Government of Canada and Newfoundland and Labrador are putting patients first with new research investment
Patients, families, and caregivers are best placed to know what is important and what is not when receiving health care services. That’s why patient-oriented research and care is so vital: through their lived experience, patients bring valuable firsthand perspectives to research that, in turn, help lead to new and better ways of delivering care that ultimately improve the health of Canadians.
Today, the Honorable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Health, announced a combined investment of $9.7 million over five years from the Government of Canada and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador to support ongoing patient-oriented research through the province’s SPOR SUPPORT Unit. The SPOR Support for People and Patient-Oriented Research and Trials (SUPPORT) Unit connects research with patient needs so that evidence-based solutions can be applied to health care.
NL SUPPORT, the province’s SPOR SUPPORT Unit, has had a busy year. It hosted a Research Design Training Series after assessing their community’s training needs. These weekly webinars featured guest speakers on various research methods and provided valuable insight to researchers, decision makers, clinicians, patient partners and students, who are now better positioned to understand how to conduct patient-oriented research.
As well, NL SUPPORT’s lead program Quality of Care NL, played a key role as secretariat for the provincial government’s Health Accord NL Task Force, whose work centres on improving health outcomes and health care for Newfoundlanders and Labradorians. Culminating in 59 calls to action focused on addressing the social determinants of health and rebalancing the health care system, the Task Force’s work will result in a significant health transformation in the province.
This funding is provided as part of Canada’s Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR), a pan-Canadian initiative dedicated to integrating the voices of patients in research and health care. SPOR is led by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) with support from partners across the country.