IHSPR Newsletter - August 2013

Table of Contents

Message from Dr. Robyn Tamblyn, IHSPR Scientific Director


Photo: Robyn Tamblyn,
IHSPR Scientific Director

As the IHSPR Community continues to investigate, collaborate and innovate to further the health of Canadians, it's important to recognize the varied scope of our domain and some of the key individuals moving it forward.

Our Institute Advisory Board (IAB) members are on the cutting edge of health services and policy research across Canada and internationally and they are here to share their passion for transforming our health care system.

Learn about our IAB member, Anne Sales' area of expertise and its current and future significance in health services and policy research.

— Robyn Tamblyn
Follow me on Twitter!

Institute Advisory Board Message


Photo: Anne Sales,
Board Chair

“At lunch with a colleague recently, we talked about the current state of nursing health services research, a branch of health services research that is either distinguished by being conducted by nurses, or by being about nurses and nursing—or both. Although the branch has come a long way in the last few decades, spurred in part by dedicated funding, in other parts by training programs that have embraced the challenge of educating both nurses in health services and policy research, as well as non-nurses in the discipline and practice of nursing, it remains a fairly small, occasionally stressed branch on a growing, expanding tree of more general health services and policy research.

Stressors include the reality that nurses with strong health services and policy training are generally in high demand, bringing a mix of clinical and methodological skills to teams and programs, so that focusing on issues specific to nursing is often secondary compared with other globally interesting and challenging work. Putting boundaries around “nursing” as a focal area is not easy; nurses constitute the largest group of professionals and para-professionals in most health care systems, with highly heterogeneous backgrounds, skills, and jobs. The impact of nurses varies widely by setting and sector, and nurses are found in almost every sector of health care, as well as many non-health care sectors (insurance companies, prisons, schools, to name a few). Focusing in within this richly diverse landscape can be very difficult. The hierarchy that persists throughout most health care settings generally puts nurses and nursing personnel in complex positions, usually in the middle of the hierarchy for professional nurses, going down the hierarchy as the professionalism gradient lessens. Within nursing, there is intense hierarchy based on education—which mirrors socio-economic status in most countries—seniority, and other factors.

The ecology of health care in Canada is as diverse as in other developed countries, with added variation from the realities of provincially based licensure and health system development. There are strong groups of nursing health services researchers in Canada, most notably the Ontario Nursing Health Services Research Unit shared between the University of Toronto and McMaster University, with developing networks in other provinces, such as InspireNet in British Columbia. At the 2012 CAHSPR conference, a panel on nursing health services research discussed exciting new research findings from Ontario and Quebec. Despite this strength, there is no regular meeting of nursing health services researchers in Canada, and no clear venue for forming a nucleus. While health human resource research as a related field, in which many nurses who are also health services and policy researchers work, is gathering momentum, it is not clear whether there are sustainable movements to build networks across Canada and internationally to continue growth and development in this field.

To be truly sustainable, this branch of health services and policy research needs to be integrated into the broader tree of health services and policy research more generally. There has been considerable development and capacity building both in HSPR more broadly, and within nursing health services research more specifically. Perhaps it's time to investigate the places where the branch joins the tree, and explore areas of common interest and importance. Nurses are vital to a sustainable, invigorated health care delivery system, and research that focuses on nursing's contributions to these systems is essential.”

Views expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of CIHR.

Applied Chairs Showcase

Photo: Dr. Martin Fortin - CIHR, CHSRF, and the Centre de santé et de services sociaux de Chicoutimi, Applied Chair in Health Services and Policy Research on Chronic Diseases in Primary Care

How can the health system frontline better support patients with complex, chronic disease?

Dr. Martin Fortin aims to generate knowledge and transformation around the complexity of multimorbidity disease management. His chronic disease research focus on those patients who simultaneously suffer from more than one disease is uncovering important practice and policy innovations.

An established joint Professor and Director of the Research Department of Medicine at Université de Sherbrooke, the Applied Chair position has further allowed Fortin to hone in on a key gap in chronic disease research. As the incidence of chronic disease continues to rise, Dr. Fortin observed a lack of knowledge in the extreme of chronic disease wherein further health issues arise in the form of additional or irreversible diseases. “I [told] myself that multimorbidity had to become a priority for both research and intervention and that it had to become part of the policy discussion,” he affirms.

Multiple chronic diseases can result in poor quality of life, psychological distress and additional medication problems and so Fortin works to develop alternative models of care based on interprofessional collaboration. Integrated health issues, demand integrated teams that can understand problems from a variety of perspectives, and ensure comprehensive solutions. From fundamental research knowledge, to ongoing discoveries and future collaborations, he is able to share his repertoire and foster new linkages with the research community that spark a diverse dialogue on multimorbidity.

The influential Applied Chair position has not only heightened Fortin's visibility and credibility, but that of his cause, in Canada and internationally. His research team has established the International Research Community on Multimorbidity that puts researchers in contact and even hosts a blog that posts quarterly reviews of multimorbidity literature for the greater benefit of all researchers and policymakers.

Despite the growing research and policy interest in the field of chronic disease and multimorbidity, Fortin insists, “We have to give more power and resources to the frontline.” Thanks to efforts from researchers like Fortin this work has already begun in many places in Canada. The 12 new CIHR Community Based Primary Health Care (CBPHC) Innovation Teams are poised to carry on the tradition of groundbreaking research in chronic disease prevention, management and enhanced access to care.

The road to transformation is one of patience where credibility and relationships must be built and maintained. Fortin notes that challenges in implementing practice interventions, have created opportunities ensure sustained and meaningful engagement with frontline workers. “We have to take small steps and demonstrate the effectiveness and efficiency of our interventions [to ensure transformation]”

Developing health practice excellence is not Fortin's only aspiration; he hopes to cultivate the capacity of budding health services and policy research students. As an Applied Chair, he has created an environment conducive to collaboration and knowledge exchange as he believes in the value of mentorship. “Our medical research system values both ideas and experience,” he asserts, adding that experienced partners will enable and encourage young researchers to seek answers to novel health care questions.

Complete the sentence with Dr. Fortin!

  1. My role models are researchers like Moira Stewart, Bill Hogg and many others who have done much to advance primary health care.
  2. The one thing I can't live without is … my family, personally and my connection to the world via the web, professionally!
  3. In 2013 I will … finish the program of my CIHR Applied Chair and prepare myself for what comes next
  4. My secret talent is … secret!
  5. If I had $1,000,000 I would … support a new researcher who has good ideas to contribute to research on multimorbidity in primary health care

Funding News

Funding Decision – Community Based Primary Health Care

Photo: (left to right) Dr. Diane Finegood, President and CEO of the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research; Dr. Robyn Tamblyn, Scientific Director of CIHR-IHSPR; the Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health; Nina Grewal, Fleetwood-Port Kells MP and; Sabrina Wong, Nominated Principal Investigator of one of funded CBPHC teams in Surrey, B.C.

The results of the CIHR: Innovation Team Grants in Community Based Primary Health Care competition were recently announced by the Honourable Leona Aglukaaq, Minister of Health. The successful teams will focus on chronic disease prevention and management and access to appropriate care for vulnerable populations. Congratulations to the 12 funded teams spanning Canada and featuring collaborations with Australia and New Zealand.

Read the media release.
For more information, visit CBPHC Initiative.

Funding Opportunities 2013-2014

Operating Grant: 2013-2014

Registration Deadline: August 8, 2013 (Fall)/February 3, 2014 (Winter)
Application Deadline: September 16, 2013 (Fall)/March 3, 2014 (Winter)

The CIHR Open Operating Grant Program (OOGP) provides operating funds to support research proposals in all areas of health research including randomized controlled trials. The OOGP is the largest of the open calls for proposals within CIHR's programming and is flexible, in that there are:

  • No specific requirements in relation to team size or team composition; nonetheless, the role of each applicant must be clearly identified.
  • No specific requirements or restrictions on the specific research activities to be undertaken.
  • No maximum or minimum with respect to the term of funding. No minimum dollar value, however due to budget restrictions with the large grant envelope (see below), no individual grant application exceeding a total cost of $12.5M will be accepted.

Operating Grant: Population Health Intervention Research

Application Deadline (Letter of Intent): September 11, 2013

The CIHR-Institute of Population and Public Health in partnership with the Institute of Aging; CIHR HIV/AIDS Research Initiative; Canadian Cancer Society; and, the New Brunswick Health Research Foundation have launched the Population Health Intervention Research Operating Grant competition. This competition also includes a focus on CIHR's Pathways to Health Equity for Aboriginal Peoples Signature Initiative.

The purpose of this funding opportunity is to support the prompt initiation of population health intervention research on rapidly unfolding programs, policies and resource distribution approaches that have been initiated by others (e.g., policy makers) and have the potential to impact health and health equity at the population level.

The following research examples that might be conducted are simply illustrative:

  • Economic analyses to inform and evaluate population health interventions
  • Housing policies and the impact on tuberculosis prevention and control for Aboriginal peoples
  • The impact of intersectoral policy changes on health and health equity
  • Health equity impacts of changes in infrastructure intended to reduce environmental degradation

Clinician-Scientist Training Award : 2013-2014

Application Deadline: October 1, 2013

This program (Phase 1) is directed towards highly qualified and motivated clinicians who have been identified by a Canadian medical school or dental school as having strong potential to become clinician scientists. Phase 1 provides stipends for up to 6 years of training support (initial 3-year award and possible 3-year renewal).

Doctoral Research Award: 2013-2014

Application Deadline: October 1, 2013

The CIHR Doctoral Research Awards consist of two programs administered through a single application:

  • The Frederick Banting and Charles Best Canada Graduate Scholarships Doctoral Awards (CGS-D) program provides special recognition and support to students who are pursuing a doctoral degree in a health-related field in Canada.
  • The Doctoral Foreign Study Award (DFSA) provides special recognition and support to students who are pursuing a doctoral degree in a health-related field abroad.

e-Health Innovations Catalyst Grant

Application Deadline: October 15, 2013

The CIHR Institute of Health Services and Policy Research (IHSPR) has re-launched the e-Health Innovations Catalyst Grant in partnership with the CIHR Institute of Aging (IA) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

Funding opportunity objectives

The aim of the e-Health Innovations Catalyst Grant is to fund novel approaches to e-health innovation that will improve the quality of patient and population centered care and improve Canada's competitive position in the e-health innovation industry. The proposed research must evaluate cost and at least one of the domains of quality including effectiveness, efficiency, equity, patient centeredness, safety and timeliness.

Details of the funding opportunity are live and applications are now being accepted.

Sign up now for our information webinar to ask any questions and learn more about the funding opportunity re-launch.

Partnerships for Health System Improvement (PHSI) (2013-2014)

Application deadline: November 1, 2013

The intent of the Partnerships for Health System Improvement (PHSI) program is to strengthen Canada's healthcare system through collaborative, applied and policy-relevant research. PHSI is Canada's premier health services and policy research competition — and with its strong emphasis on partnerships and knowledge translation, it is also a major resource for managers and policy makers who want relevant research to inform their decision-making. PHSI funds teams of decision makers and researchers to conduct applied health services and policy research. Because they participate throughout the research process, the research results are more likely to be relevant to and used by decision makers.

Objectives of this funding opportunity are:

  • Support research that "reflects the emerging health needs of Canadians and the evolution of the health system and supports health policy decision-making"
  • Support research relevant to decision makers by producing results that can be applied to multiple regions and/or settings;
  • Foster "collaboration with the provinces and with individuals and organizations in or outside Canada that have an interest in health or health research" and engage a variety of partners, "in or outside Canada, with complementary research interests;1
  • Promote the "involvement and recognition of, and respect for, health researchers from an array of health disciplines";1 and,
  • Enable "the dissemination of knowledge and the application of health research to improve the health of Canadians1 and strengthen the Canadian healthcare system.

Relevant Research Areas:

The PHSI program welcomes any health systems, health services and policy research questions deemed relevant by Canada's health care decision makers and with potential to improve the health of Canadians and strengthen the Canadian health care system.

New Investigator Salary Award: Winter 2013 Priority Announcement

Application deadline: December 2, 2013

The CIHR-Institutes of Health Services and Policy Research (IHSPR) and of Population and Public Health (IPPH) are funding New Investigator Salary Awards through the Signature Initiative in CBPHC.

The Signature Initiative in CBPHC is dedicated to supporting the training and mentoring of CBPHC trainees, new investigators, and health professional scientists. To this end, the New Investigator Salary Award program is designed to provide outstanding New Investigators the opportunity to develop and demonstrate their scientific independence in initiating and conducting programs of health research through salary support. IHSPR and IPPH will provide funding for New Investigator Award applications in the area of CBPHC that have a primary focus on innovative models for chronic disease prevention and management in CBPHC and/or improving access to appropriate CBPHC for vulnerable populations.

More information about this competition can be found on ResearchNet. More information on the Signature Initiative in CBPHC can be found on CIHR's website or contact Meghan McMahon (mmcmahon.ihspr@mcgill.ca) or Erica Di Ruggiero (e.diruggiero@utoronto.ca).

Other Funding Opportunities 2013-2014

Announcements

2012-13 CIHR-IHSPR Article of the Year and Rising Star Award Winners

The CIHR Institute of Health Services and Policy Research (IHSPR) would like to congratulate the 2012-13 Article of the Year and Rising Star award winners.

The Article of the Year Award recognizes published research that has significantly contributed to the advancement of the field of health services and policy research in Canada while the Rising Star Award recognizes the research excellence and knowledge translation initiatives of graduate students and post-doctoral fellows.

Article of the Year

  • Malcolm Doupe, PhD
  • Tewodros Eguale, MD, PhD

Rising Star

  • Noah Ivers, MD
  • Tara Kiran, MD, MSc
  • Alexandra Martiniuk, PhD

2012-13 CAHSPR Student Poster Prize

Each year at the Canadian Association for Health Services and Policy Research (CAHSPR) conference IHSPR sponsors a Student Poster Competition, designed to encourage graduate students to showcase their work and to recognize the outstanding research efforts of up-and-coming health services and policy researchers. Posters are reviewed by a team of expert reviewers who each devote their time and effort to conducting the reviews.

  • First place: Andrew Boozary of the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences, for his poster "Economic impact of a housing first intervention for homeless people with mental illness: preliminary one year results of the at Home/Chez Soi study"
  • Second place: Jocelyn Pang of University of Waterloo, for her poster " Efficacy and consumer preferences for calorie labelling on menus”
  • Third place: Elizabeth Wall-Wieler of University of Manitoba, for her poster " Evaluating Pay-for-Performance in the Emergency Department"

Photo: Jocelyn Pang (2nd place), Robyn Tamblyn, Scientific Director of CIHR-IHSPR, Elizabeth Wall-Wieler (3rd place) and Andrew Boozary (1st place)

EIHR Portal Welcomes New Partner

http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/images/EIHR-Portal.jpg

Photo: Dr. Diane Finegood, President and CEO of the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (left), with Dr. Robyn Tamblyn, Scientific Director of CIHR-IHSPR at the 2013 CAHSPR Conference.

At the 2013 Canadian Association of Health Services and Policy Research (CAHSPR) Conference in Vancouver, CIHR announced that the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR) joined the national partnership supporting the Evidence-Informed Healthcare Renewal (EIHR) Portal.

MSFHR, which supports health research in British Columbia, is among 19 organizations supporting the EIHR Portal. The partners represent federal, provincial and territorial governments and other health care stakeholders.

The EIHR Portal provides health system policy makers and stakeholders in Canada with access to a wealth of reliable evidence for health care renewal. It is supported through a partnership between federal, provincial and territorial governments and leading organizations in the health care community and permits knowledge sharing across the country.

For more information, visit the EIHR Portal.

Post-doctoral Fellowship, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

Deadline: Thursday, December 5, 2013

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health has established a Post-doctoral Fellowship in Community-based Research through our Social and Epidemiological Research Department. The purpose is to provide a post-doctoral fellow with training in the techniques and principles of community-based research in mental health and addictions. Fellows can propose research in any area related to mental health and addictions, and can be supervised by any CAMH scientist. Applications are due December 5, 2013.

Contact:
Lori E. Ross, PhD
Tel: 416-535-8501 ext. 77383

Got Good News?

Are you a CIHR-funded investigator driving innovative health services and policy research? Have you recently been published in a peer-reviewed journal? Then we want to hear from you!

Send us a research project abstract and a short summary (500 words max) of your latest game-changing outcomes and impacts for a chance to be featured in the IHSPR newsletter or website! Forward us your information.

Did You Know?

Community Engagement Update : Tri-Agency harmonization of the Canada Graduate Scholarships Program

In fall 2012, the federal granting agencies (the Canadian Institutes of Health Research [CIHR], the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council [NSERC] and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council [SSHRC]) launched the harmonization of the Canada Graduate Scholarships (CGS) program.

The initiative aimed to provide an opportunity to critically examine the ways in which the three granting agencies are delivering the CGS program and to rethink some of the fundamentals. The examination of the program is now completed and the agencies will implement changes as of fall 2013.

For more information on this initiative please contact harmonization@cgs-besc.gc.ca

CIHR Reforms

CIHR has published the eligibility criteria for the upcoming Foundation Scheme “live pilot” competitions. You are invited to visit the Reforms section of CIHR website to find information about the parameters in which researchers will be allowed to apply to the two Foundation Scheme “live pilot” competitions.

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