SPOR Renewal Funding is up for applications

[Annette McKinnon]

In case you're interested, I went through the request for applications and isolated what I felt were the patient oriented areas. There weren't as many as I wanted to see. Is anyone else disappointed?

I cut and pasted this look at the Patient components of the SPOR funding renewal grant application requirements: It's a short cut, so the "patient inclusion” would be obvious. This will govern the next 5 years of SPOR.

https://www.researchnet-recherchenet.ca/rnr16/vwOpprtntyDtls.do?prog=3167&view=currentOpps&org=CIHR&type=EXACT&resultCount=25&sort=program&next=1&all=1&masterList=true#moreinformation

Patient-oriented research (POR) refers to a continuum of research that engages patients as partners, focuses on patient-identified priorities and improves patient outcomes. This research, conducted by multidisciplinary teams in partnership with relevant stakeholders, aims to apply the knowledge generated to improve health care systems and practices.

A key enabling infrastructure for SPOR, Support for People and Patient-Oriented Research and Trials (SUPPORT) Units provide specialized services throughout their jurisdictions to researchers, patients, clinicians, policy makers and SPOR-funded entities to conduct POR and enable the translation of POR into health care policy and practice

Objectives

This funding opportunity is expected to:

• Bridge the gap between research evidence and health care practice by providing services to generate evidence and innovations, leading to improvements in patient health, health care and service delivery by:

  • Providing support services to respond to patient-oriented research needs of jurisdictional stakeholders;

  • Strengthening and maintaining Canadian capacity in Patient-Oriented Research; and

  • Engaging stakeholders (e.g. patients, policy makers, health care decision makers, clinicians and researchers) as active partners in both patient-oriented research and the implementation of its results into improved health care for Canadians.

To meet the criteria outlined in the Objectives section, applications must fulfill all of the core component areas

Component 1: Data Platform and Services (no pts)

MUST

ensure each SUPPORT Unit builds and/or maintains a data platform that incrementally adds relevant datasets within their jurisdiction and equitably provides that data to researchers, policy makers and other SPOR stakeholders, upon request and in a timely manner, in support of POR

Component 2: Learning Health System (1 mention of patients)

A learning health system is an integrated health system in which progress in science, informatics, and care culture align to generate new knowledge as an ongoing, natural by-product of the care experience, and seamlessly refine and deliver best practices for continuous improvement in health and health care

The SUPPORT Unit Learning Health Systems component will be expected to:

• Develop a mechanism for regularly collating and communicating P/T health research priorities (i.e., every six months to one year) and enabling face-to-face engagement and knowledge mobilization between researchers, knowledge users and patients.

Component 3: Capacity Development (mostly for researchers etc)

promoting POR, advancing the science of patient engagement, providing localized/contextualized training, and providing scholarships to undergraduate, graduate and post-doctoral trainees.

All SUPPORT Units will be required to align their capacity development activities with the existing SPOR Capacity Development Framework and continue their role in training and providing the physical or virtual training environments to patients, researchers, health practitioners, administrators, and policy makers.

This work includes moving beyond traditional approaches to training by engaging stakeholders from all relevant disciplines, sectors, geographies and cultural perspectives.

For this component, support and services will include:

• Offering POR training opportunities to trainees, researchers, patients, health care professionals, health system administrators and others within their jurisdiction.

• Offering POR training awards, such as graduate studentships or internships, in an equitable, transparent manner. Awards that focus on embedding trainees and researchers into various multidisciplinary POR settings within the jurisdiction are encouraged.

• Creating an appropriate environment for Indigenous trainees, researchers and patients support and mentorship. To achieve this goal, community-based approaches are important.

• Working with the SPOR National Training Entity to:

  1. Share and/or scale up training resources and opportunities;

  2. Develop and implement a national strategy to prioritize and address capacity gaps, ensuring diverse and underrepresented perspectives are appropriately sought and integrated; and

  3. Support career pathways for trainees, early career researchers and implementation specialists in their jurisdiction, including:

     1. Developing Individual Development Plans;

     2. Creating mentoring opportunities for trainees and researchers in different POR settings; and

     3. Developing key knowledge and skills for POR SPOR Capacity Development Initiative.

• Continuing to develop training resources and/or opportunities for specialized research skill sets stemming from their jurisdiction’s particular needs or expertise.

• Continue building capacity for patient engagement by modeling meaningful patient engagement in SUPPORT Unit governance and within projects conducted and supported by the Unit. Further, SUPPORT Units will be expected to continue conducting and supporting research on patient engagement methods and evaluation.

Component 4: Patient Engagement (This is in fact all it says for this component)

All SUPPORT Unit activities will be required to align with the SPOR Patient Engagement Framework. Patients must be meaningfully engaged in the governance bodies of the SUPPORT Units and on all research projects conducted by the SUPPORT Unit.

Additional Requirement 1: Working across SUPPORT Units

Additional Requirement 2: Providing Services to other SPOR-Funded Entities

Additional Requirement 3: Governance Structure

Stakeholder groups and/or community members, such as patients/family/informal care providers, knowledge holders, Elders, health care professionals and health professional associations are important to the success of this initiative and therefore are expected to be meaningfully engaged in the development and implementation of the SUPPORT Unit.

Objectives

This funding opportunity is expected to:

• Bridge the gap between research evidence and health care practice by providing services to generate evidence and innovations, leading to improvements in patient health, health care and service delivery by:

  • Providing support services to respond to patient-oriented research needs of jurisdictional stakeholders;

  • Strengthening and maintaining Canadian capacity in Patient-Oriented Research; and

  • Engaging stakeholders (e.g. patients, policy makers, health care decision makers, clinicians and researchers) as active partners in both patient-oriented research and the implementation of its results into improved health care for Canadians.

Annette

[Scott Simpson]

Thanks for sharing Anette.

I concur, the Component #4 - Patient Engagement leaves a wide berth for interpreting 'meaningfully engaged'.

Would've liked to see more details and expectations.

[Lisa Ridgway]

Thanks for this Annette (and hello PAN community!). I am pushing the HUB / BC SUPPORT Unit hard on this (including my wonderful regional centre on Vancouver Island). Stay tuned as we get into the renewal process in early 2020.