SPOR Refresh Steering Committee Final Report
Message from the President
March 20, 2025
On behalf of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), I wish to thank everyone who participated in the engagements to inform a refresh of Canada’s Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR).
These engagements – summarized in the final report Pathways to Impact: Refreshing Canada’s Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research, issued to the community by the SPOR Refresh Steering Committee – will guide CIHR and all SPOR partners as we build on past successes and support the ongoing evolution of patient and community-oriented research in Canada.
As we work together to advance this initiative, CIHR’s next steps will be to respond to the report and establish an external, multi-partner governance structure that will inform future investments and coordinated efforts in SPOR.
This report serves as a blueprint for developing impactful health research across Canada that improves health outcomes for everyone. We encourage Canada’s patient- and community-oriented research community to reflect on the report and how best to respond to the recommendations at the local level.
CIHR wishes to acknowledge the contributions of Indigenous communities to this SPOR refresh process. This feedback will help to further strengthen research programs and partnerships with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities that are advancing culturally appropriate research methodologies and supporting Indigenous-led initiatives.
CIHR has been a proud supporter of SPOR since its inception and our contributions to this initiative will continue, as will our commitment to working collaboratively with partners. Since its launch in 2011, SPOR-funded initiatives have resulted in significant impacts, including:
- The Incremental Dialysis Program (supported by the Alberta SPOR SUPPORT Unit) introduced a more gradual approach to dialysis initiation, improving patient quality of life while increasing system capacity. The program has freed up 24 additional dialysis slots per month and saved 400 treatment sessions monthly while maintaining patient safety;
- The Canadian C-Spine Rule (supported by the Ontario SPOR SUPPORT Unit) which led to a policy change in Ontario’s paramedic protocols, allowing low-risk trauma patients to be transported without a backboard. This reduced unnecessary immobilization, minimized patient discomfort, and saved an estimated $1 million per year in health care costs; and
- The research co-creation across Canada with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities supported through the SPOR Chronic Disease Networks and SUPPORT Units, particularly those in Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, and Yukon, which have advanced Indigenous self-determination in health research.
SPOR has revolutionized health research in Canada by embedding patient- and community-oriented methodologies into mainstream research practices. Thank you to all of you who have led this paradigm shift and legitimized patient-oriented research as an indispensable element of collaborative, interdisciplinary health research.
Dr. Paul Hébert
President, CIHR
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