Grant: Planning and Dissemination Grant - Institute Community Support

Diseases of the heart, lungs and blood vessels, also known as circulatory and respiratory diseases, are the most common causes of death and disability in men and women in Canada. These diseases are costly to the healthcare systems and patients often need multiple medications and frequent medical visits. While there is growing research exploring these diseases, there are concerns about the time it takes for research findings to be applied to practice and whether they reflect the concerns and values of patients. Recent initiatives, such as the Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research, have emphasized the need for researchers to work with patients and stakeholders to develop research to reflect patient priorities and support the delivery of effective healthcare services. Over the past five years, four Canada-wide networks (Canadian Respiratory Research Network, Canadian Stroke Prevention Intervention Network, Canadian Vascular Network and the Cardiac Arrhythmia Network of Canada) were formed to tackle the growing problem of circulatory and respiratory diseases. These networks bring together a wide range of researchers, stakeholders and patients to aid medical discoveries, develop effective healthcare services and increase training opportunities for new and upcoming researchers. To date, these networks have developed many cutting edge studies, from cell to health services research, with varied levels of patient involvement. This planning grant will enable researchers, stakeholders and patients from each of the networks to meet to explore patient engagement in research. We are interested to learn about how patients' perspectives have influenced these networks and how patient values have informed the focus and outcomes of research studies. During this meeting, we will share experiences, identify gaps, priorities and questions, and will build a team to undertake further research to improve patient engagement in circulatory and respiratory healthcare and research.