About Us

The OPTI-HEx Lab is an applied health research lab at the University of Toronto under the leadership of Dr. Sara Guilcher. Our lab conducts person-oriented research to understand healthcare experiences and improve how care is designed and delivered. Our work brings together people with lived experiences, care partners, clinicians, researchers, and health system leaders to address complex healthcare challenges and create meaningful, sustainable change. We aspire to create a future where everyone has an optimized healthcare journey and can lead healthier, more fulfilling lives.

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Our Focus

Person-Oriented Healthcare Experiences

Our goal is to understand what matters most to people about their care. We study how people experience and navigate healthcare, communication, accessibility, psychological safety, and whether care reflects individual needs and priorities. ​

Safe, High-Quality, and Integrated Care

We study healthcare quality and safety, coordination and transitions in care, and opportunities to create more integrated approaches to care for people navigating complex health and social needs. We seek to improve how care is delivered across providers, settings, and systems.

Learning Health Systems

We aim to turn experience and evidence into better healthcare. We bring together lived experience, clinical expertise, research evidence, and health system knowledge to identify challenges, develop solutions, and support continuous learning and improvement. We use a variety of methods, including implementation science, mixed methods, co-design, and knowledge translation.

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Impact in Action

Understanding Experiences

How are people experiencing care, and what matters most to them?

Patient experiences are an essential part of quality care. We explored factors that might influence the use of patient-reported experience measures for medications in primary and community care. We interviewed people with lived experiences of taking medications and healthcare providers to understand diverse perspectives.

​Co-designing Solutions

How can lived experience and evidence inform practical interventions?

Every individual deserves the tools and knowledge to manage their own health and medications. We collaborated with persons with spinal cord injury and dysfunction to co-design an online toolkit for medication self-management called MedManageSCI. Check it out here.

Improving Health Systems

How can research be embedded into practice to support continuous improvement?

People who experience hip fracture continue to face complexity and challenges in their care journey. We investigated ways to improve outcomes for older adults with hip fracture and optimize transitions of care across urban and rural settings.
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Core Values

Scientific Excellence

Equity

Empathy and Compassion

​Collaboration and Inclusivity

Impact and Accountability

​Thank you for exploring our website and do not hesitate to connect with us!