Addressing Health Equity through Programmatic Research

Recognizing the need to give researchers working in the fields of population and public health the opportunity to push beyond project-based proposals, IPPH and its partners launched the Programmatic Grants to Tackle Health and Health Equity. This $21 million investment – the largest single strategic investment ever made by IPPH – is supporting 11 grants over five years.

The programmatic approach to research involves conceptually linked projects that are bound together by a common theme. With this funding, researchers are working to improve health and health equity at a population level in Canada and around the world.

Funded research

A mid-term evaluation of this initiative was conducted in 2014, which revealed the considerable progress each team has made since beginning their work in 2011. In addition to their scientific productivity, the teams have also built relationships with policy-makers and practitioners within the public health sector (and beyond), enabling the uptake of their research evidence in the development of policies and programs. In fact, for every $1 CIHR invested in this funding program, the teams have yielded an additional $2.74 in research grants, suggesting a substantial return-on-investment and providing evidence of the high quality of research conducted by funded teams.

This funding program was also highlighted in the Public Health Agency of Canada’s Rio Political Declaration on Social Determinants of Health: A Snapshot of Canadian Actions 2015. The report features examples of initiatives across multiple sectors that address the social determinants of health and health equity. It serves as a snapshot of Canada’s efforts to advance the 2011 Rio Political Declaration on Social Determinants of Health [ PDF (622 KB) - external link ] objectives of improving the health and wellbeing of citizens through action on living and working conditions.

Date modified:

2016-03-15