The goal of this initial clinical trial is to gather information for building a future national trial in Canada that can continuously look at different ways of helping people made vulnerable get a primary care provider. The trial will take place in the Toronto region and will help researchers decide how to plan the future trial.
The main question that this trial is aiming to answer is:
• For those made vulnerable who do not currently have a primary care provider, will assistance from a Primary Care Connector trained specifically with knowledge of the local health system, help to better connect those people to primary care providers compared to written information alone?
Researchers will compare giving participants the name of a provider that is accepting new patients in their area, to only giving participants existing information on how to find a provider, to see if giving the name of a provider accepting new patients works better to help people get connected to a provider.
Participants will:
* Get the name of a primary care provider in their area who is accepting new patients or get existing information on how to find a primary care provider. * Call the provider to try and get an appointment or use the information given to find a provider. * Tell the study team if they have found a provider.
Unattached adults (18+) made vulnerable who are seeking a primary care provider within the boundaries created by the Toronto Region Primary Care Workforce Planning Toolkit.
Patients under 18 years old.
Patients above 18 years who have not been made vulnerable and are already registered and/or attached to a primary care organization within the boundaries created by the Toronto Region Primary Care Workforce Planning Toolkit.
Unity Health Toronto
Lead sponsor
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
Collaborator