Patient and Public Topic Suggestions

At the SPOR Evidence Alliance, we value the importance of patient identified priorities in shaping the health research landscape, and ultimately informing changes across the health system that address patient needs.

If you are interested in a health topic that you feel is important in improving patient health outcomes and the health system, we would like to hear about it.

Who can submit a health topic?

We welcome all interested patients and members of the public to propose topics for future SPOR Evidence Alliance projects.

What topics are appropriate?

We would like to hear about health topics that identify an opportunity to improve health outcomes, medical or public health practice, and health systems in Canada.

Please note that it is not necessary to submit your topic as a structured research question. If your topic is selected for further study, we will work with you to develop the question.

What happens after a topic is submitted?

Once you submit your topic, the SPOR Evidence Alliance will assess your submission using the following criteria:

• Impact (clinical, economic, population)
• Unmet need and knowledge gap
• Timeliness and importance of addressing the information gap
• Uniqueness of the topic, to ensure we do not duplicate existing or ongoing research
• Appropriateness of the topic for knowledge synthesis, guideline development or knowledge translation

When to submit a topic?

You may submit a topic at any time. However, the SPOR Evidence Alliance launches an official call for topics once a year and compiles all topics collected to date for an annual priority setting of topics. Only topics ranked as high priority, by a panel of patient/public partners, health care providers, policy makers and researchers, are fully funded for further study. We will notify you on the status of your topic submission once the prioritization is completed.