Welcome to The Need To Know Team Meeting #13: May 30-31, 2005

1. Welcome to The Need To Know TeamMeeting #13: May 30-31, 2005 Director of Project: Patricia J. Martens PhD The Need To Know: collaborative research by MCHP, rural and northern RHAs, and Manitoba Health funded through CIHR’s Community Alliances for Health Research Program

2. Timeline of activities LOI Proposal Funding Major RHA needs assessment Funding ends |______|______|______|______|______|______| 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 The clock is ticking Project 1 COMPLETE Project 2 COMPLETE Project 3 IN PROGRESS Project 4 STARTING Support for interaction between RHA Team members and academic researchers (CAHR funds 3 meetings per year in Winnipeg) for collaborative research and ongoing educational opportunities Set up laptop computers for each RHA Team member (CAHR funded) new computers (CAHR funded) Develop web site (CAHR funded) Develop and test interactive web site content (CAHR funded) Opportunities for training and interaction with MCHP technical and academic support staff (CAHR supports 2 trips to each RHA per year by 2 MCHP personnel) Support for ongoing training and dissemination of knowledge products (CAHR funding supports 4 conferences for the MCHP directors, 2 conferences or workshops for each of the 11 RHA Team members, over the five years of funding)

3. Conceptual model of the MCHP/RHA/MH collaboration: the “need to know” knowledge transfer model

4. Conceptual model of the MCHP/RHA/MH collaboration: the “need to know” knowledge transfer model Communication, dissemination and application of the research New knowledge creation and development Development of RHA-relevant capacity Accessible information Training of academics Training of RHA team members

5. January 31, 2005 Introduction, State of the Union Sex Differences deliverable Coffee break Sex differences deliverable cont’d LUNCH (working group also) Site visits, Evaluation, E to A Coffee break North/South Meeting Evaluation and E to A February 1, 2005 Quasi-Experimental Designs revisited – What Works? Coffee Break Brainstorming other RHA deliverable ideas PCH Quality of Care Indicators LUNCH Mapping 201! Coffee Break Wrap-up and homework Mapping 201 continued (optional) ADVISORY Board: 3:00 pm in room 409 Agenda DINNER: 6:30 pm Habitz (bus pickup times – see brochure)

6. Some observations • PEOPLE and PLACES and TIMES • Farewell to Betty Mackenzie (now VP in South Eastman) • Conferences/workshops and speaking engagements: • CIHR Governing Council, CIHR Scientific Directors (Pat) • CHSRF annual decision-maker workshop (Pat, Sarah, Catherine) • Halifax workshop on the Team model (Pat, Sarah, Tannis, Sue, and Lorraine) • Edmonton: University of Alberta, Institute of Health Economics (Pat) • Toronto: Workplace, Safety and Insurance Board of Ontario (Research Advisory Board) • Winnipeg: Joint Inter-regional Meeting of Public Health Advisors/MOH (Pat) • Alliance on Mental Health and Mental Illness in Manitoba (Pat) • Manitoba Health/MCHP Annual Workshop Day (chair: Malcolm Doupe, Pat spoke on Mental Illness Report) • Montreal: CCAHR Lorraine Dacombe Dewar • Jen Magoon will continue helping Sarah with the evaluation (Keir took another job) • Stephanie Harvard is working at MCHP, tracking the impact of various deliverables (including Team deliverables) • Next two sets of meetings??? October 17 & 18, 2005 (the 18th is at the Caboto Centre)

7. Some observations • The Rural & Northern Health Care Day (October 18th, 2005) • Caboto Centre • Start generating the excitement at the regional level • How about a quality of care theme?? Possible speaker for the afternoon?

8. Some observations • SUSTAINABILITY • Our idea for a #4 deliverable .. “What Works” project is defined as a Manitoba Health deliverable for 2006/07, so we can start working on it! • Our funding proposal to CIHR for the “From Evidence to Action” project (to extend our evaluation into the realm of organizational barriers and tools to evaluate these) • SUCCESS STORY • Sarah will lead the discussion on this Monday afternoon • Pushing ahead money from years 1-5 to year 6 - DONE • CIHR LOI January 7th, 2005: the CIHR Team Grant to replace CAHR – up to 5 years of funding … we managed to put it in! • BAD NEWS – not asked to go forth (good news … there will probably be another competition, so let’s get really ready!)

9. Some observations: evidence-based story telling, and looking for gold nuggets WE ALWAYS NEED STORIES from the RHAs as to how this is being used, or how you feel it is putting evidence to bear in decisions/planning • used in a submission for a CIHR KT award (nominated by the university, with letters of support from the CEOs and the Deputy Minister) • Also used in the CIHR KT Casebook, due June 6th 2005 • Will use in future articles and submissions • A “thrust” of the evaluation in the coming months, and in Stephanie Harvard’s current work

10. Some observations • MISCELLANEOUS TIDBITS NEWSLETTERS … thanks to Elaine Burland!! • article on Rural/Northern Indicator differences (is Romanow Right?) sent to the Health Services Research and Evaluation Journal, and under review (still haven’t heard) • Various abstracts for the Canadian Public Health Association conference (Montreal) accepted • Waiting to hear about the submissions for the Quebec Rural Health Conference • One article on the evaluation (Bowen et al.) in press for the Health Services Research and Evaluation Journal. • Will be working on some mental illness report submissions

11. Site visits • April 2005 • Central RHA (Portage La Prairie) – many reports (Mental Illness, RHA Indicators, Child Health, First Nations reports) • Brandon RHA (Brandon) – Mental Illness report • Parkland RHA (Dauphin) – Mental Illness report • June 2005 • Assiniboine • North Eastman

12. The Tipping Point • Enough for every RHA – will hand out at the Rural Day in October • Connectors, Mavens, Salespersons “One of the things I'd like to do is to show people how to start "positive" epidemics of their own. The virtue of an epidemic, after all, is that just a little input is enough to get it started, and it can spread very, very quickly. That makes it something of obvious and enormous interest to everyone from educators trying to reach students, to businesses trying to spread the word about their product, or for that matter to anyone who's trying to create a change with limited resources. The book has a number of case studies of people who have successfully started epidemics--an advertising agency, for example, and a breast cancer activist. I think they are really fascinating. I also take a pressing social issue, teenage smoking, and break it down and analyze what an epidemic approach to solving that problem would look like. The point is that by the end of the book I think the reader will have a clear idea of what starting an epidemic actually takes. This is not an abstract, academic book. It's very practical. And it's very hopeful. It's brain software.”

13. Some tips from The Tipping Point:Connectors • We’re friends with the people we DO things with … • as much as we are with the people we resemble • We associate with the people who occupy the same small, physical spaces that we do • There are usually one or two people in our lives who are responsible for an overwhelming majority of the relationships that constitute our lives • These people link us up with the word, and are our Connectors – people with a special gift for bringing the world together • Sometimes Connectors have lots of “weak ties”, ie, friendly yet casual social connections. They also have a foot in many different worlds, so “bring them together”. • The closer an idea comes to a Connector, the more power and opportunity it has as well (word-of-mouth epidemics)

14. Are we in a Tipping Point? • Mental Illness Report/The Need to Know Team • More attention from Senator Kirby – invitation to a panel (postponed until the fall of 2005) • Continued attention from CIHR President Dr. Alan Bernstein • Recognition throughout Manitoba and Canada • Halifax trip March 2005 • Even Dr. Carolyn Bennett, Minister of State for Public Health, mentioned us in Saskatoon in April 2005!

15. The sex differences report • Welcome to the Working Group • Please stay for lunch after this – it’s down the elevator, take 1R, go down the hallway • You have also been invited to attend the Team dinner this evening at Habitz – buses leave at various times (check with me)

16. The importance of evidence-based stories … “If we could shrink the Earth’s population to a village of 100 people, with all existing human ratios staying the same, it would look like this: There would be 57 Asians, 21 Europeans, 14 from the Americas and 8 Africans. 80 would live in substandard housing. 70 would be unable to read. 50 would suffer from malnutrition. 50 per cent of the entire world’s wealth would be in the hands of only 6 people. And all 6 would be citizens of the United States.” (page 489) Ahdaf Soueif. The Map of Love. New York: Anchor Books (A Division of Random House, Inc.). 1999.

17. The importance of evidence-based stories … The truth about stories is that that’s all we are. “I will tell you something about stories,” the Laguna storyteller Leslie Silko reminds us, “They aren’t just entertainment / Don’t be fooled / They are all we have, you see / All we have to fight off / Illness and death. You don’t have anything / If you don’t have the stories.” (page 92) Take Louis’ story, for instance. It’s yours. Do with it what you will. Cry over it. Get angry. Forget it. But don’t say in the years to come that you would have lived your life differently if only you had heard this story. You’ve heard it now. (page 119) Thomas King. The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative. Dead Dog Café Productions Inc. and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, 2003.

18. North/South/Manitoba Health meetings Take some time to brainstorm about: • The “From Evidence to Action” proposal • Ideas for a research assistant? • site visits