The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) in partnership with the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) are proud supporters of the CHAIR in Applied Public Health Research for the Family Planning Research Program of Dr. Wendy V. Norman (Director, CART-GRAC): “Evidence-informed family planning policy and practice to improve health and health equity”.
This 10 Year Chair (5 years of support through CIHR and PHAC matched by 5 years of support through the UBC Department of Family Practice) offers a unique opportunity to advance family planning research in Canada. Dr. Norman’s Chair is located within the Department of Family Practice at UBC with offices at the Women’s Health Research Institute of British Columbia Women’s Hospital and Health Centre.
The Work of this Chair
Canada has fallen behind other developed nations in family planning public health policies, equitable health services and surveillance of population health indices. The equitable ability for Canadians to plan and space pregnancies is important to public health. The United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and most European countries realize cost-savings and population health and health-equity gains through implementation of public health policies, programs and surveillance not currently available in Canada.
THE PROBLEM is significant inequity among Canadians in the ability to plan and space pregnancies. Vulnerable populations disproportionately face a myriad of economic, education-related, work and social consequences due to unplanned childbirth and recurrent abortion.
THE SOLUTION is to determine the evidence (currently unknown for the Canadian context) to inform population health interventions for health system change. Health policy and services supporting the equitable ability to utilize family planning knowledge and services have proven valuable, leading to population-level gains in terms of health and health equity around the world.
Dr. Norman’s Chair program of population health intervention research, capacity building and integrated knowledge translation, is founded on both provincial and national gap-analyses and aims to ensure marginalized and vulnerable Canadian populations will equitably have the ability to optimally plan and space their pregnancies and so may equitably contribute to positive change in society through a wide range of social, educational, workforce and family health benefits.
The GOAL is to conduct rigorous population health family planning intervention research that will implement new knowledge to improve health and health equity. Dr. Norman’s program of research utilizes extensive interdisciplinary, cross-sectoral collaborations engaging researchers, knowledge users and patients, while mentoring trainees. Dr. Norman and her collaborators will utilize the opportunities afforded by this Chair in Applied Public Health to achieve national policy and health service improvements to public health and health equity for women, men, girls, boys and their families throughout Canada.
Dr. Norman's Family Planning Applied Public Health Chair builds upon proven leadership of several national collaborative research initiatives, decades of clinical expertise and the strong institutional commitment and stimulating research environments within the University of British Columbia, the Michael Smith Foundation of Health Research, BC Women’s Hospital, Perinatal Services BC and The BC Centre for Disease Control. With the committed engagement of an integrated team of decision maker collaborators led by Dr. Perry Kendall, The Provincial Health Officer of BC, and her leadership of the national interdisciplinary and inter-sectoral network, Dr. Norman and her collaborators will utilize the opportunities afforded by this Chair in Applied Public Health to achieve national policy and health service improvements to public health and health equity for women, men, girls, boys and their families throughout Canada.
We welcome applications from graduate students and collaborators interested to further the aims of this program of research.
