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The Imperative of Strategic Alignment Across Organizations: The Experience of the Canadian Cancer Society’s Centre for Behavioural Research and Program Evaluation

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Abstract

The Canadian Cancer Society’s Centre for Behavioural Research and Program Evaluation (CBRPE) is a national asset for building pan-Canadian capacity to support intervention studies that guide population-level policies and programs. This paper briefly describes CBRPE’s experience in advancing this work in the field of prevention. The aim is to illuminate issues of central importance for advancing the goals of the Population Health Intervention Research Initiative for Canada. According to our experience, success in building the population intervention field will depend heavily on purposeful alignment across organizations to enable integration of research, evaluation, surveillance, policy and practice. CBRPE’s capacity development roles include a) a catalytic role in shaping this aligned inter-organizational milieu and b) investing our resources in building tangible assets (teams, indicators, data systems) that contribute relevant capacities within this emerging milieu. Challenges in building capacity in this field are described.

Résumé

Le Centre de recherche sur le comportement et d’évaluation des programmes (CRCÉP) de la Société canadienne du cancer est un atout national pour le développement des capacités pancanadiennes à l’appui d’études interventionnelles qui orienteront les politiques et les programmes axés sur les populations. Dans cet article, nous décrivons brièvement l’expérience du CRCÉP à cet égard dans le domaine de la prévention. Notre objectif est d’éclairer les enjeux déterminants pour faire progresser l’Initiative de recherche interventionnelle en santé des populations du Canada (IRISPC). D’après notre expérience, le renforcement des interventions axées sur la population dépendra beaucoup d’une concordance délibérée entre les organismes en cause pour permettre l’intégration de la recherche, de l’évaluation, de la surveillance, des politiques et des pratiques. En matière de renforcement des capacités, le CRCÉP joue un double rôle: a) il est un catalyseur qui favorise la concordance entre les organismes du milieu et b) il investit ses ressources dans la création d’actifs tangibles (équipes, indicateurs, systèmes de données) qui élargissent les capacités dans le milieu émergeant. Nous décrivons les difficultés associées au renforcement des capacités dans ce domaine.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Behavioural Research and Program Evaluation, University of Waterloo, Lyle S. Hallman Institute North, Waterloo, ON, N2L 3G1, Canada

    Roy Cameron PhD, Barbara L. Riley PhD, H. Sharon Campbell PhD, Stephen Manske EdD & Kim Lamers-Bellio PhD

Authors
  1. Roy Cameron PhD
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  2. Barbara L. Riley PhD
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  3. H. Sharon Campbell PhD
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  4. Stephen Manske EdD
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  5. Kim Lamers-Bellio PhD
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Roy Cameron PhD.

Additional information

Preparation of this paper was supported by a personnel award to Dr. Riley from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

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Cameron, R., Riley, B.L., Campbell, H.S. et al. The Imperative of Strategic Alignment Across Organizations: The Experience of the Canadian Cancer Society’s Centre for Behavioural Research and Program Evaluation. Can J Public Health 100, I27–I30 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03405506

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03405506

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