About PHSI

CIHR's Partnerships for Health System Improvement (PHSI) program supports teams of researchers and decision makers interested in conducting applied and policy-relevant health systems and services research that responds to the needs of health care decision makers and strengthens the Canadian health system.

Applied health services (including public health), health systems and policy research has played an important role in discussions, debate and decision-making in health and health care in Canada for decades, and will continue to do so in the current 'evidence-based' environment. While decision-making in health care and public health organizations is a complex process, research evidence has an important role to play. When the research process is guided by the information needs of users of research, findings are more likely to be translated into new knowledge. Therefore, the PHSI program requires meaningful collaboration between researchers and decision makers likely to be able to make use of the results of the research.

Learn more about PHSI through our brochure.

PHSI objectives

• Support research that reflects the emerging health needs of Canadians and the evolution of the health system and supports health policy decision-making;
• Support research relevant to decision makers by producing results that can be applied to multiple regions and/or settings;
• Foster collaboration with the provinces and with individuals and organizations in or outside of Canada that have an interest in health or health research and engage a variety of partners, "in or outside Canada, with complementary research interests";
• Promote the involvement and recognition of, and respect for, health researchers from an array of health disciplines; and,
• Enable the dissemination of knowledge and application of health research to improve the health of Canadians and strengthen the Canadian health care system (including the public health system).

Researchers interested in applying should consult the funding opportunity for details on application procedures, review and evaluation.

Merit review

This program uses a merit review process – as opposed to a scientific review process – to evaluate the applications. The merit review will assess potential impact and scientific merit. Potential impact and scientific merit will be given equal weight in the assessment of the application by the merit review panel. The entire merit review panel will then determine the consensus score of each application. All applications will be reviewed by at least one decision maker and one researcher.