A Brief Introduction to Community and Patient Partnership in Health Research

Patient-oriented research is a type of community-based health research that aims to improve the effectiveness and uptake of evidence into health practice by emphasizing collaboration among multi-disciplinary teams. The key to a patient-oriented approach is meaningful engagement with all parties that are interested in, or might be affected by, a topic, including those with experience of the health care system and health issues (patients, families, the public), health care providers, and health system decision makers alongside academics as partners in the research process. This presentation will provide a brief overview of the principles of patient-oriented research and offer some tips and tools for both novices and experienced adopters of a patient-oriented or community-based research approach.

The BC SUPPORT Unit Fraser Centre is a regional centre of the provincial BC SUPPORT Unit and is part of CIHR’s Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research. The Fraser Centre is a partnership between the Fraser Health Authority and Simon Fraser University and serves the entire Fraser Region in promoting and supporting a patient-oriented research approach through education and facilitating partnerships.