OWRAS Project
There are challenges in establishing surveillance schemes for work-related asthma including: lack of a uniform definition; incomplete case ascertainment; and the variable clinical course of asthma. Taking into consideration the lessons learned from other occupational surveillance systems, we have proposed a 10-step approach for establishing a surveillance system for work-related asthma in Ontario. These steps include:
- Defining surveillance
- Setting objectives
- Developing case definition and validation approach
- Identifying data sources and collecting data
- Connecting with health and non-health-care stakeholders
- Identifying pilot sites for surveillance and the organization to manage OCAS
- Analyzing surveillance data
- Disseminating findings
- Evaluating the performance of the surveillance system
- Cross-validating surveillance strategy - a multi-provincial partnership