Fellowship Awards - Priority Announcement: CIHR Research Initiative on Official Language Minority Communities (Archived)
CIHR Research Initiative on Official Language Minority Communities
Priority Announcement for the February 2006 Fellowships Competition
Priority Announcements fund highly rated research applications that are determined to be relevant to specific CIHR research priority areas and do not receive funding through CIHR's regular competitions. Applications are submitted through the regular competition noted above.
| Important Dates | |
| Opportunity Launched | December 2005 |
| Content Last Updated | (No updates since launch) |
| February 1, 2006 | Full applications must be courier stamped by this date. |
| Early July | Anticipated notification of decision. |
| July 1, 2006 | Earliest start date. |
| Summary | |
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CIHR's mandate is "to excel, according to internationally accepted standards of scientific excellence, in the creation of new knowledge and its translation into improved health for Canadians, more effective health services and products and a strengthened health care system". In 2001, the Health Canada's Consultative Committee for French-Speaking Minority Communities revealed that more than half the francophones in these communities rarely, if ever, have access to health services in their language and hypothesized that there is a direct connection between language and the health of the population. This problem has also been observed by the Health Canada's Consultative Committee for English-Speaking Minority Communities for whom regional and subregional access is often limited or non-existent in some locations. However, we do not have evidence for understanding the health issue of French- and English-speaking minority communities, particularly regarding their state of health, determinants of health and issues around access to first-language services. This lack of scientific evidence hinders the development of targeted health strategies and effective policies. The purpose of this Priority Announcement is to support research on the health issues experienced in official language minority communities with the aim of increasing our knowledge on the three major relevant research areas identified by the members of official language minority communities: 1) Determinants of health, 2) Health service governance, management and delivery, and 3) Language, culture and health (see the Relevant Research Areas section below). Funds Available:CIHR's contribution to the amount available for this initiative is subject to availability of funds voted annually to CIHR by parliamentary appropriations, and the conditions that may be attached to them.
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Table of Contents
Partners
Relevant Research Areas
Peer Review Process
Conditions of Funding
How to Apply
Contacts for Further Information
Description of Partners
Partners
The CIHR research initiative on OLMC is dedicated to identifying and developing collaborations with other CIHR institute(s), branch(es) or office(s), funding organizations and stakeholders to enhance the availability of funding in their strategic research priority areas and to create, where appropriate, opportunities for knowledge exchange and translation related to the scope of these priority areas. Applicants are invited to visit the Descriptions of Partners to find a list of partners and their respective mandates and/or strategic interests. This list will continue to evolve as new partners join.
Relevant Research Areas
The CIHR research initiative on OLMC and CIHR's 13 Institutes will provide funding for applications that are determined to be relevant to the research priority areas described below.
1 - Determinants of health
The importance of language has a particular dimension with health issues in the areas of health promotion, disease prevention and effective communication between patients and health workers. The few studies on official language minority communities reveal a negative health differential and a stronger role of some determinants, such as living in a minority community, yet the studies do not explain these health inequalities.
Population health research looks at all determinants of health: the social and physical environment in which populations live, resources available to them, health services, lifestyle, cultural practices and biological determinants. This view incorporates two major factors that may explain health inequalities: the personal factor, which explores the characteristics of individuals, and the contextual factor, which looks at living environments (resources and infrastructures) and the collective functioning (sociocultural and historical characteristics of the community, degree of integration, mobility, norms and values).
This research area seeks to identify the bio-psycho-social determinants of health and the health needs of official language minority populations, document the access these populations have to health services and determine how accessibility affects their health.
2 - Health service governance, management and delivery
The issue of health institution governance by official language minorities is still not clearly documented. The community argument is only at the early stages, and research on this subject is therefore delayed. As such, it is important to reinforce knowledge to gain a better understanding of minority community governance regarding health in Canada. It is also important to identify the political and administrative issues raised by jurisprudence and institutional duality and better grasp the new health-related observations. Issues relating to greater participation by official language minority communities in governance bodies and decision-making guide this branch of research. The concerns of official language minorities surrounding health service delivery in both official languages and the management of this service suggest that governance of health care institutions is undergoing far-reaching changes that must be better documented.
3 - Language, culture and health
The connections between language, culture and health have to do with the effects of the minority linguistic and cultural experience on identity development and health. For example, this has an impact on access to health promotion and prevention services and to primary and specialized health care. This also comes into play with communication between people receiving health care and health workers. It is also important to understand the processes of linguistic assimilation and acculturation, which may affect the self-esteem and identity development of people in minority communities.
The connections between "language, culture and health" particularly affect certain "client groups": early childhood, youth, seniors, women, new Canadians and people with mental health or psychosocial problems. Speech, verbal and non-verbal communication, the meaning of "symbols" and general comprehension are closely linked to culture and language. When it comes to health problems, it is particularly crucial for people to be able to use their own language to explain their symptoms, state of mind, difficulties and pains to a professional who understands their language. It is important to understand the situation of members of official language minority communities, how they view the limited access to services they encounter and the impact this situation has on their health. With an active immigration policy, the specific situation of new francophones from Africa, Asia and the West Indies is among the shifting issues of access to French-language services. The importance of language and culture becomes even clearer for seniors with memory problems or depressive people under great psychological distress. Only research into these issues will improve our knowledge so that we can document the connections between language, culture and health.
Relevance of the applications to the research priorities will be determined in the following manner.
Prior to peer review, appropriate representatives from the CIHR research initiative on OLMC will review applications to determine the relevance, or alignment, of the research proposed to the research priority areas described above.
To conduct the relevance review, these representatives will have access to the completed relevance form, (see "How to Apply" below), anonymized project titles and summaries, provided that applicants have indicated their consent on the "Applicant Consent Form for Use and Disclosure of Personal Information Provided to CIHR for Peer Review," which is included in the application forms.
Upon completion of peer review, appropriate representatives from the CIHR research initiative on OLMC will receive the ratings, rankings and peer review committee recommendations on funding level and award term for those applications that 1) are found to be relevant to the specific objectives of the research initiative and the research priority areas described under "Relevant Research Areas"; and 2) are rated within the CIHR fundable range but are not funded through the regular CIHR competition to which they were submitted. These applications will be funded from the top down in order of ranking as far as budgets will allow. Applications that receive a ranking below 3.5 will not be funded.
The relevance review occurs apart from the peer review (scientific review) and has no relationship to the results of peer review. Peer review committees will not be informed of applications submitted for funding through this announcement.
Peer Review Process
A CIHR peer review committee will evaluate the full applications. The peer review committee members are selected based on suggestions from many sources including the Institute(s) / portfolio(s) and partner(s), following CIHR's Policy on Confidentiality, Conflict of Interest and Privacy Issues in Peer and Relevance Review (CCIP). For information on CIHR's peer review process in general, see Peer Review.
Conditions of Funding
All conditions specified in CIHR General Grants and Awards Policies shall apply to applications funded through this Priority Announcement. Conditions cover areas such as Applicant and Institutional Responsibilities, Ethics, Official language policy, Access to Information and Privacy Acts, and Acknowledgement of CIHR Support. Successful applicants will be informed of any special financial conditions prior to the release of funds or when they receive CIHR's Authorization for Funding (AFF) document.
Access to Information Act and Privacy Act, and the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA)
All personal information collected by CIHR about applicants is used to review applications, to administer and monitor grants and awards, to compile statistics, and to promote and support health research in Canada. Consistent with these purposes, applicants should also expect that information collected by CIHR may be shared as described in Use and Disclosure of Personal Information Provided to CIHR for Peer Review.
CIHR as a federal entity is subject to the Access to Information Act and the Privacy Act, therefore the requirements of these two statutes will apply to all information located in CIHR's premises including, without limitation, cost-sharing agreements related to this Priority Announcement and all matters pertaining thereto.
While respecting the application of the Privacy Act to federal entities, all signing parties involved in a collaborative agreement will also be bound by the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA). All personal information (as identified by the PIPEDA) collected, used or disclosed in the course of any commercial activity under collaborative agreements related to the Priority Announcement will be collected, used and disclosed in compliance with the PIPEDA.
How to Apply
Applicants are advised to review CIHR's grants and awards policies and guidelines outlined in the CIHR Grants and Awards Guide.
Applications are submitted through the February 2006 Fellowships competition along with a relevance form to the Fellowship application. To select the appropriate application forms, follow the links beside "Fellowships" from the list of Application Packages
Additional Instructions for this Priority Announcement:- Within the Research Funding Program section of the application web form, select “Priority Announcement,” then enter the relevant research area(s) that relate(s) to your application and the title of this Priority Announcement (Fellowships-OLMC) in the spaces provided.
- Complete the Applicant Consent Form for Use and Disclosure of Personal Information Provided to CIHR for Peer Review, which is included in the application form.
- Complete one Relevance Form for each research area identified. Detailed instructions are provided on the Relevance Form [ PDF (545 KB) | PDF (311 KB, fillable) | Help ]
Contacts for Further Information
For questions about the objectives and relevant research areas:
Kim Gaudreau
Associate, Strategic Initiatives
CIHR Institute of Health Services and Policy Research and
CIHR Institute of Population and Public Health
Telephone: (613) 957-6128
Fax: (613) 954-1800
Email: morourke@cihr-irsc.gc.ca
For questions related to specific CIHR competitions and programs, including CIHR funding guidelines, how to apply, and the peer review process contact:
Nadia Martino
Program Coordinator, Research Capacity Development
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
Telephone: (613) 946-0088
Fax: (613) 954-1800
Email: nmartino@cihr-irsc.gc.ca
Description of Partners: CIHR Institutes and Partner Organizations
Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
CIHR is Canada's major federal funding agency for health research. Its objective is to excel, according to internationally accepted standards of scientific excellence, in the creation of new knowledge and its translation into improved health for Canadians, more effective health services and products and a strengthened Canadian health care system.
