JANUARY 2005 NEWSLETTER
Message from the Scientific Director
In this, our first newsletter of 2005, we provide information on a just-posted new research funding opportunity, a reminder about the next deadline for support for workshops or other development-related activities, and notice of an opportunity to contribute to a new knowledge translation publication, the IHSPR KT Casebook. The newsletter also includes some important announcements of upcoming events, and more good news on the new journal front We are also, for the first time, including a thematic insert, this one on Global Health Research with a particular focus on health services and policy research. This insert features two contributions from Canadian researchers involved in this area, as well as a number of announcements of activities and opportunities.
Let me take this opportunity, on behalf of the staff and Advisory Board of the Institute, to wish all of our readers a healthy and successful 2005; as always, we hope you enjoy reading this newsletter, and welcome your comments or suggestions for future inclusions or features.
Morris Barer
Scientific Director
At last, a new health services and policy journal
It's official; we are targeting late summer or early fall for the first issue of Healthcare Policy, a new Canadian journal described in earlier communication http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/24637.html. We are delighted to report that Dr. Brian Hutchison, the Director of McMaster University's Centre for Health Economics and Policy Analysis, has agreed to serve as the journal's first Editor-in-Chief. He will be ably assisted by the following editorial team:
Francois Béland, Senior Editor
Rick Roger, Senior Editor
Luc Boileau, Editor
Colleen Flood, Editor
John Horne, Editor
Pascal Lehoux, Editor
Dianne Foster-Kent, Managing Editor
An editorial advisory board, populated by Canadian and international leaders, will be chaired by Robert Evans from UBC . More detailed descriptions of and backgrounds on the entire editorial team will be forthcoming shortly in a message from our editor-in-chief. A formal call for papers is also imminent. In the meantime, we hope you will begin to include this journal, whose success depends on your support, among the short list of options for your best and most policy/management-relevant work.
Scoping Reviews and Research Synthesis: Priority Health Services and System Issues
IHSPR is pleased to announce the launch of a Request for Applications (RFA) on "Scoping Reviews and Research Syntheses: Priority Health Services and System Issues". The purpose of this initiative is to support health services and policy research in thematic areas identified as high priority in recent national consultations. More specifically, funded work will:
Identify the most important issues/sub-areas where additional research should be a priority, within the following areas (i.e. scoping reviews):
and/or
Complete a synthesis in a sub-area or sub-areas where sufficient research evidence already exists, that can be used by health care and public health policy-makers, administrators, managers and the research community to better understand the likely implications of competing policy or management options in one or more of the following areas (i.e. research synthesis):
For more information, please visit the IHSPR website at http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/23352.html
IHSPR Knowledge Translation Casebook - Announcement of Call for Abstracts for Potential Cases
IHSPR will soon issue a call for brief descriptions of knowledge translation 'stories' or 'cases' in the area of health services and policy research. These 'abstracts' will be reviewed, and a subset of authors will be invited to submit full cases for inclusion in an IHSPR Knowledge Translation "Case Book", to be published in late 2005. The core aims of this Knowledge Translation "Case Book" are to communicate CIHR's commitment to knowledge translation, provide a vehicle for researchers and decision makers to share knowledge translation experiences, provide concrete knowledge translation examples for training purposes and communicate the potential impact of health services and policy research to prospective new students, and demonstrate the impact of research evidence in this area.
Abstracts will be reviewed and full cases invited in early Spring 2005.
Workshop and Community Development Program
IHSPR is accepting applications for workshops or community development initiatives; the deadline for the next round of applications is February 15, 2005. The application form and guidelines are now available on IHSPR's website at http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/13939.html.
IHSPR's Workshop and Community Development Program is intended to support health services and policy research workshops and community development initiatives that contribute to attainment of the goals and objectives outlined in its strategic plan. Thematic research areas identified for priority investment during national consultations are highlighted in Listening for Direction II. To view the thematic areas, please go to the Listening for Direction II report onCHSRF's website http://www.chsrf.ca/other_documents/listening/index2_e.php.
IHSPR is pleased to announce the following successful applicants to the October 15, 2004 round of the Workshop and Community Development Program:
| Principal Investigator | Event Title | Event Date |
| Adrian Levy |
Modelling Health Care in Canada | Sept 1, 2005 |
| William Ghali | International Collaborative Network for Development of Methodological Applications for Administrative Data | April 15,2005 |
| Elizabeth Stanger | Diverse Communities, Common Concerns | May 2005 |
| Charlyn Black | Development of a Network of Applied Health Services Research Centre Directors | Spring 2005 |
International Conference on the Scientific Basis of Health Services
The 2005 International Conference on the Scientific Basis of Health Services (ICSBHS) will take place in Montreal from September 18 to 20 at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel. The theme of the conference is "Improving Health by Advancing Healthcare: Linking Research, Policy and Action". This important event will offer researchers and decision-makers from around the world the opportunity to connect in a relaxed conference environment. A call for abstracts has just been issued. For more details and to submit your abstract online, please visit: http://www.icsbhs.org/abstracts.html. The submission deadline is February 28, 2005/*
The ICSBHS series started in London, England in 1995 and occurs every two years in the fall. Previous events were held in Amsterdam in 1997, Toronto in 1999, Sydney in 2001, and Washington, DC in 2003.
For more conference information, please visit www.icsbhs.org
2004 Summer Institute & Plans for 2005 Summer Institute
The third in a series of Summer Institutes for the health services and policy research, and population and public health research communities was held in 2004 in Whistler, British Columbia. This annual event is a key strategic capacity-building activity planned by IHSPR and IPPH to foster the creation and maintenance of complex interdisciplinary research teams and their community/policy-maker/practitioner partners. Such collaborations are increasingly recognized as critical to ensuring high-quality population and public health and health services and policy research, and the evolution of a network of researchers and research users across the country.
The Western Regional Training Centre for Health Services Research (WRTC), the Partners in Community Health Research training program (PCHR) and the Research in Addiction and Mental Health Policy and Services training program (RAMPS) co-hosted the June 2004 Summer Institute. The Summer Institute was supported by CIHR's Institutes of Aging; Circulatory and Respiratory Health; Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes; and IPPH and IHSPR; as well as by co-sponsors, the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (CHSRF) and the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIAR). All the funding partners are extremely grateful to the local hosts for the successful organization of this training event.
The 2004 Summer Institute's overarching theme was Negotiating the Shoals of Applied Research in Population and Public Health and Health Services and Policy. By bringing together students, community learners, researchers and decision makers, the 2004 Summer Institute offered a unique training opportunity, facilitated connections and provided a wide range of perspectives and expertise from disciplines within and outside the research community.
Fifty-seven doctoral, postdoctoral and master's students from across the country participated. The program content was developed to reflect the before, during, and after phases of an applied research project or program. A mix of plenary sessions, panel discussions and workshop sessions were delivered by twenty-five experts from a variety of backgrounds and range of disciplines.
The final report of the 2004 Summer Institute will be available on our website in the winter 2005. Plans are now underway for a similar event to be held in the summer of 2005 in Atlantic Canada.
The 2005 Summer Institute will be jointly hosted by SafetyNet and the Eastern Canada Consortium on Workplace Health and Safety based at Memorial University of Newfoundland, the RURAL Centre for Research Development and the Atlantic Network or Prevention Researchers based at Dalhousie University, and the Atlantic Regional Training Centre based in all four provinces. This is the 4th annual Summer Institute funded by the CIHR Institutes of Health Services and Policy Research (IHSPR) and Population and Public Health (IPPH).
IHSPR MANDATE
The CIHR Institute of Health Services and Policy Research is dedicated to supporting outstanding research, capacity-building and knowledge translation initiatives designed to improve the way health care services are organized, regulated, managed, financed, paid for, used and delivered, in the interest of improving the health and quality of life of all Canadians.
Contacts
Morris Barer, Scientific Director
Tel: (604) 222- 6872
Fax: (604) 224-8635
mbarer@ihspr.ubc.ca
Diane Watson, Associate Director
Tel: (604) 222-6871
Fax: (604) 224-8635
dwatson@ihspr.ubc.ca
Craig Larsen, Institute Manager
Tel: (604) 222-6874
Fax: (604) 224-8635
clarsen@ihspr.ubc.ca
Frederick Garrow, Administrative Assistant
Tel: (604) 222-6870
Fax: (604) 224-8635
fgarrow@ihspr.ubc.ca
Lindsay Hedden, Special Projects Officer
Tel: (604) 222-6873
Fax: (604) 224-8635
lhedden@ihspr.ubc.ca
CIHR - Ottawa
Michelle Gagnon, Assistant Director
Partnerships and Knowledge Translation
Tel: (613) 952-4538
Fax: (613) 941-1040
{mgagnon@cihr-irsc.gc.ca}[mailto:mgagnon@cihr-irsc.gc.ca]
Michèle O'Rourke, Associate
Strategic Initiatives
Tel: (613) 952-4539
Fax: (613) 941-1040
{morourke@cihr-irsc.gc.ca}[mailto:morourke@cihr-irsc.gc.ca]
Kim Gaudreau, Project Officer
Tel: (613) 957-6128
Fax: (613) 941-1040
{kgaudreau@cihr-irsc.gc.ca}[mailto:kgaudreau@cihr-irsc.gc.ca]