Partnerships

This poster describes the decision-maker based approach that the Healthy Children research team in Saskatchewan Population Health and Evaluation Research Unit uses to conduct research with decision-makers, its development, and its impact in the Saskatoon Understanding the Early Years study.

The steps are: 1) Identify decision-makers; 2) Involve them early; 3) Involve them often; 4) Conduct research they can use; and 5) Give them results they understand.

This fact sheet introduces the Smart Cities, Healthy Kids study that examines the impact neighbourhood design in Saskatoon has on children's physical activity levels. It is a partnership between researchers at the University of Saskatchewan, and decision-makers in health care services, city planning and local politics. This study is funded for three years (2009-2012) by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, and the Health Research Foundation. Findings are expected to inform neighbourhood planning and design locally and beyond.

In a study to increase the identification and understanding of maternal depression, researchers realized that pregnant and postpartum women who experience depression need timely professional help and treatment, but programs to provide these services are scarce.The research team leveraged partnerships with health region decison-makers to create a new health service out of existing ones, to assist women the study identified as needing such services, and to disseminate valuable information about antenatal and postpartum depression.

This case is part of the Canadian Institute of Health Research's book "Healthier Together: The CIHR Partnerships Casebook." The full casebook is available at: http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/39503.html#9

This article describes knowledge transfer and exchange in a study into the impact families' economic circumstances can have on early childhood development, which generated a number of complex findings. Instead of speculating on the policy and practice implications, researchers met with a group of decision makers working in early childhood development to discuss policy recommendations.

This case is part of the Canadian Institute of Health Research's book "Moving Population and Public Health Knowledge Into Action." The full casebook is available at: http://www.cihr.ca/e/29484.html

This article describes knowledge transfer and exchange in Saskatoon's Understanding the Early Years project. It highlights the researchers' decision-maker based approach to the study, which resulted in numerous improvements to policy and practice for young children in Saskatoon and Saskatchewan.

This case is part of the Canadian Institute of Health Research's book "Knowledge to Action: A Knowledge Translation Casebook." The full casebook is available at: http://www.cihr.ca/e/29484.html