Cathie Scott, Advisor

Cathie Scott’s (Executive Director, Knowledge Management) commitment to embedding knowledge management within the Alberta Health Services stems from her experience as a researcher, evaluator, healthcare practitioner and also from her perspective as someone who has a chronic disease. As a physio, Cathie worked in a variety of contexts both within Alberta and Australia.

Her work in the non-profit sector, providing technical aids assessment to people with disabilities, led to her interest in health services research. Her Master’s level work focused on the development of partnerships among community agencies that work with vulnerable populations. Between her Master’s and PhD training, Cathie worked as a Community Liaison at the University of Lethbridge, linking community practitioners and researchers.

Her PhD research focused on the influence of context on collaboration in health systems. During this period, she also served on the Alberta Public Health Association board for three years (1997-2000). As part of her postdoctoral fellowship (CHSRF funded) she focused her attention on the influence of social networks on knowledge utilization. She has research and evaluation experience in the areas of primary healthcare, health systems, knowledge utilization, social networks, social justice, participatory action research methods (e.g., photovoice), health promotion, women’s health, complementary and alternative medicine, and social determinants of health.

Her teaching at the universities of Calgary and Alberta and within SEARCH Canada focused in the topic areas of knowledge exchange, research methods, qualitative methods, health promotion, and evaluation. Throughout her career Cathie has emphasized the importance of knowledge sharing in the provision of quality health services. Her experience and training provide a firm foundation on which to work with others to build an integrated knowledge management service within AHS.