Agency

What is NL SUPPORT?

Housed within the new Craig L. Dobbin Research Centre at the Faculty of Medicine, the Newfoundland and Labrador SUPPORT Unit (NL SUPPORT) is a multi-agency partnership between IBM, the CIHR, the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, Memorial University, and other agencies across the jurisdiction with a focus on applied health research and patient data. Instead of simply pursuing its own programme of research, NL SUPPORT will create a pool of resources available to any researcher in the jurisdiction whose interests fall under the mandate of SPOR. These resources can include: database linkages and data analysis, biostatistical and epidemiological support, project management support, assistance with study design, change policy analysis and more; resources will be allocated according to jurisdictional priority areas identified in close collaboration with policymakers and researchers, as well as patients, caregivers and other healthcare system users.

What is SPOR?

The Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR)'s Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) is a nationwide initiative focused on improving outcomes for users of Canada's healthcare system by fostering and supporting a research culture oriented around achieving real-world impacts for patients and their families.

Why is SPOR necessary?

Although biomedical "bench" research forms the basis from which almost every medical intervention springs, fewer than 20% of biomedical discoveries are translated into a possible device, medication or therapy. Fewer still are translated from the prototype stage into day-to-day practice. As those new interventions are brought online, there is a paucity of research comparing their effectiveness to interventions in practice. The research which does occur is almost always researcher-driven, with no input from the health-care system users themselves as to where their research priorities lie.

There is a clear, defined need in Canada for a system-wide overhaul of research practices to refocus the efforts of healthcare researchers on realizing positive outcomes for the patients themselves, driven from the bottom-up.

 
Additional information about SPOR can be found here: http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/41204.html

What is SUPPORT?

An integral part of the SPOR initiative is the creation of jurisdictional SUpport for People and Patient-Oriented Research and Trials (SUPPORT) Units across Canada. Each SUPPORT Unit will be a multi-disciplinary methodological research support centre, focused on creating the resources necessary to facilitate patient-oriented research which addresses the needs of each jurisdiction, as determined in consultation with the users in that region.

 
Additional information about SUPPORT can be found here: http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/45859.html

What about the SPOR Networks? How are they related?
 

Through the SPOR initiative, CIHR is supporting a number of strategies aimed at redressing the gaps in Canadian health research in addition to SUPPORT, including: training and capacity development in patient-oriented research, a nationwide program to regularize and streamline the process of initiating clinical trials, strategies for improving patient engagement in health research, and the creation of new patient-oriented research networks across the country. CIHR launched two SPOR networks in 2013-2014: the Network in Youth and Adolescent Mental Health, and the Network in Primary and Integrated Health Care Innovations.

• Network in Youth and Adolescent Mental Health 

This research network aims to improve the care provided to young Canadians with mental illness by translating promising research findings into practice and policy.

• Network in Primary and Integrated Health Care Innovations

The SPOR Network in Primary and Integrated Health Care Innovations’ goal is to support evidence-informed transformation and delivery of primary and integrated healthcare to improve individual and population health, health equity, and health system outcomes. The Network’s scope includes a focus on: individuals with complex needs across the life course showing capacity to evolve the network's scope over time to include age groups from children to older adults; and, multi-sector integration of upstream prevention strategies and care delivery models.

Although the SPOR Networks and SPOR SUPPORT Units are both funded through the SPOR initiative, the two are not linked except through a shared interest in patient-oriented research. SPOR Network research may take advantage of the new infrastructure offered by the Unit, but the primary research focus of NL SUPPORT will reflect the needs of the jurisdiction.

 
Additional information about the SPOR Networks, including contact information, can be found here: http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/45854.html