Backgrounder: CIHR Strategic Teams in Applied Injury Research
[ Press Release 2010-19 ]The investment in CIHR Strategic Teams in Applied Injury Research will reduce the occurrence of injuries and their consequences. Unintentional and intentional injuries kill more Canadians between one and 44 years of age than any other cause and cost an estimated $19.8 billion every year. For every injury-related death, there are at least 25 injury-related hospitalizations and 363 injury-related emergency department visits. Injuries result from motor vehicle crashes, falls, drowning, poisoning, burns, suffocation, suicide and violence. Yet, most could be avoided with preventive measures, and the affect of injuries on victims and their families could be mitigated through appropriate and timely interventions. Injury research has much to offer on both counts. It is expected that the research findings will inform policies, programs and/or practices. The total investment for this initiative is $8.2 million over five years.
Below is the complete list of funded research teams
CIHR Team in Child and Youth Injury Prevention
Pike, Ian (University of British Columbia); Brussoni, Mariana J; Emery, Carolyn A; Hagel, Brent E; MacPherson, Alison; Morrongiello, Barbara A; Pickett, William; Schuurman, Nadine C; Yanchar, Natalie L
The national research team lead by Dr. Pike will make a difference in childhood injury by ensuring their research findings is directly applied to prevention, training, capacity building, and enhanced communications within the injury prevention community. The team will assess the burden of child and youth injury on the long-term costs to the individual, family and society. Novel methods will be used to identify risk factors leading to injuries, including specific child behaviour, and innovative products will be developed to deliver information directly to youth. The research team will also assess appropriateness of access to paediatric trauma care.
Funding:
$800,000 over five years.
Partners:
Alberta Centre for Child, Family and Community Research
Public Health Agency of Canada
Watch video about research project
CIHR Team in Traumatic Brain Injury and Violence
Cusimano, Michael D (St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto)
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) accounts for 50% or more of all trauma deaths, and an estimated 2% of the population live with lifelong disabilities resulting from TBI. There appears to be a direct link between TBI and violence. The research team will identify and characterize high risk populations vulnerable to violence and TBI. It will study the relationship between alcohol, cannabis, violence and traumatic brain injury. As well, the research team will evaluate programs and products and engage in knowledge translation activities to transform information into action.
Funding:
$1.7 million over five years.
Partner:
Ontario Neurotrauma Foundation
CIHR team on Interpersonal Traumas
Hébert, Martine (Université du Québec à Montréal)
In North America, a large number of young people ages 14 to 18—both girls and boys—have been the victims of at least one episode of violence in the context of their first romantic relationships. Over the long term, these episodes impose considerable costs because of the physical injuries and psychological distress that result from them. The proposed research program will take a closer look at these phenomena. One of the applications of the research results will be to identify promising approaches to developing youth-specific prevention and intervention programs. In the longer term, the implementation of these programs, and their evidence-based evaluation, will help to reduce violence in young people's romantic relationships, as well as the costs associated with it.
Funding:
$1.9 million over five years.
Partner:
Public Health Agency of Canada
CIHR Team in Trauma System Development in Canada: Overcoming the challenges of geography through an evaluation of structure and process.
Nathens, Avery B (St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto); Gagliardi, Anna R; Pong, Raymond W; Rubenfeld, Gordon; Schuurman, Nadine C
Severely injured patients have a lower mortality risk if cared for in a trauma centre. However, trauma centres are only located in urban regions, limiting prompt access to the 20% of Canadians living in rural areas. Due to the distribution of trauma patients and centres, half of patients receive preliminary care at non-designated centres before being transferred to a trauma centre. As trauma centres' locations likely have a significant impact on assuring that the "right patient gets to the right place at the right time," the research team will assess the relationship between trauma system structure and process, and look at the optimization of preliminary care of patients with major injuries. The findings will influence changes in policy and practice to improve access and quality of trauma care.
Funding:
$2 million over five years.
CIHR Team in the Prevention of Fall-Related Injuries in Older Adults through Bioengineering
Robinovitch, Stephen N (Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C.)
The primary goal of the research team is to create a program of collaborative research with two long-term care facilities in the Vancouver area, for the development of innovative technologies to prevent hip fractures and other fall-related injuries in older adults. The project relies on tight integration in fall prevention research between Simon Fraser University and the Fraser Health Authority. The team's specific objectives are as follows: (1) to utilize networks of video cameras to record the causes and characteristics of real-life falls occurring in long-term care residents; (2) to develop wearable fall recorders to accurately detect the occurrence and mechanisms of falls, and provide high-resolution data on body segment movements during the initiation, descent, and impact stages of falls; (3) to identify through a cohort study the relative importance of established and novel risk factors for falls and fall mechanisms in long-term care residents; (4) to test the effect in this environment of force-attenuating compliant flooring on mobility, falls, and fall-related injuries; and (5) to develop and evaluate the next-generation of smart wearable "hip protectors" for hip fracture prevention.
Funding:
$1.8 million over five years.