Resources

EvidenceNetwork.ca has compiled a list of web-based resources for journalists that are good sources of evidence on health policy issues and other resources of potential interest.

Canadian Third Party Brokers / Producers of Research Evidence

Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH)

The Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) provides decision-makers with the evidence, analysis, advice, and recommendations they require to make informed decisions in health care. Funded by Canada’s federal, provincial, and territorial governments, CADTH is an independent, not-for-profit agency that delivers timely, evidence-based information to health care leaders about the effectiveness and efficiency of health technologies.

Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement (CFHI)

The Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement (CFHI) is dedicated to accelerating healthcare improvement and transformation for Canadians. We collaborate with governments, policy-makers, and health system leaders to convert evidence and innovative practices into actionable policies, programs, tools and leadership development.

We work shoulder to shoulder with policy-makers, managers, front-line providers, patients and families to provide the analysis, processes, tools, learning systems and leadership development needed to accelerate change. We capture what we learn, share it with our partners and work to spread these results across Canada. While our approach is consistent, its application is customized to meet the needs of our partners. Our vision is timely, appropriate, efficient and high-quality services that improve the health of Canadians.

CFHI is a not-for-profit corporation funded through an agreement with the Government of Canada.
Visit cfhi-fcass.ca to learn more.  Follow us on Twitter@cfhi_fcass and connect with us on Facebook

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Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI)

The Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) is an independent, not-for-profit corporation that aims to contribute to the improvement of the health of Canadians and the health care system by disseminating quality health information. They have a wide range of data and information that are publicly available on their website. In addition, they have a proactive media team that can help journalists find the information they are looking for. This can be achieved in many ways, such as through an interview with an expert or customizing statistics.

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Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)

The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) is the major federal agency responsible for funding health research in Canada. It is the successor to the Medical Research Council of Canada. It aims to create new health knowledge, and to translate that knowledge from the research setting into real world applications.

The Evidence-Informed Healthcare Renewal Portal | Le Portail RSSDP
The Evidence-Informed Healthcare Renewal (EIHR) Portal is a continuously updated repository of policy-relevant documents that address ‘healthcare renewal’ in Canada. It contains 24 types of documents, including jurisdictional reviews, stakeholder position papers, and intergovernmental communiqués. The documents address priority areas such as primary healthcare, patient safety, health human resources and performance indicators (e.g., timely access) identified by government and other stakeholders.

The EIHR Portal enables health system stakeholders to rapidly:
• identify evidence on a given topic that have been prepared to inform healthcare renewal across Canada;
• search by categories such as priority area, keyword, publication date;
• access links to user-friendly summaries and full-text reports (if applicable and freely available)

Visit www.eihrportal.org or follow the evidence on twitter @EIHRportal.

To learn more about the CIHR’s Evidence-Informed Healthcare Renewal initiative visit: http://www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca/e/43628.html

To learn more about the Canadian Institutes for Health Research visit them at: www.cihr-irsc.gc.ca

Health Council of Canada

Where do you fit in the health care improvement picture? Are you a policy-maker, researcher, journalist or other decision-influencer? If you need evidence, analysis and concrete examples of what is working in Canadian health care and why, we invite you to visit our website and portal.

The Health Council of Canada provides a system-wide perspective on the progress of health care renewal in Canada through frequent, in-depth reports and events. We analyze the evidence in key areas like Aboriginal health, access and wait times, electronic health records, pharmaceuticals management, primary health care, home and community care, health promotion and more. We ask the same questions you do, and bring you the big picture, rich in detail.

We’ve also launched the Health Innovation Portal, a searchable database that allows you to find, learn about and share innovative practices, programs, services, and policies in health care from across the country.  We assess each practice using our Innovative Practices Evaluation FrameworkTM, so you’ll know whether it’s emerging, promising or leading based on quality of evidence, impact, applicability and transferability criteria.  We’ve featured hundreds of practices already, with new innovations being added each month. The practices cover a range of health care themes, each with a detailed description, contact information and customizable PDF outputs to suit your needs.

• To download reports and other Health Council of Canada materials, visit www.healthcouncilcanada.ca.
• To find and share innovative practices, visit the Health Innovation Portal: www.healthcouncilcanada.ca/innovation.
Please join us: www.twitter.com/healthcouncilca, www.facebook.com/healthccwww.youtube.com/healthcc.
• Infographics: “Which Way to Quality?”: http://www.healthcouncilcanada.ca/content.php?mnu=4&mnu1=34&mnu2=24; and “How do Canadian primary care physicians rate the health care system?”: http://www.healthcouncilcanada.ca/content.php?mnu=4&mnu1=34&mnu2=21

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The George and Fay Yee Centre for Healthcare Innovation (CHI)

The George and Fay Yee Centre for Healthcare Innovation is a partnership between the University of Manitoba and the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority. The centre houses seven unique platforms, each staffed with experts and leaders from all disciplines in academia and practice.

At CHI, we are committed to ensuring that the latest research and evidence are translated into improved patient outcomes, enhanced patient experiences and improved access to care for Manitobans.

Who we work with:
– Patients
– Healthcare Leadership
– Clinicians
– Researchers
– Policy Makers

Our commitment to Mantobans:
– Engaging patients as full partners in care
– Providing healthcare professions and policy makers with the best available evidence to make informed decisions.
– Supporting the development of innovative and cutting edge research.
– Supporting strengthened clinical care, process improvements and better delivery of health care services.
– Making crucial knowledge and research findings accessible.

To learn more about the George and Fay Yee Centre for Healthcare Innovation visit them at:

http://chimb.ca/

Resources by Journalists for Journalists

Association of Health Care Journalists

The Association of Health Care Journalists (AHCJ) offers a wide range of resources – many of which are available exclusively to members. See: www.healthjournalism.org/resources-jump.php

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Canadian Sciences Writers’ Association

The Canadian Science Writers’ Association is Canada’s national alliance of professional science communicators whose mandate is to cultivate excellence in science writing and increase public awareness of science in Canadian culture.

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Committee of Concerned Journalists

The Committee of Concerned Journalists is a consortium of journalists, publishers, owners and academics worried about the future of the profession. See CCJ Tools: www.concernedjournalists.org/tools

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Science Media Centre of Canada

The Science Media Centre of Canada is an independent, not-for-profit charitable organization that exists to raise the level of public discourse on science in Canada by helping journalists access the experts and evidence-based research they need to cover science in the news. The SMCC is supported by over 120 Charter Members and ongoing support from our patron organizations. Contact us at: info@sciencemedia.ca

Other Web-Based Resources for Journalists

A Citizen’s Guide to Health Indicators

For individuals with an interest in health care and how to use health information, this resource provides an introduction to health indicators, what they are, where they come from, and how they can influence health care decisions and policies.

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Canadian Cochrane Centre

The Canadian Cochrane Centre (CCC) is one of 14 global, independent, not-for-profit Centres of The Cochrane Collaboration. The CCC supports the efforts of The Cochrane Collaboration in Canada and is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.  Founded in 1993, The Cochrane Collaboration is the largest global network of scientists, researchers, health policy-makers and consumer advocates involved in the production of systematic reviews (Cochrane Reviews) of health care evidence. Some 28,000 individuals in over 100 countries willingly contribute their time and expertise to a rigorous process of gathering, assessing, and synthesising published research on the effectiveness of health care interventions. The results are then shared with practitioners, policy-makers and patients to help them make informed and effective choices. Cochrane Reviews are widely considered the gold standard in systematic reviews of health evidence. They are published in The Cochrane Library, in English with a growing selection available in other languages. As a non-governmental and not-for-profit organization, The Cochrane Collaboration operates without conflicts of interest and offers training and guidance to its growing network of contributors. Additional information and access to The Cochrane Library are available at cochrane.org.

Visit Cochrane Canada’s recent publication Where’s the Evidence? A Top Ten List of Cochrane Reviews, released in partnership with the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. This list addresses some common assumptions about health treatments such as whether or not vitamin C helps fight a cold or if reducing salt really lowers risk of heart disease. Visit ccc.cochrane.org regularly for list updates and other health treatment information.

Health Evidence.ca

Health Evidence is a Canadian service and research organization located at McMaster University, Hamilton, aimed at assisting public health decision makers in their use of research evidence. Health Evidence offers a suite of services to support the development of knowledge, skill and culture for evidence-informed decision making. Launched in 2005, a key resource, the www.health-evidence.ca registry of systematic reviews, provides free, user-friendly access to a searchable database of public health relevant, quality-appraised reviews. Tailored capacity assessments for evidence-informed decision making, workshops and presentations on evidence-informed decision making ‘how to’, and Knowledge Broker services to mentor individuals/teams/organizations are available to support incorporation of evidence into practice.

HealthNewsReview.org

A group focused on improving the accuracy of news stories about medical treatments, tests, products and procedures.  Funding is provided by the Foundation for Informed Medical Decision Making.  See their Toolkit which includes Tips for Understanding Studies.

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Manitoba Centre for Health Policy

The Manitoba Centre for Health Policy is a research unit in the University of Manitoba’s Faculty of Medicine. MCHP and its research scientists study the health of populations, specifically those in Manitoba. Its many resources and summaries have been useful in providing journalists with information in a clear and concise language.

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Pharmaceuticalpolicy.ca

PharmaceuticalPolicy.ca is a publicly-funded website maintained by the Pharmaceutical Policy Research Collaboration (PPRC), a network of university-based experts in pharmaceutical policy who are committed to making quality evidence on policy issues readily accessible to those who need it. PharmaceuticalPolicy.ca features pharmaceutical policy research and news items of interest to Canadians. It also lists contact information for acknowledged experts who are able to speak on a wide variety of pharmaceutical policy topics.

Conference Presentations

Top 10 questions for health policy journalists. Infographic from Dr. John Lister’s webinar below. Developed by Lindsay Jolivet.

What we’ve learned: Working with journalists across Europe on health reporting. Webinar with Dr. John Lister, May 14, 2013.

The electronic textbook: A unique way to disseminate health care opinion/editorial commentaries developed by experts. Poster presented by Camilla Tapp at the Evidence Live 2013 conference in Oxford, UK. March 26th, 2013.

Social media and health evidence promotion. Presented by Sharon Manson Singer. Health Summit on Sustainable Health and Health Care. Sponsored by the Conference Board of Canada. October 31, 2012.

OpEd writing for researchers. Webinar presented by Sharon Manson Singer, Steve Buist and Michael Wolfson. Co-sponsored by CIHR (Institutes of Population and Public Health) and EvidenceNetwork.ca. October 25, 2012.

EvidenceNetwork.ca: Workshop on writing OpEds. Presented by Gregory Marchildon, Jennifer Verma, David Secko and Erik Landriault. Canadian Association of Health Services and Policy Research, annual conference, May 30, 2012.

Getting health policy evidence to the media: EvidenceNetwork.ca. Presented by Noralou Roos. Cochrane Canada Symposium, May 10, 2012.

Health care stories are good for you. Presented by Sharon Manson Singer, Steve Buist and Jennifer Verma. Canadian Association of Journalists, annual meeting, April 28, 2012.

How to write an OpEd: This one page document provides helpful tips on writing an effective OpEd. Following the basic rules of commentary writing is paramount for getting your submission published in the leading media outlets.

How to write a backgrounder: This one page document provides details and assistance in writing an effective health policy backgrounder for the media.