CHSRF funds chairs in health services and nursing research

The Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (CHSRF) has announced an investment of $20 million over 10 years for 11 health services and nursing research chairs in five provinces, with a twelfth chair to be announced in the near future. Funded in partnership with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the chairs will be co-sponsored by regional entities and are being touted as the first step in developing a critical mass of researchers in fields that impact on the quality and delivery of services in Canada's healthcare systems.

The senior personnel awards are the result of a fall '99 competition co-sponsored by the Nova Scotia Department of Health, Fonds de la recherche en santé du Quebec, Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority and Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research.

The chairs are designed to create a national network which will include regional training centres, linking academics, students and health decision makers. Their function is to support: training and mentoring of new researchers; research needed by policy makers and healthcare systems managers; and, linkage and exchange training to help promote the effective transfer of knowledge to decision-makers.

Ontario captured $8.5 million in the competition for five chairs. McMaster Univ and the Univ of Ottawa both receive chairs for nursing research, while the Univ of Toronto receives three chairs in nursing research and health services research.

Two universities in Quebec received a total of three chairs in health services: the Univ of Laval (Dissemination and Uptake) and the Univ of Montreal (Health Policy and Politics, Linking Health and Social Determinants). The funding is worth $5 million.

Dalhousie Univ will receive a chair to develop and apply drug use management strategies and policies for Nova Scotia's provincial drug programs. In Alberta, a chair at the Univ of Alberta will evaluate innovative approaches to nursing care.

The Univ of Manitoba received a chair to develop evidence-based nursing practices in cancer care, palliative care and cancer prevention.

R$