Irving Gold Vice President, Government Relations and External Affairs

1. Research mattersPutting RQHR Research on the MapResearch Showcase 2008Friday, June 13, 2008Regina, SK Irving Gold Vice President, Government Relations and External Affairs

2. Mission and Vision Our vision: National and international leadership in health education, research and care to meet the needs of all Canadians Our mission: To ensure the health of Canadians by promoting and supporting excellence in health education and research

3. Strategic Goals • To be a leading advocate and an expert voice on issues relating to health education, health research and clinical care. • To respond to changing societal needs with innovative educational programs. • To provide leadership in the development of a health human resource plan.

4. Strategic Goals • To define and advocate for appropriate funding to achieve the education and research missions of the Faculties of Medicine. • To enable and sustain academic careers for health and biomedical researchers through capacity building, education and funding. • To provide leadership in enhancing our accreditation programs and in developing a world class Canadian Conference on Medical Education.

5. My perspective • Working in the area of health / KTE / health research for 15+ years • CHEPA, McMaster university • Canadian Health Services Research Foundation • AFMC – government relations and external affairs

6. The political climate Minority conservative government Focused priorities Fiscal conservatism Advantage Canada 2007 Federal S&T framework Focus on accountability, transparency

7. Role of research and innovation “driving growth in productivity performance and standards of living. Innovation, the ability to envisage and create new products and services, or to produce existing products in different ways, lies at the heart of modern competitiveness. Joseph Schumpeter noted: “without innovation, no entrepreneurs; without entrepreneurial achievement, no capitalist returns and no capitalist propulsion”.

8. focused priorities and critical mass matter “We need to be clear about our comparative advantages, clear about our core national policy objectives and clear about our priorities and how they align with our strengths and objectives. A mid-size country that attempts to be a leader in everything will be a leader in nothing”.

9. attitudes matter “We need to focus more on global excellence, not local excellence, in S&T and innovation. As well, we need more emphasis on speed and agility, rather than process and entitlement”

10. commercialization of publicly funded S&T matters “For Canadian taxpayers to support public funding for S&T there has to be a clear public good, and this means a significant contribution to wealth and job creation in Canada as the paradigm itself suggests”.

11. robust private sector investment and involvement in S&T matters “Canada is a market-based economy, and the vast majority of the productivity gains from S&T must come from private sector investment in, and deployment of, S&T. Unfortunately, the record of private sector R&D investment in Canada is very mixed at best”.

12. Highlights of remarks by Kevin G. LynchClerk of the Privy Council, Secretary to the Cabinet and Head of the Public Serviceat the Canada – OECD roundtable on March 17th, 2008 in Ottawa

13. This is “theNew Normal… • Research dollars will be harder to get • Need to demonstrate ‘ROI’ • Increased emphasis in applied (vs. basic) research • Emphasis on ‘partnered research’ • Research dollars will be focused on federal priorities • Role of private sector will increase • Getting research ‘used’ becomes critical

14. Getting research used… • Relevant research • LFD • Merit Review • Research (or implication of research) that is accessible • Demand for research • Capacity to acquire, assess, adapt and apply research • Evaluation that research matters

15. Knowledge transfer and exchange Knowledge transfer Knowledge exchange Knowledge mobilization Dissemination Knowledge translation

16. “Health systems must interact closely with health research systems to generate and use relevant knowledge for their own improvement. A culture of mutual learning, problem-solving and innovation should be the basis of this relationship”. World Report on Knowledge for Better Health – Strengthening Health Systems, WHO 2004

17. “National governments (need) to establish sustainable programs to support evidence-based public health and health care delivery systems, and evidence-based related policies. Mexico Statement from the Ministerial Summit on Health Research - A Call for Action, November 2004

18. Dissemination (push)

19. Information overload!

20. Dissemination Effective dissemination goes well beyond traditional means of making research results available in academic journals and academic conferences (diffusion). Dissemination is an active approach, targeting users of research with crafted messages that encourage them to factor research implications into their work.

21. The Importance of Local Context “Time and resources need to be devoted to a period of local negotiation and adaptation of good research evidence based on a careful understanding of the local context, in which opinion leader influence is an important component of a well-managed and preferably well integrated process of change” Dopson et al J Hlth Serv Res Pol 2001; 6(1):29

22. Messages… Messages are the lessons decision-makers can take from your research They are not simply findings! They are what you think the findings mean for them (explicit or implicit) Tell my mother what the study really means Why is this issue relevant? What is the research evidence? How are current decisions different from ‘optimal’ decisions? More research is needed is not a key message!!!

23. Tailoring the effort – 5 Qs Q1: Who are the possible audiences? Q2: For each audience, who is the most credible messenger? Q3: How should the message be delivered? Q3: How should the message be tailored? Q4: When should the message be delivered?

24. The MESSAGE Must be clear, concise, consistent, continuous and compelling Identify your goal and deliver the information to make it happen Seed the idea over time and with different groups Give them something tangible, something they can hold onto

25. The DELIVERY Choose a messenger with credibility for the audience Use language your audience is comfortable with Be flexible; respond to their needs, their timing, not your agenda Keep going back

26. Necessary Shifts Must shift from targeting other researchers to interacting with decision-makers Must shift from study-specific based communications that emphasize ends with some conclusions to one that is audience specific and that presents ideas and uses individual studies sparingly Build research around the questions and needs of OTHERS User-friendly writing (1-3-25, plain language, methods last) Go beyond ‘findings’ and discuss ‘recommendations for operations or policy’

27. Pull efforts: creating demand

28. Characteristics of research use: • Acquire – where to look & access • Assess – quality & relevance • Adapt – summarizing & relating to your context • Apply – how research recommendations inform decision-making

29. Making research work in an organization takes more than one….

30. Creating Demand: Pull efforts • Self assessment tool (the 4 As) • Research use weeks • Promising practices inventory • EXTRA • SEARCH program • …

31. Brokering Knowledge Exchange

32. The evidence… • Review of 24 studies that asked over 2000 policymakers what facilitated or prevented their use of research evidence • #1 facilitator of research use: personal contact between researchers between researchers and policy-makers (13/24) • #1 barrier to research use: absence of personal contact between researchers and policy-makers (11/24) Innvaer et al. J Hlth Serv Res Pol 2002;7:241

33. Personal two-way communication between researchers and decision-makers should be used to facilitate the use of research. This can reduce mutual mistrust and promote a better understanding of policy-making by researchers and research by policy-makers. Innvaer et al. J Hlth Serv Res Pol 2002;7:241

34. What do brokers do? • Find and link people • Work with both parties to scan the literature, summarize what exists, identify gaps • Work with researchers and users of research to create research-able questions from policy/management issues • Ensure that both researchers and users of research are engaged throughout the research process

35. What do brokers do? • Collaboratively set agendas • Facilitate interactions • Communicate different ‘realities’ • Create a common language and frame of reference • Help to establish realistic expectations, roles and responsibilities

36. My first aspiration is that brokering will help establish a more positive relationship between researchers and policy-makers. …And even more critical to me, I hope [ASADI] will bring attention to implementing research. You see, in the research community, people think that discovering new ideas is the cutting edge. But if you have all of these shelves of new ideas that have not been implemented, it doesn't do anyone any good. I'm hoping that [ASADI] will place emphasis on the implementation of research, so that we can transform the lives of the people. • Miriam Were -- chair of Kenya's National AIDS Control Council and of its African Medical and Research Foundation