Strategy for Patient
Orientated Research
(SPOR)
Strategy for Patient Orientated Research (SPOR) is a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) grant that was obtained for the EPI-SET project. The CIHR SPOR Innovative Clinical Trials Competition included the following:
Scope and Requirements
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Research activities that are patient oriented
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Decision-makers need to be involved to ensure integration
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Requires a multi-disciplinary approach
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Outcome driver – performance measurement and evaluation
Eligibility
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Nominated Principle Applicant (independent researchers/appointed at a CIHR institution)
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Five Principal Applicants and/or Principal Knowledge Users (two researchers, health care professional, policy maker, and a patient)
Comparative Effectiveness vs. Implementation Science
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Comparing the service-as-usual EPI program and the NAVIGATE program in order to inform health-care decisions by providing evidence on the effectiveness, benefits, and harms of different health care interventions
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Implementation Science: Aims to determine if the NAVIGATE intervention can be adapted to the Canadian context
Patient Engagement Strategy
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Meaningful and active collaboration in governance, priority setting, conducting research, and knowledge translation (Patients are active partners)
SPOR Framework
An important goal of Canada’s Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) is for patients, researchers, health care providers and decision-makers to actively collaborate to build a sustainable, accessible and equitable health care system and bring positive changes in the health of people living in Canada. Since patients are at the heart of SPOR, they must be involved as much and as meaningfully as possible in order for health research to be more responsive to the needs of Canadians.
If patient-oriented research is intended to focus on priorities that are important to patients and produce information that is truly taken up and used to improve health care practice, therapies and policies, a strong foundation for ensuring successful collaboration must be laid. SPOR’s National Steering Committee has requested that a Patient Engagement (PE) Framework be developed that will outline key opportunities for action, setting the stage for worthwhile collaborations in the identification of health research priorities as well as in the design and conduct of research projects.
