Contextes sociaux des données administratives sur les troubles liés à l’usage de substances
Administrative data are the engine of learning health systems. Health researchers, in particular, must pay attention to the systematic collection of health and diagnostic information, often in the form of International Classification of Diseases codes. To strengthen research, healthcare, and policy decisions based on the use of administrative health data, it is essential that data users continuously reflect on data quality. Examining the human and material contexts of data production, including research with people involved in “data work,” can help account for the power relations, interests, and values embedded in datasets, as well as the suitability of administrative data for secondary use. Such critical reflection is especially important when examining data collected on populations and groups experiencing structural inequalities, social exclusion, and marginalization. Based on demographic data related to Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) in British Columbia, this qualitative study, conducted with health information professionals and physicians, explores the network of social and institutional relationships that shape and constrain the production of administrative data in hospital settings. In addition to deepening our understanding of the “measurement context” within which SUDs are classified and recorded in administrative data, this research also aims to identify opportunities to improve the quality and interpretability of routinely collected SUD data.
About the speakers:
Jeffrey Morgan is a doctoral candidate at the University of British Columbia’s School of Population and Public Health and the British Columbia Centre for Substance Use Research. His research focuses on how values, biases, and social contexts are encoded in administrative health data related to substance use, and the ethical and epistemological implications for public health, health services, and policy research. Jeffrey is passionate about community-based participatory research and is interested in developing and sharing innovative approaches to build research capacity and meaningfully engage communities at every stage of the research process.