Operating Grant : SPOR Innovative Clinical Trial Multi-Year Grant

The Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research (SPOR) is a national coalition of federal, provincial and territorial partners (patients and informal caregivers, health authorities, academic health centres, charities, philanthropic organizations, private sector, etc.) dedicated to the integration of research into care.

Patient-oriented research, which is foundational to evidence-informed health care, refers to a continuum of research that engages patients as partners, focusses on patient-identified priorities and improves patient outcomes. This research, conducted by multidisciplinary teams in partnership with relevant stakeholders, aims to apply the knowledge generated to improve healthcare systems and practices.

The vision for SPOR is that Canada will demonstrably improve health outcomes and enhance the health care experience for patients through the integration of evidence at all levels of the health care system.

Innovative Clinical Trials Initiative

The SPOR innovative Clinical Trials (iCT) Initiative contributes to increasing Canadian competitiveness in iCT research and provides a stimulus for trialists to adopt new methodologies, enhance patient and clinician engagement in research, and build capacity and increase the intensity of iCT research. iCTs use non-traditional designs that are alternative to traditional Randomized Controlled Trials (RCTs), with application in areas ranging from product development to health system improvement. iCT methods reduce the cost of conducting trials, reduce the amount of time needed to answer research questions, and increase the relevance of research findings to patients, healthcare providers and/or policy makers. Adopting these alternative designs can maximize the use of existing knowledge and data.

Research Areas

SPOR iCTs need to have a primary focus in the research areas of:

Comparative effectiveness research:

Comparative effectiveness research compares two or more healthcare options already shown to be efficacious. The healthcare options could include diagnostics, drugs, medical devices, surgeries, complementary medicine, self-care or ways to deliver health care. The findings should be able to inform healthcare decisions by providing evidence on the effectiveness, benefits, and harms of different healthcare options and other types of interventions; and/or

Implementation science research: Implementation science research examines interventions that are already shown to work under certain conditions and within certain contexts, which could be defined by demographic, biological, clinical, social, economic, geographic, or other factors. The interventions could include diagnostics, drugs, medical devices, surgeries, complementary medicine, self-care or ways to deliver health care. Implementation science aims to determine if these interventions can be adapted to other contexts, how should they be adapted and what are the longer term effects.  In other words, implementation research seeks to understand what interventions work for whom and under what circumstances. It studies the factors that influence the full and effective use of interventions in practice, which could include affordability, adaptability, sustainability and equitable scalability.

Application Requirements

To meet the requirements of the funding opportunity, the following elements must be included as part of an application:

• The proposed research activities must be patient-oriented in that:
  • patients are engaged as partners;
  • there is a focus on patients’ priorities;
  • the aim is to improve patient outcomes;
  • the work is conducted by a multi-disciplinary team that includes patients;
  • there is involvement of other SPOR stakeholders such as policy makers, health care professionals and health charities; and
  • research findings can be applied to health care or policy.
• The proposed research must be an iCT as described above.
• Applicants must focus on comparative effectiveness research and/or implementation science research as described above.
• Applicants are required to explore collaborations with the SPOR SUPPORT Units, the SPOR Canadian Data Platform, and the SPOR Evidence Alliance to strengthen their application and support the research project.