Grant: Partnerships for Health System Improvement (PHSI)

<html> <body>Health policy makers agree that chronic disease prevention is a chief priority; however, the link between how prevention can improve the health of the population and directly enhance health system sustainability has not been substantively applied. <b><u>ISSUE</u>:</b> The challenge for decision makers is how to use available data to estimate the impact of prevention approaches on health and economic outcomes. To address this gap, our proposed work will foster collaboration amongst researchers and several different health decision makers. <b><u>EXPERTISE</u>:</b> Our research team includes members from diverse health-related disciplines (e.g., policy, medicine, epidemiology, economics) who are experts in developing population-based tools to support health policy and program decision making for chronic disease prevention and high resource use. To ensure the tools are relevant to decision makers&rsquo; needs, easy to use, and produce results applicable to diverse regions/settings across Canada, we have formed a partnership with a variety of knowledge user partners including prominent health system decision makers (e.g., Medical Officers of Health, program managers, directors, and executives in two provincial governments) who are in need of the proposed research to support health policy work related to chronic disease prevention and high resource users (HRUs). <b><u>APPROACH</u>:</b> Our multidisciplinary team from two provinces will work jointly through an integrated knowledge translation (IKT) approach to create and apply population risk tools to support policy and program decision making for chronic disease prevention (i.e., Chronic Disease Population Risk Tool; CDPoRT) and HRU reduction (i.e., High Resource User Population Risk Tool; HRUPoRT). The tools&rsquo; related, yet distinct endpoints were chosen purposefully. A composite chronic disease endpoint reflects the shift from disease-specific prevention activities towards acknowledgement of the collective impact of multiple risk factors, and aligns with our partners&rsquo; chronic disease prevention priorities. In contrast, the HRU endpoint shifts the focus from disease(s) towards health resource use, a meaningful endpoint for decision-makers and primary target for policy interventions. Our approach is informed by the Population Risk Tool Knowledge to Action framework designed to guide the creation and application of decision support tools in diverse health-related settings. The creation and validation of the population risk tools will be done according to an established methodology based on multiple linked population health survey and administrative databases in two provinces. We will employ a knowledge brokering team to facilitate and evaluate the approach. <b><u>IMPACT</u>:</b> The tools will support decision makers as they weigh the costs and benefits of preventive strategies to determine which will yield the greatest health system benefits. We believe the strength of this application lies in working with multiple provinces and across various health sectors, which will demonstrate greater impact and generalizability and result in solutions that are integrated across the system, including the public health and health care sectors, both regionally and provincially. Ultimately, this proposal exemplifies the intent of the PHSI by emphasizing a strong IKT approach to establish collaborations across the health spectrum to tackle chronic disease and high health resource use, which will both improve the health of Canadians and strengthen the health care system.</body> </html>