Canadian Health Services Research Foundation

Canadian Health Services Research Foundation
Name	Canadian Health Services Research Foundation
Formation	1996
Dissolution	2014
Type	Non-profit think tank
Headquarters	Ottawa, Ontario
Region served	Canada
Language	English, French

Canadian Health Services Research Foundation is a Canadian non-profit foundation established in 1996 to support evidence-informed decision-making in Canadian Institutes of Health Research-related domains and to bridge health policy and health services research communities. It operated nationally from Ottawa, Ontario, facilitating knowledge translation among provincial ministries such as Ontario Ministry of Health, British Columbia Ministry of Health, and stakeholders including Canadian Medical Association, Canadian Nurses Association, and academic institutions like the University of Toronto and McGill University. The foundation closed as an independent entity in 2014 after transferring assets and programs to other organizations including Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement.

History

The foundation was created in 1996 with support from federal and provincial partners including the Health Canada apparatus and public agencies such as the Canadian Institute for Health Information and the Calgary Health Region. Early leadership included board members drawn from institutions like Queen's University and University of British Columbia, and the foundation developed ties to research funders such as the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Over its lifecycle the foundation produced syntheses and funded projects involving policy actors from the Ontario Hospital Association, Alberta Health Services, and academic centres including Université de Montréal and Dalhousie University. In 2014 governance decisions led to an orderly transfer of core programs to successor bodies, and institutional legacies persisted through collaborations with the Canadian Patient Safety Institute and provincial health quality councils such as Health Quality Ontario.

Mission and Objectives

The foundation aimed to accelerate the uptake of peer-reviewed evidence from outlets such as The Lancet and CMAJ into practice at organizations including Toronto General Hospital and Vancouver General Hospital. Its objectives included capacity building among policy-makers at entities like the Public Health Agency of Canada, enhancing evaluation expertise at regional bodies like Nova Scotia Health Authority, and supporting implementation science work in partnership with centres such as the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health. The mission emphasized connections among actors represented by associations such as the Canadian Health Association and research units at McMaster University and Université Laval.

Programs and Initiatives

Programming included investigator-driven grants and knowledge-translation initiatives with partners such as Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences and networks including the Canadian Primary Health Care Research Network. The foundation ran executive training workshops featuring faculty from Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Yale School of Medicine, and Canadian programs at University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine. It produced policy briefs and evidence reviews drawing on literature from journals like BMJ and engaged with improvement collaboratives used by Saskatchewan Health Authority and Manitoba Health. Major initiatives targeted patient safety in collaboration with the Canadian Patient Safety Institute, primary care renewal with provincial colleges such as the College of Family Physicians of Canada, and performance measurement aligning with Canadian Institute for Health Information indicators.

Governance and Funding

Governance was overseen by a volunteer board including representatives from organizations such as the Canadian Institute for Health Research, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, and provincial health ministries like Manitoba Health, Seniors and Active Living. Funding streams derived from federal transfers involving Health Canada, contributions from provincial ministries including Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, and grants from philanthropic bodies such as the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and national funders like the W. Garfield Weston Foundation. The foundation reported to funders and partners including national associations such as the Canadian Nurses Association and academic stakeholders at University of Alberta.

Impact and Evaluation

Evaluation efforts used methods familiar to units such as the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health and research groups at McMaster University to measure uptake across sites including St. Michael's Hospital and L’Hôpital Montfort. Independent assessments referenced frameworks common to implementation science scholars at institutions like University of Ottawa and examined influence on policy decisions in jurisdictions such as Nova Scotia Department of Health and Wellness and Newfoundland and Labrador Department of Health. Impacts cited included strengthened capacity at provincial health quality agencies like Health Quality Ontario, adoption of evidence synthesis practices by networks including the Canadian Primary Health Care Research Network, and improved co-production of research with patient groups such as the Canadian Mental Health Association.

Partnerships and Collaborations

The foundation partnered extensively with research funders and delivery organizations including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Canadian Institute for Health Information, provincial health authorities such as Alberta Health Services, and academic bodies including University of Toronto Dalla Lana School of Public Health and Université de Sherbrooke. Cross-border and international collaborations invoked institutions like the World Health Organization, National Health Service improvement units in the United Kingdom, and academic partners at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. It convened stakeholders from the Canadian Medical Association, professional colleges like the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, and advocacy groups such as Patients Canada to co-design programs and translate evidence into organizational practice.

Category:Health research organizations based in Canada