Sanaz Riahi

Ms. Sanaz Riahi is the Director of Professional Practice, Clinical Information & Adolescent Services at Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences. In her role she works collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders, with the utilization of technology and health systems, to support, promote and advance quality interprofessional practice environment to optimize outcomes for patients, staff and the organization.

Her recent accomplishments includes leading Ontario Shores in the achievement of HIMSS Davies Enterprise Award and HIMSS EMRAM Stage7 designation, placing Ontario Shores as the first hospital in Canada to receive these awards. Some of Ms. Riahi’s key activities include providing corporate leadership for recovery-oriented initiatives such as restraint and seclusion prevention, Recovery Rounds, implementation of a patient portal, as well as supporting the implementation of clinical practice guidelines with the use technology as an enabler.

Research Synopsis

Ms. Riahi is one of the founding members of the International Research Collaborative on Clinical Aggression seeking to provide a forum for research and knowledge transfer activities that inform the prevention and management of clinical aggression in healthcare settings. She is currently part of an international team of researchers completing a Cochrane Collaborative Review on education and training for preventing and minimizing workplace aggression directed towards healthcare workers.

Her current research involvement and interests are in clinical aggression, restraint minimization, recovery, and staff mix. She is currently pursuing her PhD studies focusing on the notion of ‘last resort’ in the use of restraints.