Grant: Team Grant: Community-Based Primary Healthcare - LOI

A new CIHR Innovation Team (Innovations in Rural Community-Based Primary Healthcare for Older People) is proposed to address critical gaps in knowledge about innovative models that improve access to primary healthcare for vulnerable older rural people. Featuring a multi-disciplinary and multi-jurisdictional team of leading health researchers, professionals, decision makers, knowledge users, and seniors' representatives from across Canada, the Rural CBPHC Innovation Team responds directly to CIHR's Transformative Community-based Primary Healthcare Initiative, specifically the priority research area in "access to appropriate community-based primary healthcare for vulnerable populations", and the CIHR - Institute of Aging partner priority area to "develop and evaluate innovative CBPHC models that will reduce inappropriate emergency admissions for older persons, ensure seamless transition and quality of care across formal and informal CBPHC settings, and tailor CBPHC services for those in advanced old age". The Rural CBPHC Innovation Team is original in its decision maker and knowledge user informed approach to three priority gaps in rural primary healthcare: lack of innovative models for 1) early-warning systems, 2) CBPHC integration and 3) informal-formal pathways. These gaps will be addressed through a five-year, multi-site research program guided by a national knowledge synthesis strategy to determine what we 'need to know' about older rural people's access to primary healthcare and a national knowledge translation strategy to transfer 'rural innovations' across Canada and internationally. Ultimately, the Rural CBPHC Innovation Team will contribute to actualizing the potential of the evolving primary healthcare system for increasing the availability of and accessibility to primary healthcare for rural Canadians.