines why and how improvements made to child health are continued and sustained in practice after implementation efforts have ended, and how these improvements have an impact on child health outcomes.
Flynn's research goal is to help health care systems, sustain improvements that are effective and that lead to positive impacts on patient care and outcomes, particularly within the fields of child health. Flynn strives to expand her work from knowledge synthesis and theory development to applications of helping systems sustain effective improvements being made.
"We need to embed effective research into everyday care, once a research study finishes there has to be continuity-we need integration between research and health systems. We as researchers can't simply push information from the research environment into the health system-there needs to be a two-way flow," explained Flynn.
Flynn moved to Canada from Ireland after being hired as Dr. Shannon Scott's research assistant, and shortly thereafter, decided to pursue her PhD in knowledge translation and child health.
"Shannon's research focuses on developing knowledge translation interventions for parents to improve children's health; my work is complimentary as it can evaluate the sustainability of those types of interventions," explained Flynn.
Flynn stated that her research wouldn't be possible without the training environment she has and the connections that she has made through the Faculty of Nursing, WCHRI and Alberta Health Services.
"I've been really fortunate with the wealth of research experience that I've received through my training with Dr. Scott. I've been exposed to a lot of research opportunities, collaborations, and partnerships that are continually helping my research move forward."
Flynn is currently working on a grant with Dr. Scott, which focuses on the sustainability of the strategic clinical networks (SCN's) of Alberta's Health Services (AHS). The purpose of this research is to understand and develop a tailored picture of sustainability priorities, needs and gaps across Alberta Health Services, Strategic Clinical Networks.
In terms of sustainability, there's a lot of work still to be done. In the future, Flynn hopes to develop a research program that advances sustainability science, by explaining determinants to sustainability and the best strategies to facilitate effective, sustained and impactful change in child health.
This fellowship has been funded by generous support of the Stollery Children's Hospital Foundation through the Women and Children's Health Research Institute.