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Final Program


Final Congress Guide

Health Policy and Systems

700 Section - Bringing Awareness to the Evidence: Implementing a National Dissemination Plan for Choosing Wisely Canada PM&R Recommendations

Tuesday, May 19, 2026
6:00 PM - 7:30 PM PT

    Presenting Author/Autor expositor(s)

  • SC

    Seungjae Cho, BSc

    Medical student
    Temerty Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    • Co-Author/Coautor(s)

  • CF

    Chris Fortin, MD, MSc

    Physiatrist
    Department of Medicine, Division of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Sinai Health, University of Toronto
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada

  • E. Ali Bateman, MSc, MD, FRCPC (she/her/hers)

    Physiatrist & Assistant Professor
    St Joseph's Health Care London & Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry, Western University
    London, Ontario, Canada

  • Ramona Neferu, MD, MSc

    Physiatrist
    Department of Medicine, Division of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, McMaster University
    Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

  • AG

    Arjun Ghuman, MD, MSc

    Physiatrist
    Division of Physical Medicine &Rehabilitation, Cumming School of Medicine, University of Calgary
    Calgary, Alberta, Canada

  • Vivian Huang, MD

    Resident
    Department of Medicine, Division of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, McMaster University
    Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

    • Corresponding Author/Autor a quien dirigir la corr(s)

  • Meiqi Guo, MD, MSc

    Physiatrist and Brain Rehabilitation Program Medical Director
    UHN-Toronto Rehab; University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine
    Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Objectives : Choosing Wisely Canada (CWC) is a physician-led campaign to optimize healthcare resource use by reducing unnecessary or potentially harmful tests and treatments. The Canadian Association of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (CAPM&R) CWC working group previously developed evidence-based resource stewardship recommendations, and the purpose of this project was to implement a dissemination plan for these recommendations to maximize awareness across Canada.

Design:

Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (PM&R) specialists, residents, medical students, and persons with lived experience collaborated to develop co-designed patient education materials based on the CWC PM&R recommendations. The dissemination strategy included (1) creating a "ChoosingWiselyCanadaPM&R” YouTube channel for co-designed videos; (2) producing infographic posters with QR code links for display in clinical spaces; (3) presenting at conferences; and (4) distributing informational e-mails to CAPM&R members. We used the promotions option on YouTube for two videos to create an initial momentum the video channel, and the infographic posters are scheduled for distribution to rehabilitation clinics.

Results:

Across the seven patient education videos, there have been 2,358 views. Impressions click-through rate ranged from 4.2% to 15.4%, and 98 to 780 impressions per video. Conference presentations showcased the videos and generated discussion among clinicians. Early informal feedback from patients and clinicians highlighted the resources’ clarity and relevance to clinical decision-making.

Conclusion: Our dissemination plan demonstrates how combining online video content, visual aids, professional network outreach, and conference engagement can help bridge the gap between evidence-based guidelines and public awareness. Future work will utilize YouTube analytics and targeted surveys to measure reach and engagement to assess the effectiveness of these dissemination strategies in increasing patient awareness of the recommendations.