Alberta Innovates- Health Solutions

General Principles:

• A Program will involve a team which includes investigators and integrates users of the research (policy- and/or decision-makers). The policy- or decision-makers² will be involved in a substantive way in all aspects of the Program, either as part of the management of the Programs or as co-investigators, not just in an advisory role.
• A Program operates on a much larger scale than individual projects and may be formed through a series of research questions asked and answered concurrently and/or consecutively through an inter-dependent series of projects (see footnote below).
• The Program will be expected to be an important locus for training or capacity building.
• The Program will be expected to be planned, implemented and evaluated in ways which are consistent with the Research in Practice Framework developed by the Foundation (http://www.ahfmr.ab.ca/publications/reports/hrip2000/framework.php) to articulate the essential elements of collaborative research development, transfer and uptake that support utilization of results.
• The principal investigator, or one of the co-principal investigators, and some members of the research group should be directly affiliated with a not-for-profit Alberta institution or organization that will be responsible for the administration of the funds awarded.
• Only Programs of Health Research focused in the theme areas described below will be accepted for review.
• The research questions addressed by the Programs will relate either directly to opportunities or research gaps identified in the State of the Science reviews commissioned by AHFMR in 2002 (see the complete State of the Science reviews) or to gaps in the research knowledge identified through other existing systematic reviews. If this is not possible, the development of a State of the Science review in the proposed area of research will form one of the early expected deliverables for the Program.
• Funding for the Programs will be for an initial three year period, with the potential for a further two years of funding following a successful review of the progress of the Program and subject to the availability of funds. Each Program will be eligible to receive up to $300,000 of funding per year.

The theme areas described below broadly define the scope of research eligible for funding. Following the descriptions, illustrative questions are listed to guide applicants in interpreting the themes. Additional illustrative questions for some of the themes are also available from the publication "Listening for Directions".

Applicants are not restricted to these specific questions, but the proposed research questions must clearly address issues of importance to health services planning and decision-making within the theme areas.

Theme 1: Continuum of care and delivery models

Illustrative questions
1. What structures and processes lead to effective integration of services across different delivery components (public health, primary health care, acute care, long term care and home care), and to improved individual and population health outcomes?
2. What models or approaches in health services minimize the disruption of living circumstances for citizens, such as the elderly, those with chronic illness or disability, or those in remote areas?

Illustrative questions
1. Does utilization of information management through information technology improve individual and population health outcomes? What information management systems and tools are most effective?
2. What information systems and tools are appropriate in supporting and evaluating the effective integration of primary health care with other components of the health system (public health, acute care, long term care and home care)?

Illustrative questions
1. What processes most effectively reconcile public values and technical information to inform resource allocation decisions, particularly in the areas of new technology assessment and defining publicly funded health care services?
2. What are the effects of different incentive systems for health professionals on costs and quality of service, and recruitment and retention?
3. How do you balance evidence and other influences to inform resource allocation decisions? What processes contribute to the formation of public values and expectations that lead to decisions?

Illustrative questions
1. What are the appropriate models to inform the development of indicators and benchmarks at different levels of accountability in the health system? Which different performance indicators and benchmarks are appropriate to reflect the responsibilities and challenges faced by the different levels of the health system?
2. What are the actual accountability practices currently in place at all levels of the health care systems and how do they relate to stated and expected accountability practices? How do accountability practices contribute to governments', health authorities', and provincial boards' ability to take action on cross-sectoral initiatives to improve population health?

¹ Using the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (CHSRF) definitions of programs of research, AHFMR will accept applications for either one of the following two types of programs:
• Cross-sectional programs: these test an overall model or theory across a number of areas to define the limits of generalizability. Questions can be answered concurrently across a number of related projects (e.g. under Financing and public expectations -- several processes might be examined and tested concurrently).
• Sequential programs: these address a specific issue with a series of projects wherein the results of one project determine the approach and/or research questions of the next project. (e.g. under the Continuity of Care model theme, where the investigators may wish to test various models sequentially.).
² Within the context of this Call for Letters of Intent for Programs, AHFMR defines decision makers as follows:
• Policy decision-makers: individuals involved in policy-making in government or in the governance of the health system at the highest level of administration within the Provincial or Regional Health Authorities.
• Program decision-makers: individuals (RHA senior and middle managers) directly involved in planning the delivery of health services and programs, including major clinical programs.