Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) - Webinar Strengthening the Health Workforce for System Transformation

General Questions

• For other questions related to the webinar, the funding opportunity or to receive a copy of the webinar PowerPoint presentation.

  Yes, please contact support-soutien@cihr-irsc.gc.ca for a copy of the presentation or for other questions.

• For questions about the Data Management Plan (DMP) pilot

  Please contact the CIHR Research Data Management Team: ResearchData-Donneesderecherche@cihr-irsc.gc.ca for questions regarding the DMP pilot

• Can all interested applicants be connected to find suitable partners from the attendees of the webinar event.

  Unfortunately, CIHR is unable to share the list of attendees for the webinar for privacy reasons.

• This competition focuses on implementation of an intervention. Are there other funding opportunities on health workforce that fund foundational research (i.e., not implementations science teams)?

  Correct, this current competition funds implementation science research and is the only CIHR-IHSPR led competition in the near future focused on the intersection of the health workforce and implementation science.

  In the last two years, CIHR-IHSPR has launched other funding competitions (now closed) that funded foundational research, where supporting the health workforce, and advancing health equity and the Quadruple Aim were within scope, including:

  • Quadruple Aim and Health Equity - Catalyst Grants
  • Policy Research for Health System Transformation - Catalyst Grants
  • Supporting and Strengthening the Health Workforce – Planning and Dissemination Grants

  CIHR’s Project Grant competition is launched twice a year and is designed to capture ideas with the greatest potential for important advances in fundamental or applied health-related knowledge, health care, health systems, and/or health outcomes by supporting projects of research proposed and conducted by individual researchers or groups of researchers in all areas of health. The Fall 2023 Project Grant competition will soon launch and all health workforce-related proposals can be submitted to this competition.

• Have there been similar funding opportunities that we can judge success rates from?

  At this time, CIHR can share that there is enough funding to support 14 Implementation Science Teams and one Evidence Support and Knowledge Mobilization Hub. However, we cannot predict the application pressure of the competition (particularly prior to the registration stage) and therefore we cannot provide estimates of success rates.

Research Team

• Can the Nominated Principal Applicant also be the Early Career Researcher?

  Yes. Each applicant team must include at least one Early Career Researcher as a Principal Applicant or co-Applicant, who may also be the Nominated Principal Applicant.

• Can a researcher serve two roles? (e.g., researcher and psychologist?)

  No. The team must have a tripartite leadership model (comprised of a researcher, a decision-maker, a health worker) and each individual can represent no more than one role.

• Trying to get a healthcare leader on an Equity-Diversity-Inclusion initiative will be a challenge since minorities are not represented in leadership.

  CIHR recognizes the inequities experienced by health workers and the challenges with diversity and inclusion of equity-deserving groups within the health workforce, including in leadership roles; and has thus grounded this funding opportunity in workforce solutions that are equity-focused and that will advance health equity. Further, the “Systemically Disadvantaged People” theme identified by the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences Assessment of Health Human Resources explicitly references the need to increase the diversity and representativeness of those in training and leadership. Although equity-diversity-inclusion is expected to be promoted within the team composition and the capacity building plan [evaluation criteria 2.d], the funding opportunity does not require any of the specific roles or applicants (including the health system decision-maker) to be visible minorities, equity-deserving and/or Rights Holders to avoid the types of barriers referred to in the question.

• Can the Equity-Diversity-Inclusion champion also be the Nominated Principal Applicant?

  Each applicant team must include an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Champion, who may be the Nominated Principal Applicant or any other applicant.

• Are there specific examples of a strong applicant for the role of health system decision-maker? Should this person have a direct influence outside of a single health care organization?

  Non-exhaustive examples of an eligible health system decision-maker may include a: health-system manager, policy-maker, or clinician-leader who works at the local community, reserve, municipal, regional, provincial, or national level, including First Nations, Inuit, Métis and/or Urban Indigenous communities and governments.

  No, it is not required that the individual have direct influence beyond a single health care organization.

• The definition of a decision-maker within CIHR excludes a federal elected member. What is a good example of a decision-maker at the national level who would qualify?

  Yes, a federal elected member is not eligible to be a decision-maker on a CIHR grant. Other possible national decision-makers can include all non-elected members of the federal government as well as leaders of pan-Canadian health organizations.

• Can there be more than one (1) Nominated Principal Applicant? Is there a limit on the number of co-applicants?

  There can only be one (1) Nominated Principal Applicant (NPA) for each application. The other members of the tripartite leadership can be identified as Principal Knowledge User(s) (PKU), and Principal Applicant(s) (PA). There is no maximum number of co-applicants.

Eligible health workforce solution and/or expected scope of the proposal

• Does the focus have to be on the Canadian health workforce or can it be international?

  The funding opportunity states that the solution(s) must aim to improve the health care needs of Canadians [design element 5], have the potential to improve the status quo of healthcare in Canada [evaluation criteria 4c], and must align with one or more of the six themes identified in the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS) assessment on "Canada's health workforce: pathways forward". However, since the identified solutions must be based on or adapted from promising innovations that have been used either in Canada or internationally, the use of international comparative analyses, internationally-inspired solutions, and/or the integration of internationally educated health care practitioners are within scope of this funding opportunity.

• Is there a cross/jurisdictional requirement for teams/projects, or are same-province contexts acceptable?

  There are no cross-jurisdictional requirements for teams or projects, although proposals will be evaluated for their potential to have sustained impact, and their potential for spread/scale to reach new regions, populations and contexts, and/or the potential to improve the status quo of health care in Canada. Further it is expected that implementation science can generate insight on how best to adapt an intervention for successful implementation in different regions, conditions, populations and/or contexts.

• Should solutions be multidisciplinary or can they focus more toward one group/area of the health workforce?

  No, the funding opportunity does not prescribe a specific discipline or area of the health workforce to focus on. However, applications will be evaluated on their potential for impact and for potential for spread/scale to reach new regions/populations/contexts.

• Can you provide more examples of system-level challenges?

  Health system-level challenges may include but are not limited to: health service/system organization and planning, governance, accountability, remuneration/payment, regulation and legislation, management, financing, capacity building, delivery, optimizing scopes of practice and health system inequities (e.g., structural racism, gender inequity, etc.).

• Are clinical trial designs/methods acceptable in this competition, and if so, which types?

  Yes, clinical trial designs focused on strengthening the health workforce are within scope, as long as they can also generate evidence on how best to adapt an intervention for successful implementation in different regions, conditions, populations and/or contexts (e.g., adaptability/transferability), and on how to equitably spread and scale successful innovations for maximum reach and benefit. Examples of the type of clinical trials that can be used are (non-exhaustive): pragmatic trials, innovative clinical trials, observational trials, registry-based randomized trials, cluster randomized trials, adaptive trials’ or trials using Bayesian methods.

• Would evaluating policies that have been implemented by government bodies in the past, but that have not otherwise been tested, be appropriate? Or do these projects need to directly include the implementation of a policy itself?

  One objective of this funding opportunity is to produce evidence on the implementation, evaluation, spread and/or scale of promising equity-focused solutions that strengthen the health workforce as a key component of advancing the Quadruple Aim and health equity. As such, evaluating policies/solutions/interventions that have already been implemented (but that have not otherwise been tested) are within scope of this competition so long as the evaluation uses implementation science methodologies to generate evidence on the strategies used to successfully implement the solution and the contextual factors that are likely to impact the implementation process and the effectiveness of the solution.

• Can this funding support the testing, evaluation, scale and spread healthcare training programs?

  All Implementation Science Teams must address a system (macro) level challenge. As such, career development and education options that address supply and capacity challenges are within scope of the funding opportunity. Please see the “Planning and Development” theme identified by the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences’ assessment on health human resources.

Research Areas (Funding Pools) and/or Funding Allocation

• Does the Rural and Remote pool require a focus on emergency preparedness?

  No. Applications to the Rural and Remote pool must align with the mandate of the CIHR's Centre for Research on Pandemic Preparedness and Health Emergencies (i.e., ensuring Canada has an emergency-ready health research system), and address the CAHS priority area of capacity development and support for rural and remote practice. By strengthening the health workforce in rural and remote practices, proposals in this pool will ultimately improve the emergency-readiness of the health research system and will thus be eligible.

• Can a proposal be considered in more than one pool or do we choose one at the outset?

  Applicants may select up to three (3) research areas (funding pools). Please indicate how your proposal aligns with each of the three (3) research areas (and objectives) of the funding opportunity at the application stage. In addition, all relevant applications will automatically be eligible for the “open” IHSPR Health Workforce pool and therefore this general pool does not need to be selected.

• Will the Michael Smith Health Research BC funding be provided in addition to the selected pool funding if successful?

  No. All proposals will be funded up to a maximum of $750,000 per grant ($250,000 per year for up to three years). Partners, including Michael Smith Health Research BC, will co-fund successful application(s) and these funds are not top-ups nor supplemental funding.

• In pools funding for only one project, would more be considered if the budgets were smaller?

  No. The funding allocated to this funding opportunity is designated to support 14 Implementation Science Teams (up to $750,000 total per grant) and one (1) Evidence Support and Knowledge Mobilization Hub (at $375,000 total).

Evidence Support and Knowledge Mobilization (ESKM) Hub

• Can there be two Nominated Principal Applicants if teams are applying for the hub as well? (e.g., one Nominated Principal Applicant for the Implementation Science Team, one for the Hub)

  There can only be one (1) Nominated Principal Applicant (NPA) per team. The lead for the Evidence Support and Knowledge Mobilization (ESKM) Hub could be identified as a Principal Knowledge User (PKU) or Principal Applicant (PA). The team must apply for the ESKM Hub at the same time as the Implementation Science Teams, within a single application process and the Nominated Principal Applicant will have the opportunity to describe their role in on the team within the application.

  There can only be one (1) Nominated Principal Applicant (NPA) per team. The team must apply for the Evidence Support and Knowledge Mobilization (ESKM) Hub at the same time as the Implementation Science Teams (within a single application process), and the lead for the ESKM Hub could be identified as the NPA, Principal Knowledge User (PKU) or Principal Applicant (PA) on the application.

• For applicants interested in applying to the Evidence Support and Knowledge Mobilization (ESKM) Hub, must they apply at the same time as the Implementation Science Teams (ISTs) application? Are there separate additional sections for those interested in applying to the Hub?

  Yes. Teams interested in taking on the ESKM Hub should provide an additional two-page document describing their project. Please see the How to Apply section of the funding opportunity for more details.

  Note that both the ISTs and the ESKM Hub are housed within the same funding competition; therefore, applications to both types of grants must be made at the same time.

• How do I enter budget information for the Evidence Support and Knowledge Mobilization (ESKM) Hub?

  If you are requesting consideration for the ESKM Hub, you must submit a separate budget justification. This is done under ‘Budget Attachments’ in the ‘Enter Budget Information’ task. Upload your document as "Other Supporting Documents" and label as " ESKM Hub Budget". Do not include the ESKM Hub budget details in the ‘Financial Assistance Requested’ section as this section is intended to capture the budget request for the team grant only.

  Please follow the following steps in ResearchNet:

  Task – Enter Budget Information

  • Click on ‘Budget Attachments’
  • In ‘Document Type’, select ‘Other Supporting Documents’ from the drop-down list.
  • Upload and label document as ‘ESKM Hub Budget’.

Date modified:

2023-10-30