B.A. (Hons.), M.P.A., M.Sc.
Cynthia Carr, Epidemiologist
Starting my career in the Northwest Territories, I bring a love of adventure as well as more than 24 years as an epidemiologist, health policy specialist, evaluator, community engagement facilitator and strategic planner. My goal is to work with, and empower, clients by providing the pathways to have their voices heard. I help my clients better understand their staff, patients and clients, to support evidence-based decision-making, business case development and assess return on investment.
Although my background is health, my skill set applies to all businesses. My services include synthesizing large scopes of information in technical documents as well as community friendly summary documents and presentations. I have planned, conducted, synthesized and written more than twenty Community Health Assessments in Manitoba, Ontario, NWT, Nunavut and Alberta including a mix of information collected by surveys, administrative data and engagement. These documents are used to support evidence based strategic planning and business case development.
“I am an expert in the identification and interpretation of data and developing appropriate data collection tools that are sustainable for ongoing monitoring and planning. I work with clients in developing evaluation plans to assess the effectiveness of policies and programs and measure return on investment.”
A primary focus of EPI Research is Indigenous, northern and rural equity in health outcomes and access to health services. I am the only self-employed epidemiologist who travels to communities and works directly with leadership, service providers and community members to identify community needs and back this with exceptional data collection and analysis. This always includes partnership with multiple stakeholders, community directed solutions and capacity building.
I have significant experience in community and leadership engagement facilitation throughout Canada. I have analyzed national acute care surveys and patient experience surveys. I triangulate findings from multiple sources and guide strategic planning sessions with senior staff to identify priority action areas. For example, a key finding from my leadership was that areas with the lowest staff satisfaction had the highest number of red flags for patient safety and lowest patient satisfaction. From there, I conducted meaningful staff engagement sessions to identify problems and solutions to enhance work life and avoid catastrophic outcomes.
This key finding applies to the dangerous conditions identified at long term care facilities during the COVID-19 epidemic and I was asked to speak to this live on CTV news Winnipeg. I have a strong, trust-based, working relationships with regional, provincial and federal government agencies and understand the requirements to access, as well as scope of data within each agency, to support evidence based decision making.