UWinnipeg Research News

The Canadian Health Services Research Foundation is proud to launch our exciting new 2005 grants competition - Research, Exchange, and Impact for System Support (REISS) <>.

Developed in consultation with researchers, decision makers, and funders across Canada, the REISS competition combines elements known to fuel collaborative, evidence-based support for the organization, management, and policies of the Canadian healthcare system. The result is a unique funding model that goes beyond traditional research funding to promote high-potential-impact research, high-quality capacity-building initiatives, and effective dissemination and implementation of results.

Interprofessional teams of researchers and decision makers are invited to submit applications to REISS in one of the following theme areas:

- Management of the healthcare workplace; << http://www.chsrf.ca/research_themes/workplace_e.php >>
- Managing for quality and safety; << http://www.chsrf.ca/research_themes/safety_e.php >>
- Nursing leadership, organization, and policy; and << http://www.chsrf.ca/research_themes/nlop_e.php >>
- Primary healthcare. << http://www.chsrf.ca/research_themes/ph_e.php>>

Key features

To help you take advantage of this opportunity, here are some REISS's key features:

- Four program grants will be awarded in 2005, one in each priority theme area.
- Development grants (up to $7,500) are available to help support the preparation of full-scale applications.
- Successful program teams, meeting base requirements, are eligible for a maximum of $500,000 from the foundation over four years.
- Programs may be supplemented with a CHSRF/CIHR Postdoctoral Award "voucher" (additional $50,000/year for two years).
- Interprofessional teams must include researchers and decision makers from relevant organizations. Decision makers can be program team leads.

Call for REISS letters of intent

Please see the call for letters of intent on our web site at www.chsrf.ca/funding_opportunities/reiss/index_e.php for more information. Please feel free to pass this information along to any interested parties. Letters of intent are due December 15, 2004.

Helpful foundation tools

We are pleased to provide concrete tools to help researchers and decision makers enter into collaborative initiatives, such as:

- How to be a good research partner - A guide for health-system managers and policy makers on our web site at http://www.chsrf.ca/other_documents/partner_e.php.

- Knowledge Exchange Yields Success (KEYS) - A guide to knowledge exchange resources to help decision makers and researchers incorporate knowledge exchange into their work, found at http://www.chsrf.ca/keys.

- Productive Partnerships - Report on the 2002 CHSRF Annual Invitational Workshop - A report on a workshop about partnerships in the research process, found at http://www.chsrf.ca/knowledge_transfer/pdf/2002_workshop_report_e.pdf.

- If research is the answer, what is the question? - Key steps to turn decision-maker issues into research questions, found at http://www.chsrf.ca/knowledge_transfer/pdf/research_e.pdf.

Complementary funding opportunities

In its role as "innovation incubator," the foundation has successfully transferred the project component of its former Open Grants Competition (OGC) to the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). We are very proud that CIHR has adopted the spirit of our Open Grants Competition, including the merit review approach, and is committed to preserving the high quality of research funded through the OGC. CIHR has launched two new funding opportunities: "Partnerships for Health System Improvement" (formerly the project component of the OGC) <> and the "Team Grant Program. <>"

For more detailed information about REISS and for the call for letters of intent, visit our web site at www.chsrf.ca or e-mail the foundation at grantsandawards@chsrf.ca.

The Canadian Health Services Research Foundation is pleased to draw your attention to the call for abstracts for the International Conference on the Scientific Basis of Health Services (ICSBHS), of which the foundation is a sponsor. We encourage you to share this e-mail with colleagues whom you think would be interested and to learn more about the conference by clicking on the following link or copying and pasting it in your browser: http://www.icsbhs.org/. Please note the deadline for submission of abstracts is February 28, 2005.

The ICSBHS is a biennial conference series that began in the United Kingdom, and has since been hosted by the Netherlands, Canada, Australia and the United States. The conference returns to Canada in 2005 and will be in Montreal, September 18-20, 2005, hosted by the Canadian College of Health Service Executives.

The series provides an international forum for the exchange of health services research and experience to improve access to and the quality of healthcare systems. Its focus is on the process of promoting the use of scientific evidence for clinical practice, health services management and health policy.

The co-chairs of the 2005 ICSBHS Program Committee are Dr. Peter C. Coyte of the University of Toronto, Dr. Jeremy Grimshaw of the University of Ottawa, and Mr. Joseph de Mora of Kingston General Hospital, all of Canada.

The Theme of the 2005 conference is:

Improving Health by Advancing Healthcare: Linking Research, Policy and Action

The 2005 ICSBHS is the first significant international meeting to take place since the Ministerial Summit on Health Research held in Mexico City in November 2004. Our conference theme echoes the aim of the Summit to promote the practical application of health research in health systems and settings.

Therefore, the conference seeks abstracts that demonstrate:

• Research to Policy,
• Research to Action, or
• Policy to Action

To learn more, please click on the following link or copy and paste it in your browser: http://www.icsbhs.org/abstracts.html.

This is to remind you that the deadline is fast approaching for nominations for the CHSRF Health Services Research Advancement Award to recognize individuals and organizations who have made a major contribution to the advancement of health services research in Canada.

Winners of this prestigious award will receive $10,000 as well as a certificate commemorating their efforts.

Do you know someone who has made a great contribution in advancing health services research and evidence-based decision-making in Canada? Maybe a team of people or even a whole organization? It's time to recognize them for their hard work.

The Canadian Health Services Research Foundation encourages nominations of a wide scope of people for the 2005 Health Services Research Advancement Award. We are looking for nominations of decision makers who fund health services research, work in partnership with health services researchers, or frequently use research to make evidence-based decisions. We also welcome the nomination of researchers who are doing health services research, communicating research well, teaching about health services research, or advocating for it.

We want to recognize the people who are involved with health services research in many different ways - and not necessarily in traditional ways.

For a copy of the nomination form, please click on the following link or copy and paste it in your browser: http://www.chsrf.ca/funding_opportunities/hsraa/pdf/nform_e.pdf. Please submit your nomination by 5 p.m., March 31, 2005 to the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation. The winner will be awarded $10,000 to use for the advancement of health services research.

For more information on the 2005 Health Services Research Advancement Award, please go to the foundation's web site at www.chsrf.ca by clicking on the link or copying and pasting it in your browser.

A message from the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (CHSRF):

The Canadian Health Services Research Foundation is pleased to announce the launch of Knowledge Exchange Yields Success (KEYS, a new guide designed to help decision makers and researchers incorporate knowledge transfer and exchange into their work.

The Canadian Health Services Research Foundation focuses on the evidence-based management of Canada痴 healthcare system. We know that research can contribute to a knowledge base that helps ensure the best possible decisions are made in the management of our healthcare system. The foundation痴 role is to help bridge the gap between research and healthcare management and policy.

The foundation has put together this guide to knowledge exchange resources to assist applicants for research funding and, more generally, to help decision makers and researchers incorporate knowledge exchange into their work. Throughout the guide, you will find links to definitions and resources which will help you to better understand knowledge exchange and apply it in your work, as well as suggestions for further reading. In addition, there are specific tips and checklists for individuals who have received, or are looking for, funding from the foundation.

Knowledge exchange is at the heart of the foundation痴 work, an explicit part of our official mission and strategy, and woven throughout our objectives. The foundation defines knowledge exchange as collaborative problem-solving between researchers and decision makers. Our model of knowledge exchange is distinguished by linkage and exchange between decision makers and health services researchers throughout the process of planning, producing, and disseminating research and applying research in decision-making.

For more information visit: http://www.chsrf.ca/keys/index_e.php

This program is designed specifically to attract established, mid-career researchers from disciplines outside of the health area to apply their expertise and experience to applied health services and policy research issues. Those in the health area, including the health professions, are not eligible as they generally have greater access to research support. The exception is nursing researchers who want to redirect their research to include nursing management and organization issues. This exception stems from the specific mandate of the foundation to foster nursing research in Canada, through the Nursing Research Fund.

The innovative nature of this award prompted the foundation to conduct a pilot competition during the fall of 2000. Based on the success of that pilot in terms of attracting high-quality candidates from outside of the health area, the foundation again excluded health professions from the 2001 competition.

The evaluation of the pilot competition also strongly recommended that the term reorientation should replace renewal because it better reflects the objective of this award: to encourage established researchers to bring their skills and expertise to bear on health services or policy research issues.

The award includes $50,000 in salary support for training with an applied health services unit or group for one year. In addition, an allowance of $10,000 is provided to the mentor. The budget allows for a total of four awards each year.

Please direct all inquiries to GrantsandAwards@chsrf.ca.