Case study

Building research capacity for evidence-informed tobacco control in Canada: a case description

Paul W McDonald^1,2 , Sarah Viehbeck^1,2 , Sarah J Robinson³ , Scott T Leatherdale^2,4,5 , Candace IJ Nykiforuk^2,6 and Mari Alice Jolin²

¹  Department of Health Studies and Gerontology, University of Waterloo Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

²  Population Health Research Group, University of Waterloo Waterloo, Ontario, Canada

³  McMaster Child Health Research Institute, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada

⁴  Department of Population Studies and Surveillance, Cancer Care Ontario, Canada

⁵  Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Canada

⁶  Centre for Health Promotion Studies, University of Alberta, Canada

author email corresponding author email

Tobacco Induced Diseases 2009, 5:12doi:10.1186/1617-9625-5-12

Published:	7 August 2009

Abstract

Tobacco use remains the leading cause of death and disability in Canada. Insufficient research capacity can inhibit evidence-informed decision making for tobacco control. This paper outlines a Canadian project to build research capacity, defined as a community's ability to produce research that adequately informs practice, policy, and future research in a timely, practical manner. A key component is that individuals and teams within the community must mutually engage around common, collectively negotiated goals to address specific practices, policies or programs of research. An organizing framework, a set of activities to build strategic recruitment, productivity tools, and procedures for enhancing social capital are described. Actions are intended to facilitate better alignment between research and the priorities of policy developers and service providers, enhance the external validity of the work performed, and reduce the time required to inform policy and practice.