In 2000 the federal government took a historic opportunity to transform health research in Canada through the creation of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR). At the time, they acknowledged their intention to create a "flexible mechanism that will continually align health research funding with changes in the manner in which health problems and opportunities are identified, understood and addressed." Since then, the pace of change in health research in Canada has been truly astounding.
In June 2000, CIHR was established to "excel, according to internationally accepted standards of scientific excellence, in the creation of new knowledge and its translation into improved health for Canadians, more effective health services and products and a strengthened Canadian health care system." One of the earliest milestones for the new organization was the naming of 13 institutes to identify, coordinate, focus and integrate health research and translation priorities across the entire health research landscape. CIHR's Institute of Health Services and Policy Research was created to support innovative research, capacity-building and knowledge translation initiatives designed to improve the way health care services are organized, regulated, managed, financed, paid for and delivered, and used in the interest of improving the health and quality of life of all Canadians.
In December 2000, the Scientific Directors of each of the 13 CIHR institutes were appointed, and in early 2001 their Advisory Board members were named. Throughout 2001 and early 2002, our Advisory Board, Scientific Director and Institute staff have worked together, with our partners and stakeholders, to identify early priorities for the Institute, and to convert those priorities into a series of strategic actions. The Institute has, in a very short period of time, moved forward simultaneously on a number of fronts, intended to address four broad areas: increasing the size of the Canadian community of excellent health services and policy researchers; expanding the availability of the 'tools' for health services/policy research such as data resources; supporting strategic research that focuses attention on important (current or emerging) issues facing the health care sector; and translating the results of research to inform a wide variety of decisions across the clinical, anagerial and policy realms. Our priorities and the specific objectives associated with each are outlined in the Institute's inaugural strategic plan: "Health Services and Policy Research; Making the "BEST" of Canadian health care."
This document is our first 'annual' report; it covers the period January 2001 to March 2002. We have used this opportunity not only to report on the Institute's many activities and early accomplishments, but to highlight and celebrate the accomplishments of some of the individuals, groups and communities that conduct work in domains encompassed within the Institute's mandate. We welcome your thoughts on this report, or on any of the activities currently being developed or supported. Please feel free to call us (604-222-6870), or send us an e-mail at craig.larsen@ihspr.ubc.ca.
Morris Barer,
Scientific Director
Diane Watson,
Assistant Director
| Renaldo N. Battista, MD, ScD, FRCP(C) President and CEO, Agence d'évaluation des technologies et des modes d'intervention en santé (AETMIS) and Professor, Faculty of Medicine McGill University |
Heather Boon, BSc, Phm, PhD Assistant Professor, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto |
| Timothy Caulfield, LLM, LLB, BSc Associate Professor, Faculty of Law University of Alberta |
Vivek Goel, SM, MSc, MD, CM Professor, Departments of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation and Public Health Sciences, Vice-Provost, Faculty University of Toronto |
| Paula Goering, RN, PhD Director Health Systems Research and Consulting Unit Centre for Addiction and Mental Health |
Christopher Ham, PhD Professor of Health Policy and Management and Director Health Services Management Centre The University of Birmingham |
| Paul Hébert, MHSc, ABIM, FRCP(C), MD Associate Professor, Medicine and Epidemiology Director, Clinical Epidemiology Program Ottawa Hospital Research Institute |
Jeremiah Hurley, MA, PhD Professor of Economics McMaster University |
| Réjean Landry, PhD Professeur Département de science politique Université Laval |
Jonathan Lomas, BA, MA Executive Director Canadian Health Services Research Foundation |
| Martha MacLeod, RN, MA, PhD Associate Professor, Nursing Program Faculty of Health and Human Sciences University of Northern British Columbia |
Anne McFarlane, MSc, MA Assistant Deputy Minister Strategic Programs British Columbia Ministry of Health and Ministry Responsible for Seniors |
| Noralou Roos, PhD Professor and Director Manitoba Centre for Health Policy University of Manitoba |
Arthur Slutsky, MASc, MD Vice-President, Research St. Michaels Hospital |
| Laurence Thompson Chief Executive Officer Saskatchewan Health Services Utilization and Research Commission |
François Champagne, PhD Professeur titulaire, Groupe de recherche interdisciplinaire en santé Université de Montréal |
| Paul A. Lamarche, PhD (Chair) Professor, Departments of Health Administration and of Social and Preventive Medicine Director, GRIS Faculty of Medicine University of Montreal |
Ian Shugart, BA Assistant Deputy Minister Health Policy and Communications Branch Health Canada |
Since its inception, CIHR's Institute of Health Services and Policy Research (IHSPR) has attempted to respond to the myriad of challenges entailed in its broad mandate. This has meant moving rapidly and simultaneously on a number of fronts, to address problems and opportunities relating to: a) health services and policy research capacity in the country; b) the research resources needed to undertake high quality, relevant research; c) research gaps and emerging issues; and d) the CIHR-wide priority being placed on timely knowledge translation. In the following sections of this annual report, we outline the Institute's accomplishments in each area, during the period January 2001 - March 2002.
Early in 2001, the Institute partnered with four national organizations in a consultation process to define the most important issues facing the health care system over the next two to five years, for which new research would be timely. These issues were translated into 15 research themes. The process and the themes are described in Listening for Direction: A national consultation on health services and policy issues. The Institute's Advisory Board has used this, along with other sources of information, to inform its own process of defining the following eight priority research themes:
* Selected for priority action
Other research priorities have been identified through funding of priority-setting workshops in specific areas within the general ambit of health services and policy research. Between January 2001 and March 2002, IHSPR funded 12 workshops in partnership with other Institutes and organizations. Examples include "Addressing the Challenges of Making Home Care for Children and Youth Evidence Based" (October 2001); "Population-Based Health Databases in Canada: Current Status, Needs/Gaps, Priorities and Plans" (June 2001); "Health Technology Assessment Workshop" (February 2002). See Appendix 1 for a full list of funded workshops.
Early in 2001, the Institute canvassed the health services and policy research community by way of an open invitation on its website, for identification of research and data priorities. Many comments were received, and encouragingly, all were consistent with the themes identified through the Listening for Directions initiative.
During this reporting period, the Scientific Director and Institute Advisory Board members engaged in (and continue to engage in) an ambitious program of meetings and consultations with health services and policy researchers, research users and research funders/partners (see Appendix 2). Examples of these engagements include numerous university visits/forums, meetings with members of parliament, and discussions with senior government officials. These activities continue to serve as an invaluable means of identifying, confirming, refreshing and sharing information about research priorities. They also help to foster the necessary resources and other commitments needed to address the research priorities.
In May and July 2001, IHSPR posted the following Requests for Applications (RFAs), for which funding was subsequently awarded:
Financing Health Care in the Face of Changing Public Expectations.
This strategic initiative was designed to support excellent, innovative, interdisciplinary projects to help inform policy and management decisions in Canada regarding: the extent and reach of public funding for health care as it affects accessibility, use, cost and quality; the role of public values and expectations in determining what is publicly funded; and the effects of changes in public financing on the largely hidden burden borne by families and other informal care givers. This competition resulted in two IHSPR-funded grants. See Appendix 3 for a list of titles and Principal Investigators.
Improving Access to Appropriate Health Services for Marginalized Groups
This strategic initiative was designed to develop new approaches to identifying 'marginalized populations,' to increase the understanding of negative impacts on health or quality of life of differential access to particular types of appropriate services, and to articulate the key barriers to access. This competition resulted in five grants, funded by IHSPR in collaboration with the CIHR Institutes of Gender and Health and Aboriginal People's Health. See Appendix 3 for a list of titles and Principal Investigators.
Improving Quality of Health Care in Canadian Hospitals: A Research Study
This strategic initiative was designed to fund research that would determine the extent of adverse events (avoidable and otherwise) in Canadian hospitals and the availability of routinely collected data that could serve to monitor and reduce the occurrence of health system error. This competition resulted in one grant, funded by the Canadian Institute for Health Information and CIHR (managed by IHSPR and the Institute of Population and Public Health). See Appendix 3 for the title and Principal Investigator.
The Institute also provided support for initiatives identified as priorities by other CIHR institutes, where there are significant opportunities to improve health services, systems or policy. One ongoing partnership that began during this period is with CIHR's Institute of Genetics, to identify the most compelling strategic research questions and knowledge translation opportunities in the area of "health services and genetics. "A working group composed of leading researchers from both of these communities is undertaking the identification of these questions and the development of appropriate funding tools.
The Community Alliances for Health Research (CAHR) program was established in 1999 on behalf of CIHR during its formative phase, to promote and support innovation, excellence and partnerships across a broader range of research participants, and to foster excellent research of relevance to community groups and agencies. Nineteen CAHR initiatives were funded in 2001, a majority of which are conducting health services and policy research. Examples of topics include: From Medicare to home and community:
Overtaking the limits of publicly funded health care in Canada; An examination of factors contributing to a more effective health care system for Aboriginal people; and, Transforming primary health care from rhetoric to practice: Collaborative action for health and social change. See Appendix 4 for a list of CAHRs that involve significant health services and policy research components.
The Scientific Director participated on the steering committee for the Canadian Tobacco Control Research Summit (April 2002). The purpose of this joint Canadian Tobacco Control Research Initiative/CIHR event was to develop an agenda and action plan for tobacco research needs and directions. The outcomes will be covered in next year's annual report.
IHSPR is committed to working with key partners to address: the current deficit in health services and policy research capacity; the growing demand for high quality, timely research of this type; and, to enhance the quality and availability of resources available to this research community.
Canada's health services and policy research community encompasses a full spectrum of individuals, from researchers just beginning their careers, to new investigators, to internationally distinguished scholars. In 2001, our community celebrated the funding by the federal government of six health services and policy scholars as Canada Research Chairs (CRCs) (see Appendix 5 for a list of CRCss with a health services and policy research focus). Additionally, CIHR career awards were provided to distinguished scientists, senior investigators and new investigators in the health services and policy research community. Appendix 6 provides examples of health services and policy researchers who received career awards.
The Capacity for Applied and Developmental Research and Evaluation in Health Services and Nursing (CADRE) program was established by the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (CHSRF) to address short and long-term capacity building in the applied health services and policy research community. This multi-dimensional program is administered by CHSRF, and most elements of it are co-funded by CIHR - represented by IHSPR. The program's Career Reorientation Awards are designed to attract established, mid-career researchers from nursing and from disciplines outside of the health area to apply their expertise and experience to applied health services and policy research issues. The program provided two awards in 2001, to: Anne Dewar - Assistant Professor, University of British Columbia School of Nursing; and, François Blais - Associate Professor, Université Laval Department of political science.
In addition to career reorientation, the CADRE program also addresses long-term capacity building through training awards and support of regional and national training centres and national research chairs. In 2001, career awards were provided to 11 postdoctoral fellows in such areas as nursing, ethics, health economics, anthropology, health administration, and women's health. Examples of specific research topics include: models of knowledge transfer and use among healthcare decision makers; development of a priority-setting 'toolkit' for use by managers in health regions; and, elements needed to design an effective, efficient, comprehensive and coordinated delivery system for palliative care. See Appendix 7 for a descriptive list of 2001 CADRE post-doctoral awardees.
Also through CADRE, five training centres were established across Canada (each of which consists of a consortium of universities), and 12 research chairs were awarded. These ten-year awards are intended to allow recipients to build capacity by supporting the education, mentorship and career development of new researchers who will eventually become independent applied health services and policy researchers. Examples of research domains covered by the 12 chairs include: best practices in mental health; dissemination and uptake of health services research; inequities in health care; and nursing human resources. See Appendix 8 for a list of the CADRE training programs and Chairs. For more information on the CADRE program, visit (http://www.chsrf.ca/programs/cadre/index_e.shtml).
CIHR's Strategic Training Initiative in Health Research was established to train and develop new health researchers. This was the first major CIHR strategic initiative that involved the participation of all 13 Institutes. Fifty-one new training programs were supported through a total investment (with partners) of approximately $85 million over the six-year life of this program. A number of excellent applications in the areas of health services and policy research were submitted. Examples of training initiatives in the domain of health services and policy include: Transdisciplinary training in community partnership research: Bridging research to practice; CIHR training program in health law and policy; and, Development and evaluation of an Ontario Health Services Research Training Centre. See Appendix 9 for a list of Strategic Training Initiative grants that are being supported by the Institute and others.
CIHR supported a number of postdoctoral fellows and Ph.D. students during 2001, whose research is in the area of health services and policy research. In addition, because the Institute's Advisory Board identified capacity development as a high priority, the Institute specifically targeted strategic funding to increase the number of applicants in these personnel categories who could be supported by CIHR. These funds made it possible to award additional postdoctoral fellowships and Ph.D. studentships to applicants who declared a primary affiliation with IHSPR on their funding application. See Appendix 6 for a list of post-doctoral fellows and Ph.D. students (and their research/thesis topics) supported by CIHR and IHSPR during the reporting period.
In 2000 the Interdisciplinary Health Research Teams (IHRTs) program was established, on behalf of CIHR during its formative phase, to facilitate the discovery of new knowledge and the translation of research findings by integrating health research agendas across disciplines, sectors and regions. IHRTs bring together five or more researchers for the pooling of expertise, perspectives and resources, and typically involve organizations such as universities, colleges, hospitals, clinics, research institutes, government departments, or other not-for-profit entities with demonstrated research capacity. Several IHRTs are conducting work in the domains of research within the mandate of IHSPR. For example, these teams are working on projects with titles such as: The challenge of understanding and meeting the needs of frail older persons in the Canadian health care system; Coordinating prevention and health services in midlife; Preventing the emergence of anti-microbial resistance; and, Canadian Cardiovascular Outcomes Research Team. See Appendix 10 for a list if IHRTs that involve significant health services and policy research components. The full list of IHRT awardees can be viewed on CIHR's Website [ PDF | Help].
In June 2001, IHSPR co-hosted a planning workshop, Population-Based Health Databases in Canada: Current Status, Needs/Gaps, Priorities and Plans, where researchers and research administrators identified opportunities and challenges pertaining to the creation, access and use of data infrastructure for scholarly health services and population health research. This led to the development of a Request for Proposals (RFP) titled Population-based Health and Health Services Data in Canada: Current Status and Future Health Research Potential to be posted early in the 2002-03 fiscal year. The workshop was conducted in partnership with CIHR's Institute of Population and Public Health (IPPH), the Canada Foundation for Innovation, the Canadian Institute for Health Information, Canadian Population Health Initiative (-CPHI), Health Canada's Centre for Surveillance Coordination and Statistics Canada. The work envisioned in the RFP will be jointly funded by -CPHI, Health Canada, IHSPR, and Statistics Canada.
In February 2002, CIHR and six of its Institutes, Statistics Canada and the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics established a partnership to fund a new survey and research data source called the Joint Canada/U.S. Health Survey: Improving International Comparability of Health Survey Statistics. The purposes of the initiative are to produce a research resource with comparable data on the health of, and service use by, the populations in each country; and to develop, implement and document a model of successful international collaboration on the development of research data resources.
The Institute has been active on other fronts, contributing to the design and/or development of other data sources necessary for conducting important and timely health services and policy research. For example, in March 2002 our Scientific Director participated in the Health Canada Advisory Committee on Health Infostructure/Canada Health Infoway Inc. workshop on Identifying the Infostructure Needs of the Health Research Community. The Institute has also been involved in an initiative led by CIHR's Institute of Healthy Aging on establishing a Protocol Design for the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging.
IHSPR is committed to facilitating access to data that can be used to conduct health services and policy research, while at the same time working with partners to ensure that access and use protocols respect the privacy of information of individual patients, providers and organizations. In this regard, the Scientific Director and the Assistant Director contributed to CIHR's position paper Recommendations for the Interpretation of the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA), in the context of scholarly health research. In February 2002, the Scientific Director presented CIHR's perspective on access to research data at the Ontario Data Access Review Meeting, at which staff of the province's Ministry of Heath and Long Term Care and the research community met to explore issues pertaining to access to ministry data and statutory obligations related to privacy legislation.
The translation and use of new knowledge requires that researchers and brokers/users of research have the capacity to engage in knowledge translation; an environment that supports sustained, mutually respectful interactions between researchers and end users; and, the identification and promotion of effective approaches to this task.
As noted above, the CADRE program was designed to encourage the orientation of existing and new health services and policy researchers toward the application and use of research. One of the five regional training centres supported through the CADRE program is dedicated to Knowledge Utilization and Policy Implementation; this initiative is led by a group of scholars at the University of Alberta, in partnership with the University of Manitoba, University of Saskatchewan and Laval University. This Centre is developing programs aimed at Ph.D. students specializing in knowledge utilization and policy implementation, at graduate students in other faculties who want to enhance their skills in these areas, and at managers and professionals working in the healthcare system who are not pursuing graduate training. This program is a collaborative initiative with CHSRF and AHFMR.
The central importance of knowledge translation to the Institute's work was reflected in the early establishment by the Advisory Board of a Knowledge Translation Working Group. In 2001, that working group and the Institute's Scientific Director contributed to the development of a Knowledge Translation Framework that was developed by CIHR's Knowledge Translation group. This document is designed to guide CIHR in actualizing the knowledge translation potential envisioned in its mandate. This Working Group subsequently developed a paper outlining a strategic knowledge translation plan for the Institute.
The Scientific Director and Advisory Board determined that the development of a 'community' of health services researchers and networking and knowledge translation could be facilitated in Canada through the creation of a health services and policy research association and journal. With respect to the former, the Institute partnered with CHSRF to initiate discussions with the Canadian Health Economics Research Association (CHERA) about the potential of transforming that Association into a more broadly based, inclusive association that would encompass the communities of researchers who would see IHSPR as their primary CIHR Institute affiliation. A study was also commissioned to explore the pros, cons, feasibility and consequences of an expanded CHERA and alternate organizational models. We continue to work with the CHERA Board on this issue.
With respect to a journal, the Scientific Directors of IHSPR and the Institute of Population and Public Health commissioned a polling and feasibility study to examine the potential interest in forms of, market for, and financial viability of a Canadian journal that would provide a vehicle for highly relevant, first-rate (peer-reviewed) health services and population health research; the journal would also serve as an important communication vehicle for/to a variety of decision-makers. The results of that work were reported in "Interest in and Feasibility of a New Canadian Journal of Health Services and Population Health Research." The Scientific Directors subsequently initiated discussions with a number of potential partners, stakeholders and investors about the possible creation of a communication vehicle of this type. While no firm decisions or commitments were made in this reporting period, we are optimistic that significant progress will have been made by our next annual report.
In December 2001, IHSPR partnered with CHSRF for a response to the Honourable Senator Michael J. L. Kirby, on Volume Four: Issues and Options of the interim report The Health of Canadians - The Federal Role from the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology. Syntheses of the 'research facts' were provided on several key topics, including user fees, medical savings accounts, two-tiered health systems, and for-profit contracting; the objective was to assist the Committee with its stated desire to be "factual and non-ideological."
The Institute was able to assist the Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada (Romanow Commission) in early 2002 by arranging for peer reviews of 40 research papers. Many of the Institute Advisory Board members have presented to and/or met with members of the Senate Committee and/or the Romanow Commission on general and specific issues facing the health care system, and suggested policy/programmatic options. We have also communicated the importance of predictable and sustained funding for health services and policy research in all jurisdictions in the country.
A number of provincial and federal reports and commissions in recent years have proposed or considered medical savings accounts as a means of containing public health care costs. To help move the research evidence on this topic into the policy/decision-making domains, IHSPR partnered with CHSRF in early 2002 to commission a synthesis of the research evidence, for publication in CHSRF's Links newsletter.
The goals of the Institute will be best met in cooperation with a wide range of partners from all relevant sectors, the provinces and other countries.
The Scientific Director, members of the Institute Advisory Board (IAB), and Institute staff have met and established productive partnerships with numerous national and provincial organizations, in the course of developing the strategic initiatives described above. Partnerships and public engagement are so important to the Institute that a Working Group of the Institute Advisory Board was established to provide strategic advice and oversight for this ongoing activity. This Working Group will develop a "partnerships plan" for the Institute that is consistent with the overarching CIHR partnerships plan as set out in the Final Report of the Working Group on Partnership, but tailored to the specific needs and constraints of the health services and policy research environment.
As noted earlier, IHSPR partnered with CHSRF, the Advisory Committee on Health Services of the Conference of Federal/Provincial/ Territorial Deputy Ministers of Health, the Canadian Coordinating Office for Health Technology Assessment, and the Canadian Institute for Health Information to engage in a national consultation process to determine the most important issues facing the health care system over the next two to five years, for which new research would be timely. Fifteen research themes were identified, as outlined in Listening for Direction: A national consultation on health services and policy issues. This document provides a basis for planning and decision making not only for the partner organizations but for others as well. For example, in 2001 the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR) posted Requests for Proposals for five "State of the Science" reviews, four of which are in themes identified in Listening for Direction.
The partnerships established for the Listening for Direction initiative are being carried forward and expanded by the self-initiated Health Services Research Partners Forum. This committee consists of the original collaborating partners plus the Canadian Policy Research Networks (CPRN), Health Canada, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). These partners began meeting during this reporting period, and agreed on designating lead agencies for each of the research priorities identified in Listening for Direction. They are planning new partnership activities for the coming fiscal year, including the development of a common researcher/research user database, and a process for refreshing research priorities during 2004.
IHSPR, CHSRF and regional collaborators partnered to invest in the CADRE Program which is designed to address short- and long-term capacity needs on a regional basis. This program is described more fully at (http://www.chsrf.ca/programs/cadre/index_e.shtml). And, IHSPR partnered with the other CIHR institutes and some provincial health research funding organizations for the purposes of investing in the training of health services and policy researchers. CIHR's investments in IHRTs and CAHRs have resulted in many members of the IHSPR research community partnering on capacity building and research initiatives that have created new linkages between researchers from different disciplines, and between researchers and users of research.
IHSPR has undertaken several collaborative initiatives to invest in strategic research. For example, as noted above, the Institute partnered with the CIHR Institutes of Gender and Health and Aboriginal People's Health to fund a strategic initiative on Improved access to appropriate health services for marginalized groups. The Institute also partnered with CIHR's Institute of Population and Public Health and the - CPHI to fund a strategic program of research designed to determine the extent of adverse events in Canadian hospitals and the availability of data that could serve to monitor and reduce the occurrence of such events. As well, the Institute partnered with CIHR's Institutes of Population and Public Health, and Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addictions, in identifying training priorities that would serve their collective interests in creating new interdisciplinary researchers and research environments.
All of the strategic research initiatives funded by IHSPR, including those that are in partnership with others, emphasize the importance of translating evidence and new knowledge so that they become reflected in the decision-making of health care professionals, managers, and policy-makers. This emphasis takes a variety of forms, from requiring that applicants responding to RFAs provide detailed descriptions of decision-making partners and how they will be engaged in the research process, to requiring that funded workshops involve individuals and organizations likely to be affected by the outcomes of strategic priorities identified in those workshops, to supporting a training centre dedicated to knowledge translation.
The Institute undertook, during this reporting period, to support a number of more direct and targeted knowledge translation initiatives. As noted above, for example, the Institute partnered with CHSRF to commission the development of a synthesis of research on medical savings accounts. And, it partnered with the Romanow Commission to arrange for arm's-length peer reviews of background papers being prepared for the Commission that would subsequently be made available to the public.
IHSPR is committed to the creation and maintenance of a work environment that results in excellence in its programs, initiatives and activities.
The Governing Council of CIHR appointed members of the Institute Advisory Board (IAB) in early 2001.The Board is comprised of a Chair (Dr. Paul Lamarche, University of Montreal) and Vice-Chair (Dr. Martha MacLeod, University of Northern B.C.), and 16 other members from Canada and abroad. The IAB represents a truly impressive diversity of expertise, geography, 'pillars' and sectors. Board meetings represent an essential focal point for discussion and deliberation regarding priorities, research tools, actions and investments, and members are heavily engaged between formal meetings through a working group and standing committee structure, in implementation of important action items. The IAB met four times during the first 16 months of the Institute's operation.
During this reporting period, IHSPR operated out of temporary head office space established at the University of British Columbia (the academic home of the Scientific Director). An Assistant Director was recruited, and plans were developed for the remaining staffing of the office. In addition, IHSPR worked in close collaboration with CIHR's Institute of Population and Public Health to specify Ottawa-based human resource requirements for their Institutes. Additional staff will be hired in 2002-03. As of March 2002, IHSPR had hired most of its staff and had most administrative and financial systems in place. See Appendix 11 for the IHSPR staff directory as of March 2002.
During 2001 and early 2002, the Institute contributed to the organizational redesign and/or enhancement of CIHR leadership, operations and management. For example, the Scientific Director and Assistant Director each served on a search committee for two of the four new CIHR Vice-Presidents. They also served, formally and informally, on committees and working groups contributing to the CIHR annual report, the web excellence/website redesign project, and the development of an evaluation framework for the Institutes, amongst other contributions to organizational excellence at CIHR.
The Scientific Director, IAB members and Institute staff have contributed to the development and finalization of CIHR position papers such as: CIHR's Recommendations for the Development, Interpretation and Application of Canadian Privacy Legislation in the Health Research Community; Partnerships: At the core of CIHR; and, Guidelines for Access to Public Data by Privately-sponsored Researchers.
The Scientific Director, members of the Advisory Board, and Institute staff have begun to establish relationships with a number of individuals and organizations with a broad range of roles and interests in the provision and funding of health care services for Canadians. See Appendix 2. These relationships are central to effective communication and knowledge translation. Their development and sustenance will continue to be an Institute priority in the coming years.
For more information on the IHSPR Annual Report, or to obtain a hard copy of this document, please contact Craig Larsen at clarson@ihspr.ubc.ca or (604) 222-6874 .
