Grant: Planning and Dissemination Grant - Institute Community Support

In 2022-23, Canadian emergency departments (ED) cared for 15 million patients. This is almost a visit for one in three Canadians. Because the current state of emergency medicine is dire with untenable levels of crowding, closures and burnout, almost every Canadian has a negative experience in our EDs. Our emergency healthcare system has an urgent need for innovation and redesign. The Canadian Association of Emergency Physicians produced the EM:POWER report which provides concrete recommendations to redesign and improve emergency care. One recommendation was to use a learning health system approach which integrates research and health systems to help EDs provide timely, effective, high-quality care. The Canadian Emergency Department Research Network (CEDRN) is a collaborative effort of Canadian emergency researchers to produce practice-changing evidence to improve the quality of ED care. This grant proposal is for a meeting to plan for CEDRN to become integrated within a learning health system with the goal of improving emergency care. We propose a national meeting where we will build on the EM:POWER report and enable CEDRN to take a lead on next steps, such as proposal development, partnership agreements and funding acquisition. Funding from this grant will support the initial meeting that will develop partnerships and outline a research agenda for Canadian emergency care. We will invite key players in a learning health system including patients and family partners, healthcare data organizations, indigenous and equity-deserving groups, research funding agencies, policy makers and healthcare providers. To aid in solution-building, we will aim for high quality data collection, knowledge translation, and change implementation. Supported by this grant, this planning meeting is an essential first step in planning the integration of research into Canadian emergency care to improve the timeliness and effectiveness of care that EDs provide to Canadians.