Seenso Institute for Public Health

The Seenso Institute for Public Health is a non-profit organization whose mandate is to promote public health education and study how Internet medical information systems and other emerging health technology can be used to effectively support self-care at home.

 

The Seenso Institute for Public Health was created in response to the urgent need to improve health literacy, advance our understanding about the health information needs of Canadians, and use the Internet and other emerging health technology to help Canadians better understand and manage their health conditions at home.

 

 

Engage and Empower

We engage users to learn about healthy living and self-care using medical information search on the Internet as a window of opportunity for health education. Seenso Health provides not only high-quality medical information but also knowledge maps to engage users in their learning. Users can explore different aspects of a given health issue based on their personal needs and preference, thus the search engine empower the users in their learning and in self-management of their illness

Integrate and support

 

We  focus on the integration of knowledge, tools, and community services needed for self-care at home. Whenever possible, we  provide self-monitoring tools and health community services to better support under-served populations and communities (e.g., elderly chronic patients, aboriginal groups, or communities at risk of certain chronic diseases) so that they can better manage their heath conditions at home.

 

Collaborate and transform

 

We collaborate with government agencies, health professionals and their associations, community healthcare service providers, and other health IT firms to advance healthcare at home. We also welcome individuals to join force with us so together we can make greater impact on people and transform the communities.

 

Research and validate

 

We  conduct studies to identify optimal ways of engaging the public in developing health literacy needed to maintain a healthy population; we will evaluate emerging technology for self-management of chronic illness at home; we validate our approaches by examine the impact that our approaches have on people and communities.

 

We believe that our ability to provide public health education will determine whether Canadians can stay healthy and whether our nation can maintain a functional healthcare system in the future. We need to give Canadians the best knowledge, tools, and support so that they can take better care of themselves.

 

Mei Chen - President and CEO

OUR MISSION

Promoting Health Literacy and Supporting Self-Care at Home

At the Seenso Institute for Public Health, we believe that the basic health care is a universal right, health literacy is a measure of a country’s progress, and seeking medical information is a private matter.  As such, citizens should have the access to high-quality health information that is free of commercial influence and that can be viewed in privacy.

 

We also believe that knowledge is power, and education is the path to acquire that power. Given the majority of chronic diseases are preventable through behavior modifications, we believe that the general public can play an important role in maintaining a healthy population and controlling chronic diseases in our nation, if they are given the opportunity to learn why and how to take proper actions.

 




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BOARD of DIRECTORS

The Seenso Institute Board of Directors is composed of three experts specialized in

 

Internet health information technology, family medicine, and medical informatics.

 

Dr. Mei Chen

Dr. Andre Kushniruk

Dr. Adela Stanciu

 

Dr. Mei Chen is a researcher and educator specialized in Internet health information. Dr. Chen has taught a variety of subjects at different educational levels, ranging from elementary to graduate schools. Prior to joining Cogilex, she was a professor in Educational Technology Graduate Program at Concordia University (1998 -2002). Dr. Chen takes both theoretical and empirical approaches to address some of the important issues related to computer-based knowledge systems. She first developed a methodology for characterizing various types of knowledge presented in computer-based learning environments (Instructional Science, Chen, 1995), she then investigated how different knowledge representations affect user’s understanding, solve problems, and skill transfer in such environments (McGill, Ph. D. Dissertation, Chen, 2001).

Dr. Chen obtained her Ph. D. from McGill University (Applied Cognitive Science, Education Faculty) in 2001.

 

 

Dr. Andre Kushniruk is the director and a Professor of the School of Health Information Science at the University of Victoria. Dr. Kushniruk conducts research in a number of areas including evaluation of the effects of technology, human-computer interaction in health care and other domains as well as cognitive science. His work is known internationally and he has published widely in the area of health informatics. He focuses on developing new methods for the evaluation of information technology and studying human-computer interaction in health care and he has been a key researcher on a number of national and international collaborative projects. Dr. Kushniruk has held academic positions at a number of Canadian universities and he has taught courses in areas such as human-computer interaction, database management and systems analysis and design. He holds undergraduate degrees in Psychology and Biology, as well as a M.Sc. in Computer Science and a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology from McGill University.

 

 

Dr. Stanciu is a family physician who works at the downtown Montreal CLSC (a Quebec Health Community - McGill affiliate family medicine unit). She is a compassionate physician who cares deeply about her patients and who always goes above the limits to serve their best interests. She is involved in teaching medical students and residents, and shares with them the art of practicing medicine.

Dr. Stanciu believes that patient education is an important aspect of the clinical practice and only when patients are well informed can they make wise medical decisions, compliant with their doctors’ advices, take better care of themselves, and improve the treatment outcomes. Dr. Stanciu believes that the Internet is an excellent way to provide patient education that is currently lacking.

Dr. Adela Stanciu graduated from the Family Medicine Department at McGill University.

 

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CONTACT US

 

E-mail

Info@Seenso.org

 

 

ADDRESS

Seenso Institue for Public Health

1855 Kenilworth, Mont-Royal, QC

H3R 2S7

 

TELEPHONES

+1 514 344 6073

+1 514 978 5402