The Contextualized Health Research Synthesis Program (CHRSP) is a collaborative partnership that has been designed to put health evidence into the hands of decision makers.  The partnership includes the CHRSP research team at NLCAHR, decision makers in Newfoundland & Labrador's provincial health and community systems, and patient/caregiver advisers. As an innovative knowledge translation approach, CHRSP puts research in place by creating reports that consider the local context and support decisions on priority issues identified by our health system partners. 

What kinds of research does CHRSP provide?

Rather than carrying out original (primary) research studies, CHRSP gathers and reports on health evidence that has been produced by others, most typically synthesizing the findings from high quality systematic reviews.  Most of our research sits at the top of this pyramid, making it highly valuable for policy makers.

CHRSP produces...

Health Evidence:

These health evidence reports sit at the top of the evidence pyramid as they are team-based and the methods used are rigorous.  This means they take more time to produce and support longer-term decisions:

• Evidence in Context: full research team produces a synthesis of quality systematic reviews, quality appraisal, key findings and in-depth contextual considerations. (10-18 months to produce)
• Rapid Evidence: smaller team and subject expert produce knowledge synthesis, quality appraisal, brief review of contextual considerations. (6-12 months to produce)

Decision Support:

These reports are produced very quickly.  They sometimes report on what's happening in other places and they sometimes contain links to evidence, but the information they provide is not appraised  for quality.  They would sit at the bottom of the evidence pyramid.  These reports were designed in response to health system requests to provide committees and planning teams with basic information that will help to support decisions on pressing short-term issues: 

• Snapshots: detailed scan of approaches that have been used in other jurisdictions and that decision makers might want to consider adapting for use in this province. (3-8 months to produce)
• Rapid Decision Support: summaries and highlights of evidence or quick jurisdictional scans with hyperlinks to publications to help inform planning teams. (2-6 weeks)

Expert Guidance:

NLCAHR can also support decision making by connecting decision makers with experts and/or with patient/public partners. 

• NLCAHR Experts’ Exchanges: one-day, in-camera meetings in which leading experts meet with decision makers online to answer critical questions and provide advice and guidance to support planning. The health system covers the costs for honoraria, catering (if required) and administration for these events.
• Focus Groups: consultations with Patients/Caregivers/ Research & Knowledge Exchanges to support contextualization and/or to gain patient and caregiver perspectives on proposed changes to care delivery.

2023 to 2025: Support for a System in Transition

Since 2023, CHRSP has been dedicated to supporting the transformation underway in NL healthcare, including the merger of four former regional health authorities into the single health authority,  NL Health Services. (NLHS).  This work has involved a focus on rapid reporting to meet the ever-evolving needs and challenges of a system in transition. The process has also resulted in a stronger collaborative partnership with decision makers in NLHS.

In 2026, CHRSP will return to focus more broadly on issues of importance to the provincial healthcare system, including Government, NLHS, and its patient and public partners, with a view to taking on more rigorous and intensive projects while continung to offer Rapid Decision Support on an ongoing basis, as needed.

The CHRSP Approach

The overall CHRSP approach involves decision makers and researchers working together to:

• focus on specific issues, rather than broad research themes
• identify and prioritize issues of concern to health system leaders
• formulate issues into researchable questions
• report on quality research literature
• provide a range of products to meet decision making needs as they arise
• where appropriate, tailor the findings to the local context 
• report research results quickly and in usable formats.

To learn more about the Evidence in Context approach,  this journal article outlines the method that  established CHRSP as a national leader in integrated Knowledge Translation.

The team at NLCAHR is dedicated to providing responsive decision support that is attuned to our partners' needs. CHRSP is committed to ensuring that healthcare decisions in Newofundland and Labrador will continue to be guided by best evidence.

Link to completed CHRSP projects here.