2019 Knowledge Translation Grants

The 2019 CFN Knowledge Translation (KT) Competition was designed to bridge the gap between evidence and practice. We looked for scalable projects that will initiate or improve the implementation and/or adoption of evidence to improve the health and functioning of older adults living with frailty and/or their family/friend caregivers.

PROJECTS FUNDED

For more details on any of the projects, please click on the project names below:

Rurality and frailty: What are the impacts, benefits and outcomes of paramedic palliative support at home? Principal Investigator: Alix Carter, Nova Scotia Health Authority

Use of an automated prospective clinical surveillance tool to drive screening for unmet palliative needs among patients in the final year of life. Principal Investigator: James Downar, Ottawa Hospital Research Institute

Establishing Shared Decision Making Among Vulnerable Patients Referred for Cardiac Surgery, a Maritime-Wide Initiative. Principal Investigators: Greg Hirsch, Nova Scotia Health Authority & Ansar Hassan, Dalhousie University

Promoting movement in older adults in the community (PROMO). Principal Investigator: Barbara Liu, Sunnybrook Research Institute

An innovative decision tool to optimize hospital discharge in frail older patients living at risk. Principal Investigator: Véronique Provencher, Université de Sherbrooke

About the competition

For the 2019 KT competition, CFN identified two priorities. The scope of the projects may vary depending on the setting’s readiness and capacity for change and/or the KT strategy.

1. Enhancing integrated models of care to improve frailty outcomes. This priority is intended to support KT and implementation projects focused on practice and service. This includes initiatives aimed to improve health and functioning of older adults with frailty and/or the accessibility and/or quality of care in any setting. For example, using prompts in primary care to systematically screen older adults for frailty, and provide thorough assessments with appropriate referrals for patients with frailty.
2. Strategies for improving functional outcomes in older adults living with frailty and/or their caregivers. This priority focuses on KT and implementation projects that provide quality care for older adults with frailty to improve their health outcomes, which may include helping them stay active, slowing the progression of frailty, and/or reducing the need for early entry to long-term care. For example, using pre-habilitation or reablement to improve physical function or quality of life for older adults with frailty.

Eligibility: The 2019 KT competition was open to all interested investigators. Prior CFN funding was not required. For CFN Network Investigators, submitted KT proposals should not have overlapped the end-of-grant KT activities identified in any previously funded CFN project. The KT projects proposed had to address one of the priority areas (see above), and must have had multidisciplinary, multi-institutional teams. Projects of 18 months in duration or less were considered.

Funding: There was no maximum amount for a single KT proposal. The overall KT competition budget was $500,000, and budget justification within submitted proposals was a major evaluation criterion.  Increasing budgetary requests were expected to produce greater impact and underwent scrutiny as to their ability to achieve such impact. All proposals required partners who have committed cash and/or eligible in-kind contributions from NCE-eligible partners on a 1:1 basis, at a minimum.

In New Brunswick, the competition was presented in collaboration with the New Brunswick Health Research Foundation (NBHRF), with funding available for projects where all funds are spent within New Brunswick, and the Principal Investigators receiving funding are from an institution in New Brunswick eligible to receive Tri-Council funding.