Institute Community Support: Community Outreach Program for Non-Governmental Organizations

Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis
Important Dates
April 30, 2012 Full applications must be submitted by this date.
July 1, 2012 Anticipated notification of decision.
Funds Available: Up to $40,000
CIHR's contribution to the amount available for this initiative is subject to availability of funds voted annually to CIHR by parliamentary appropriations, and the conditions that may be attached to them.

Table of Contents

Introduction

This initiative aims to develop health research-oriented communications with Canadian non-governmental, not-for-profit, and community-based organizations.

Led by the Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis (IMHA) of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), this initiative will award grants of up to $10,000 each (including GST) in line with the objectives outlined below.

CIHR-IMHA will award grants for successful proposals in areas relevant to IMHA's mandate. Particularly welcome are proposals that respond to one or all of our three strategic research priorities: 1) Physical Activity, Mobility and Health; 2) Tissue Injury, Repair and Replacement; and; 3) Pain Disability and Chronic Diseases.

Background

The legislation that created CIHR commits the organization to knowledge translation, i.e., the uptake and application of research evidence into better health for Canadians. Canadian non-governmental, not-for-profit, and community-based organizations play an important role in facilitating and promoting the uptake of new knowledge at many levels of society. Many also play an important role in facilitating, supporting and promoting health research.

An important element of CIHR's marketing and communications strategy is to communicate effectively with various publics. Knowledge translation under this strategy includes informing individuals about health research in Canada - the successes, the innovations, the impacts, and the future - and creates greater understanding of health research and its impact in creating a healthier population.

CIHR-IMHA invites Canadian non-governmental, not-for-profit, and community-based organizations with a shared interest in promoting research areas reflected under its mandate to join its efforts in informing individuals about the importance of health research in improving their health. IMHA supports research aimed at enhancing active living, mobility and movement, and oral health; and addresses causes, prevention, screening, diagnosis, treatment, support systems, and palliation for a wide range of conditions related to bones, joints, muscles, connective tissue, skin and teeth. Numerous communications opportunities exist to increase the understanding of the importance of these areas of health research, particularly through partnership with stakeholders (see examples below under Scope of Work).

Objectives & Scope of Work

Objectives

The overall intent of this initiative is three-fold:

  • To foster partnership and strengthen IMHA's stakeholder community;
  • To identify innovative approaches to communicating the importance of health research related to IMHA's mandate;
  • To target specific audiences/communities that will benefit from being better informed about CIHR and IMHA initiatives.

Scope of Work

CIHR aims to inform effectively the Canadian public, scientists and researchers, the media, policy and decision-makers, health-care practitioners, and other stakeholder groups. The challenge is to focus on objectives common to CIHR-IMHA and your organization, as well as to find original and efficient ways of reaching the greatest number of individuals.

Successful proposals will describe how communication strategies and technologies will focus on these common objectives. The following table is intended to provide potential applicants with examples of activities relevant to the Community Outreach Program: Call for Proposals. These examples are provided for guidance purposes ONLY and do not reflect ALL the potential topics and activities relevant to IMHA's mandate.

  • Web or non-web based activities aimed at exchanging and/or disseminating research results related to early diagnosis, physical activity or nutrition connected to a disease related to IMHA's mandate (e.g., osteoarthritis; psoriasis) for sufferers, their families and general public.
  • A web-based patient resource centre that integrates the latest evidence, resources and information that is pertinent to the management of chronic pain and will provide easy access of this information by consumers, as well as healthcare providers across Canada.
  • The development of a web site's special research section entitled, for example, "A Look at Arthritis Research."

Eligibility

Eligibility criteria for all CIHR research funding programs apply. Please refer to the Eligibility Requirements for CIHR Grants and Awards regarding the eligibility requirements for institutions.

If applicants are seeking support for financial assistance for scientific and/or knowledge translation related conferences, workshops and symposia, please refer to the Meetings, Planning and Dissemination Grant (MPD) funding opportunities and MPD tool.

This program does NOT support health promotion and/or health intervention activities outside of the health research context.

Specific Eligibility Requirements

Eligibility requirements specific to this opportunity include the following:

  • The competition is open to Canadian-based non-governmental, not-for-profit, and community-based organizations sharing common priorities with IMHA.
  • Eligible not-for-profit and community-based organizations are restricted to submitting one (1) application per competition.

Allowable Costs

Applicants should review the Tri-Agency (CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC) financial administration guidelines Use of Grant Funds for a complete listing and description of allowable costs and activities.

The full application must provide a detailed justification of all costs.

Review Process and Evaluation Criteria

A committee of Institute representatives will review proposals and evaluate them according to the criteria below:

  • Does the proposal support the mandate and the research priorities of IMHA?
  • Does the proposal aim to foster partnership and strengthen IMHA's stakeholder community?
  • Does the proposal identify an original approach for communicating with the specified audiences?
  • Are the expected outcomes clearly identified and feasible?

Requests for grants from the Community Outreach Program will be processed in the following manner:

  • Once a written request is received that includes all of the required information described below, it will be submitted to the committee of Institute representatives for discussion and recommendation to the Scientific Director.
  • Approval of a Community Outreach Program grant request rests with the Scientific Director.

General CIHR Guidelines

This Opportunity will follow the General Guidelines for Grant Programs. Applicants are encouraged to demonstrate the use of Gender and Sex-Based Analysis in applications.

Conditions of Funding

All conditions specified in CIHR General Grants and Awards Policies shall apply to applications funded through this Request for Applications. Conditions cover areas such as Applicant and Institutional Responsibilities, Ethics, Official language policy, Access to Information and Privacy Acts, and Acknowledgement of CIHR Support. Successful applicants will be informed of any special financial conditions prior to the release of funds or when they receive CIHR's Authorization for Funding (AFF) document.

Access to Information Act and Privacy Act, and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA)

All personal information collected by CIHR about applicants is used to review applications, to recruit reviewers, to administer and monitor grants and awards, to compile statistics, and to promote and support health research in Canada. Consistent with these purposes, applicants should also expect that information collected by CIHR may be shared as described in Use and Disclosure of Personal Information Provided to CIHR for Peer Review.

CIHR as a federal entity is subject to the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act, therefore the requirements of these two statutes will apply to all information located in CIHR's premises including, without limitation, cost-sharing agreements related to this Opportunity and all matters pertaining thereto.

While respecting the application of the Privacy Act to federal entities, all signing parties involved in a collaborative agreement will also be bound by the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). All personal information (as identified by the PIPEDA) collected, used or disclosed in the course of any commercial activity under collaborative agreements related to the Opportunity will be collected, used and disclosed in compliance with the PIPEDA.

Communications Requirements

Recipients are required to acknowledge CIHR, its institutes and partners in any communication or publication related to the project. See CIHR General Grants and Awards Policies, Acknowledgement of CIHR's Support for details on CIHR's communication requirements. The contributing institutes / partners will be identified on the Authorization for Funding and decision letter.

Monitoring, Performance Measurement and Evaluation

CIHR is committed to demonstrating results to Canadians for the money invested in health research. Therefore, processes for monitoring progress and appropriate use of funds, as well as for performance measurement and program evaluation are in place. As a result, funding recipients must:

  • contribute to the monitoring, review and evaluation of CIHR's programs, policies and processes by participating in evaluation studies, surveys, workshops, audits and providing data or reports as required for the purpose of collecting information to assess progress and results;

How to Apply

To be considered for funding, an application should include the following documents:

The Institute Community Support (ICS) form [ PDF (270 KB) | Help ] and the Applicant Consent form [ PDF (277 KB) | Help ]. Before completing, be sure to follow the Instructions to complete the ICS program application form when applying for an IMHA Community Outreach Grant.

You must send the following two formats of the ICS forms to the Institute:

  • Please email the Applicant Consent form, the ICS form and all the attachments to the Institute, IMHA@cihr-irsc.gc.ca.
  • An original signed Applicant Consent form, ICS form and all the attachments must also be sent by courier to the address listed below:

Attention: ICS Community Outreach - IMHA
Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
160 Elgin Street, 9th Floor
Address Locator 4809A
Ottawa, ON, K1A 0W9

Contact Information

For questions about this program, the objectives, CIHR funding guidelines, how to apply, and the review process please contact:

Tanya Gallant
Program Manager/Analyst
Institute of Musculoskeletal Health and Arthritis
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Telephone: 613-954-3469
Fax: 613-954-1800
Email: tanya.gallant@cihr-irsc.gc.ca

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