Table 1 Summary of organizational features and possible approaches to operationalizing them (table from Wilson et al. 2014) [12]
Organizational feature | Possible approaches to operationalizing each feature | Criteria meta |
|---|---|---|
Governance (structure, scope and rules) | ● Administer the rapid-response program through the McMaster Health Forum under its existing governance structure that prioritizes strong links with and involvement of policymakers and stakeholders in the programs it delivers | ● 1, 7 |
● Operationalize this approach to governance by convening a rapid-response program steering committee consisting of federal, provincial and territorial health system decision-makers and stakeholders who can provide strategic guidance about administering the program | ● 1, 9 | |
● Establish that the rapid-response program: | ● 2 | |
○ addresses topics requested by health system decision-makers (requests will be submitted to the Forum through email and the questions will be refined by the Forum in collaboration with the requestor where necessary); | ||
○ ensures that the findings of the syntheses are based on the available research evidence and not the personal views of those who requested or developed it; | ||
○ identifies whether any potential conflicts of interest exist in any product produced through the rapid-response program; and | ||
○ disseminates completed syntheses (e.g. through the existing Forum Update newsletter and/or through a dedicated email list to the program partners) and makes them available through a dedicated repository on the Forum’s website (but without the requestor’s jurisdiction attached to the synthesis to provide some level of anonymity) | ||
Management and staffing | ● Allocate authority to the organizational leadership of the Forum for ensuring the accountability of the program in relation to its mandate | ● 3 |
● Use effective project management processes to make the best use of available resources and to sequence and prioritize tasks in a way that allows for all requests to be completed within specified timelines | ● 6 | |
● Implement minimum training standards (e.g. completing an online training course about finding and using research evidence) and provide ongoing mentorship for staff contributing to the rapid-response program (this includes both those at the Forum and from partner networks or organizations) | ● 4 | |
Program resources | ● Seek external (but not user-pay) and long-term funding (e.g. from a Partnerships for Health System Improvement grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research) that will allow for both the delivery and ongoing evaluation of the program | ● 5 (if successful) |
● Prioritize some requests over others in times when demand exceeds available resources, which could be accomplished through one or more of the following approaches: | ● 6 | |
○ completing requests from those who have not recently accessed the program; | ||
○ requesting a resubmission at a later date for topics that are deemed less urgent (either by the requestors themselves, by the steering committee or both); and/or | ||
○ engaging the program steering committee to help decide which requests should be prioritized (e.g. through a voting or ranking process over email) | ||
Collaboration | ● Engage trusted national, provincial and territorial partner networks or organizations (where possible and necessary) to | ● 8 |
○ identify whether a synthesis has already been completed on the topic (e.g. by establishing a listserv that can be used to efficiently contact all partners when a request is received) and | ||
○ collaborate with the Forum to conduct syntheses (or build on existing products identified) to ensure relevance to particular provincial and territorial contexts |