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FAQ

What is SEARCH Canada about?

SEARCH Canada is a not-for-profit, member-funded organization that helps health organizations create, choose and use research evidence in innovative practice settings to enhance decision-making capacity. SEARCH Canada facilitates partnerships with academic institutions to advance applied learning and research. SEARCH Canada invests in the health system by supporting faculty and health professionals, and a knowledge infrastructure (e.g., desktop). System engagement at the academic, health service, and government levels – organizations and individuals – has created a strong SEARCH network.

What was the need being filled originally by the creation of SEARCH?

SEARCH Canada was created to close the gap between research and practice in the health sector by developing people in health organizations, developing relationships across sectors and providing research information and access.

Why was the organization spun out of AHFMR?

SEARCH Canada became a not-for-profit member organization in 2005 to enhance its impact, respond to emerging needs and opportunities, increase accountability to the broad stakeholder group, provide opportunities for stronger partnerships, and establish a basis for longer term funding.

Who funds SEARCH Canada now?

SEARCH Canada and its programs are funded by its founding member organizations: the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (AHFMR), Alberta’s nine health regions, and the University of Calgary.

What is SEARCH Canada’s relationship to the Centre for Health Evidence?

Strong, mutually beneficial partnerships and linkages are a key aspect of SEARCH Canada’s continued success as a leader in knowledge transfer, and provide a shared resource in building capacity for evidence-based practice in health care.

The Centre for Health Evidence (CHE) at the University of Alberta promotes evidence-informed health service delivery by facilitating practice-based evidence and providing knowledge resources to health professionals. CHE supports SEARCH Canada’s virtual learning community and growing networks through the information and knowledge services facilitated by the SEARCH Desktop. This integrated internet environment supports key functions within both the SEARCH Classic and Custom programs under the direction of CHE Associate Director, Kelly Deis.

SEARCH has collaborated with CHE and its precursors since 1996, at which time Dr. Robert Hayward was first engaged with the program. Dr. Hayward is now CHE Director and leader of SEARCH Canada’s Choosing Evidence theme faculty group. The core enabling technology used by CHE VIVIDESK™, an internet-based desktop that provides users with access to a customized package of information from many sources, using multiple technologies.

I understand SEARCH Canada is essentially a training program.

SEARCH Canada is really a mechanism for investing in the health system, supporting faculty and health professionals, applied projects and a knowledge infrastructure. It is about long-term capacity building across the whole health system, in addition to individual skills and knowledge. Programs have been shown to be uniquely positioned to support and develop leaders for the next stage of health system development. It provides a province-wide mechanism to bring together health research, health service delivery, and higher education, and in delivering programs and services that respond to the context and needs of both rural and urban health regions operating across Alberta and beyond.

Is this model having an impact on Alberta’s health care system and patient care?

We believe it is, based on the ongoing evaluation of our programs and participants. System impacts include:

  1. Collaboration between researchers and decision-makers
  2. Evidence for local health service management
  3. Province-wide access to up-to-date research results
  4. People using the best available information to improve health outcomes
  5. Innovation supported by evaluation, and
  6. Knowledge sharing, through a multi-disciplinary, research and practice network of expertise

Impacts on patient care typically result from specific projects. A few of many examples from the past 10 years include:

  1. Safe early maternity discharge policies across the province based on assessment of readmissions and health outcomes.
  2. Decreased duplication and increased access to care for infants and mothers through integration of public health nursing and family physician services.
  3. Province-wide standardized assessment of mental health patients and outcomes on discharge.
  4. Improved access to psychiatric services through telepsychiatry, first as a pilot and then province-wide, based on evaluations of outcomes and satisfaction.
  5. Decreased utilization of travel vaccinations based on identification of groups with high likelihood of pre-existing immunity.
  6. Improved information and education for parents to increase the uptake of childhood immunizations.
  7. Early identification and treatment of postpartum depression through region-wide implementation of a tested assessment scale.

The organization is widely respected, and has become a model for federal and provincial initiatives that link research to practice and policy, and develop receptor capacity in the health system for research dissemination and use.

What distinguishes SEARCH Canada’s programs from other training or capacity building programs currently available?

SEARCH Canada takes a system-wide, integrated approach to capacity development for innovation and accountability. It involves multiple levels of organizations, and considers capacity building in both the academic and practice sectors.

Rather than a competitive academic model, SEARCH takes an approach that fosters increased collaboration and cooperation for health system benefit. It is also uniquely positioned to support and develop leaders for the next stage of health system development. It is the only organization providing a province-wide mechanism to bring together health research, health service delivery, and higher education, and in delivering programs and services that respond to the context and needs of both rural and urban health regions operating across Alberta and beyond.