RDC News: September 2020

CRDCN-SAS-StatCan Policy Challenge

We are pleased to announce the third installment of the CRDCN-SAS-StatCan Policy Challenge. This national challenge is open to graduate students currently enrolled at a Canadian University and involves students conducting policy-relevant research which they present at a special event in Ottawa in the spring. It is a unique opportunity for students to receive SAS certification and interact with top policymakers.

Due to COVID-19, this year's contest will be open only to researchers with a current RDC contract. Researchers may amend a current contract to accommodate their Policy Challenge data needs, or to provide data access to teammates, or even to join a current contract for the purposes of the competition.

More information and the link to apply are available on the Policy Challenge website: https://crdcn.org/crdcn-national-policy-challenge.

 

REMINDER - RDC reopening protocols

A reminder that we are using an online booking system to manage researcher appointments. Please visit booked.mcmaster.ca/rdc/ to make your bookings. If you need more booking time than the system rules currently permit (e.g. running a program overnight), please email an Analyst and we will try to accommodate.

 

Upcoming hours changes

Please note the upcoming changes to the usual centre operating hours this month:

• CLOSED for Labour Day, Monday September 7th.

Saturday Hours - ON DEMAND

We are offering on-demand Saturday hours on certain dates. We will be open on an 'appointment' basis, only if requested - this will be done through the same online booking system as mentioned above (booked.mcmaster.ca/rdc/)

 

Offered dates for Saturday hours this month are:

• Saturday, September 12th - 12pm to 4pm

New Data Sets at the RDC

DAD-NACRS-OMHRS-CVSD

As part of its record linkage activities, Statistics Canada has updated the linkage of the Discharge Abstract Database (DAD), the National Ambulatory Care Reporting System (NACRS) and the Ontario Mental Health Reporting System (OMHRS), which are provided to Statistics Canada annually by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), to the Canadian Vital Statistics Death Database.

These updated linked data can be used to develop and validate health care indicators and perform survival and outcome analyses on acute hospital data.

The linking of Vital Statistic Death data with provincial administrative data held by CIHI creates a valuable dataset that can provide answers to important research questions that cannot be found in single administrative datasets alone.

If you would like more information on how to submit a proposal for access to this data see https://www.statcan.gc.ca/eng/microdata/data-centres/access. For more information about the RDC program please contact your local RDC analyst.