Issue 14 – Winter 2012
New year brings new leadership to NCCMT
NCCMT is pleased to welcome Dr. Maureen Dobbins to the position of scientific director. Maureen has extensive expertise in knowledge translation and evidence-informed decision making in public health. She is also an associate professor in McMaster University’s School of Nursing.
Watch for more details regarding Maureen’s national and international contributions to knowledge translation in public health in the next NCCMT newsletter!
Changing roles: Donna Ciliska steps down as scientific lead
Donna Ciliska has been at the helm of the NCCMT since its inception. Donna began as co-scientific director with Helen Thomas in 2006 and has been the primary lead since 2008.
Although Donna is stepping down as scientific lead, she will continue to share her expertise and enthusiasm for knowledge translation to ongoing NCCMT projects.
What would Donna do?
That’s the question many on the NCCMT team might ask when presented with a challenging KT question and to meet that need the “pocket Donna” was created. It’s a light-hearted illustration of the value people place on Donna’s expertise. As you can see below – everyone on the team has a “pocket Donna”!
NCCMT friends and colleagues hold up their pocket Donnas(Leslea Peirson, Jenny Yost, Rebecca Gannan, Kirsten Sears, Jaime Brown, Sunita Chera, Charlene Dicesare, Jeannie Mackintosh, Pamela Forsyth)
Leslea Peirson, former post-doctoral fellow at NCCMT (now research coordinator with the Effective Public Health Practice Project) — and creator of the pocket Donna — describes Donna as “a mentor and director of the highest caliber and one of my greatest sources of inspiration … She always makes time for people no matter what the issue.”
NCCMT administrative director Pamela Forsyth calls Donna “one of those insightful leaders who consistently allows and encourages people to explore new ideas and challenges. Working with Donna over the past three years has been an enriching experience for me; I’ve learned a lot from her wisdom and grace. I’m thrilled she will continue to work with the team at NCCMT on a project-by-project basis.”
Maureen Dobbins acknowledges Donna’s impact on the organization and welcomes her continued involvement. “On behalf of all of the staff at NCCMT, I would like to thank Donna for her commitment, enthusiasm, leadership and vision in the development and implementation of the NCCMT.”
Beyond the NCCMT
But it is not only within the NCCMT that Donna has made a difference. According to David Mowat, Medical Officer of Health for the Region of Peel, she “has truly made a difference to the practice of public health.”
“All too often evidence-informed decision making is no more than a catchword. Donna has helped practitioners to really understand EIDM and put it into practice. She has found that ‘sweet spot’ at the intersection of scientific rigour and practical application,” says Dr. Mowat. “Peel Public Health has made great progress in applying evidence to practice; this would not have been possible without Donna’s wise counsel and practical assistance.”
Looking forward …
Donna has clearly established the NCCMT as a credible source for methods and tools that support moving research evidence into policy and program decisions. She has led the development of our online modules, is key to the EIPH workshops that have been delivered to groups across the country and, in addition to many other initiatives, has established and maintained many strong working relationships and partnerships with KT and public health groups across Canada.
As we move forward, we anticipate the addition of new and innovative ideas that will further NCCMT’s goal of moving research in to practice by our new scientific director, Maureen Dobbins. Some of these ideas are already being discussed…stay tuned!
Checking in: the new Online Business Case Creator
The launch of the new Online Business Case Creator (OBCC) coincided with the beginning of the new year. The OBCC was developed in response to requests from our users. Since the release of the original Online Health Program Planner (OHPP) in 2009, user feedback and suggestions have been collected and compiled. As a result, we implemented some exciting changes and improvements. The enhanced OHPP 2.0 now includes Project Management Tools and the Online Business Case Creator (OBCC).
Like the others in this suite of integrated online tools, the OBCC is designed to simplify and systematize what can be an overwhelming task. The OBCC breaks down the process into three manageable steps and provides additional supports, templates and information.
There are many different ways to use this tool. By working through each step of the OBCC in sequence you’ll end up with a complete plan to present to community leaders and funders. If you’ve already got a business case underway, you can use the OBCC to share your work with partners and colleagues. Short on time? Use the OBCC to quickly produce a scorecard showing the strengths and limitations of projects, to point out risks and benefits, or to document results of a risk/benefit analysis.
Development, maintenance and support of the OBCC is made possible through a collaboration between NCCMT and Public Health Ontario (PHO). To help you get started with this tool, both organizations are offering webinars in both English and French over the next couple of months. NCCMT will coordinate training sessions for users outside Ontario, while PHO will offer training sessions for those in Ontario. Ongoing consultation support is also available by contacting either NCCMT or Public Health Ontario.
More information about the Online Business Case Creator and available webinars and consultation services is available at http://www.thcu.ca/ohpp/plan_chart_obcc.html
To create these tools, NCCMT partnered with The Health Communication Unit (THCU), which started in 1993 at the University of Toronto and moved to PHO's Health Promotion, Chronic Disease and Injury Prevention Department in April, 2011.
New webinar series : “Spotlight on Knowledge Translation Methods & Tools”
Last fall, we began to develop a new webinar series to highlight some popular methods and tools housed in NCCMT’s Registry. The goal of these webinars is to provide an opportunity for participants to learn about the resources in more depth from the developers themselves and to hear real-world examples of how the resource has been used.
In January 2012, we launched the new webinar series in collaboration with CHNET-Works! fireside chats.
How did NCCMT decide which tools to feature? We didn’t. DialoguePH network members did!
We asked members of the DialoguePH network which methods and tools they would like to see spotlighted first. The following methods and tools were voted in the top three and will be featured first in the series:
For more information on these and other upcoming webinars in the series, contact Kirsten Sears (searsk@mcmaster.ca).
Evaluating the NCCMT – feedback welcome
NCCMT is committed to developing products and services that meet the needs of our audience. Over the next few months we will be conducting a formal evaluation of several of our initiatives. You may be contacted by our evaluators asking for your feedback, either by survey or key informant interview. To minimize interruptions to our target audience, we are trying to coordinate our outreach efforts (and hope you will excuse us if you are inadvertently contacted more than once). We look forward to your participation and appreciate any feedback you can provide.
Of course, even if you don’t receive a formal request, we always value your feedback. You are invited to contact us or fill out an online feedback form any time.
What's new on the Registry?
The Registry includes a number of tools from The Health Communication Unit that complement the new Online Business Case Creator (OBCC) tool. The OBCC is designed specifically to help you decide whether or not to move forward with your project. But, the OBCC is only one of a suite of tools included in the newly enhanced Online Health Program Planner (OHPP 2.0) The OHPP 2.0 includes additional tools to help you to develop and manage a program plan based on the best available evidence. Here are some examples of how the six-step OHPP 2.0 tool can be used:
- Use evidence to plan a program
- Create a logic model
- Develop outcome objectives, and
- Develop a situational assessment plan.
To see a summary statement on the original OHPP, click here.
Haven’t got a project idea yet? Still grappling with multiple, competing priorities? You may need help determining which health issues to address first. The THCU’s Priority Setting Process Checklist (PSPC) outlines what information you need in order to determine priority needs for your community. The PSPC provides a systematic approach to priority setting. To link to the PSPC click here. To see the Registry summary statement on the PSPC, click here.
What's new in Public Health +?
Title: Comparing behavioral weight loss modalities: incremental cost-effectiveness of an internet-based versus an in-person condition
Authors: Krukowski RA, Tilford JM, Harvey-Berino J, West DS.
Source: Obesity (Silver Spring). 2011 Aug;19(8):1629-35. doi: 10.1038/oby.2010.341. Epub 2011 Jan 20.
Relevance Rating: 6/7
Newsworthiness Rating: 5/7
Title: What Implementation Interventions Increase Cancer Screening Rates? A Systematic Review
Authors: Brouwers MC, De Vito C, Bahirathan L, Carol A, Carroll JC, Cotterchio M, Dobbins M, Lent B, Levitt C, Lewis N, McGregor SE, Paszat L, Rand C, Wathen N.
Source: Implementation Science, 2011 Sep 29;6(1):111.
Relevance Rating: 6/7
Newsworthiness Rating: 5/7
Title: Until which age should women be vaccinated against HPV infection? Recommendation based on cost-effectiveness analyses.
Authors: Westra TA, Rozenbaum MH, Rogoza RM, Nijman HW, Daemen T, Postma MJ, Wilschut JC.
Source: Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2011 Aug;204(3):377-84.
Relevance Rating: 4/7
Newsworthiness Rating: 3/7
What's new from DialoguePH?
Mark your calendars!
Next Spotlight on Knowledge Translation Methods & Tools : The Institute for Work and Health's “From Research to Practice: A Knowledge Transfer Planning Guide"
Date: Friday, February 10th (1:00 – 2:30 PM, ET)
Presenters: Jane Brenneman Gibson, KTE consultant at the Institute for Work and Health
Planning a knowledge transfer project? Looking for a guide that teaches the nuts and bolts?
Learn about this tool and how it can be used to help navigate the complexities of planning a knowledge transfer project.
For more information or to register, click here :
http://www.chnet-works.ca/index.php?option=com_rsevents&view=events&layout=show&cid=130%3Aspotlight-on-knowledge-translation-methods-and-tools-2&Itemid=6&lang=en
Worth checking out…
Have you heard of Science-ish?
Science-ish is a blog from Macleans.ca, developed with participation from McMaster University. Both Donna Ciliska and Maureen Dobbins contribute content and expertise to this blog.
Recently, Science-ish posted an interesting and balanced article on the Vancouver’s safe injection site. Find out what the evidence really tells us in “Insite: ‘Too early to tell’ if it works?”
Other fascinating Science-ish articles probe timely health topics from breast implants to energy drinks. Every piece is written in plain language with input from experts.
Check out the Science-ish page!
|
