HERE
In 2019 the BC-CfE opened the Hope to Health (H2H) Clinic in the Downtown Eastside (DTES) of Vancouver. The clinic provides interdisciplinary care based on best-evidence for urban and marginalized communities.
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The Hope to Health Engagement and Retention Evaluation (HERE) Study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of the H2H service delivery model and will pilot a mobile phone-based digital health intervention, WelTel, to improve engagement in primary healthcare (PHC) among H2H clients. In order to improve clients’ health outcomes, the study inquires about housing status, mental health, food security, social supports, substance use and treatment, and use of ancillary health services at H2H.
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As of March 31, 2026, we have now closed the study for recruitment. We wish to thank all of those who participated. Keep watching this site for updates on new data analysis projects and manuscripts.
STUDIES MENU
The HERE Study’s Research Objectives are:
- To characterize the medical and social needs; and measure client retention in PHC among clients of the newly-established H2H Centre and to measure the potential acceptability of the mobile phones and WelTel service among marginalized residents of the DTES with mental health and substance-use disorders.
- To assess the use of mobile phones and the WelTel service as an added tool to facilitate regular engagement in PHC among marginalized residents of the DTES over a six-month period.
- To measure the effectiveness of an adapted version of the WelTel mobile health intervention to further improve engagement in PHC for DTES residents with complex medical needs.
- To measure the health systems impact of the H2H delivery model and WelTel interventions in terms of reducing acute medical care services, hospitalizations, and mortality among H2H clients in comparison to other DTES residents accessing VCH services with similar medical profiles.
Publications
Retention in primary care among unstably housed residents of a low-income, inner-city neighborhood with a high prevalence of substance use and related disorders
Access to and engagement with primary healthcare can be difficult for marginalized low-income
populations residing in inner cities in high-income countries. We designed a study to examine retention in primary
care among clients of a novel interdisciplinary primary care clinic in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, Canada
who did not previously have access to care.
M. Gumprich, W. Zhang, J. Li1, K. Salters, R. Barrios, P. Sereda, C. Stanley, R. Joe, D. Hall, V. Lima, G. Sincraian, A. Marante Changir, R. Parry, C. Fulton, T. Wesseling, J. Montaner, S. Parashar and David M. Moore
Evaluation of a Pilot mHealth Intervention to Engage Primary Care Clients at an Urban Clinic Serving Marginalized Populations: Mixed-Methods Cohort Study
Many individuals in urban low-income settings face barriers to engaging in primary care and experience
systemic challenges such as homelessness and discrimination in the health care system. This study was conducted in
the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, Canada, a low-income neighborhood with intersecting structural vulnerabilities and
disproportionate rates of substance use disorders.
Lauren Harrison, MSc; Christina Fulton; Antonio Marante Changir, MSc; Adedayo Ajidahun; Cassidy Tam;
Wendy Zhang; Tian Shen; Rolando Barrios; Julio Montaner, MD; Kate Salters, PhD; Richard T Lester, MD;
Surita Parashar; David M Moore, MDCM