Grant: Partnerships for Health System Improvement (PHSI)

Academics research important policy issues and the media communicate with the public about these issues. Often there is little overlap between what researchers say is the evidence and what the media report. This project attempts to change this. EvidenceNetwork.ca seeks to improve the use of research evidence by the media in their coverage of key health policy issues. We have built a website which profiles evidence on controversial health policy topics, and helps journalists access 40+ highly qualified non-partisan Experts to discuss these topics. We have established links to media across the country and our Experts have already published more than 90 OpEds in Canadian newspapers. We collaborate with Canadian Health Services Research Foundation, the Health Council of Canada, Canadian Institute of Health Information and Canadian Institutes of Health Research on this project and we are building ties with the Science Media Centre of Canada and the Atkinson Charitable Foundation. In the next three years we will meet with editorial boards across the country, develop an internship program and a teaching module for journalists, double the number of experts and OpEds, evaluate what works and what doesn't and integrate EvidenceNetwork.ca into the operations of one of our partners. Why focus on evidence? Because the public debate around health policy is important to Canadians. The Canadian Health Accord is scheduled for renegotiation in 2014. The country will have to make decisions about many complex issues, including health care spending, user fees, the role of the private sector and the sustainability of Medicare. These are issues which directly affect Canadians, and about which they seek evidence from unbiased reliable sources. With staffing cutbacks at many media outlets, the time is right for providing Canadians with an accessible, credible, non-partisan health policy news resource. That is what EvidenceNetwork.ca is all about.