Building Complementary and Alternative Health Care and Natural Health Products Research Networks: A Discussion Paper (June 2002)

Appendix III: CAHC/NHP Research Network Vision by Document

1. Taking Stock: Policy Issues Associated with Complementary and Alternative Health Care. This report supports building research capacity and capability by involving specialists in complementary and alternative health care as well as specialists in scientific research. It sees a role for governmental funding agencies and describes how the Integrative Medicine and Health Network (13) sees its potential function as one of an umbrella organization for CAHC/NHP research.
2. Towards an Integrative Health System. The Advisory Group recommends promoting collaboration between key federal government groups, at the federal/provincial/territorial interface and, ultimately, between provincial/territorial and regional health authorities, and across a broad spectrum of stakeholders including the public, consumers, manufacturers, regulators, the voluntary sector, retailers, practitioners, delivery, agency administrators, researchers, educators and insurers. No specific attention was paid to research.
3. Natural Health Products Research Priority-Setting Conference. The first recommendation participants made is that Health Canada immediately works with active researchers in the field to develop a strategy for achieving a CIHR Institute for NHP research.
4. Towards Integrative Care - Report from a National Strategies Planning Meeting on Complementary Therapies and HIV/AIDS. The first priority proposed by participants consists of creating a network of HIV/AIDS providers, encompassing CAM practitioners and advocacy organizations, HIV physicians and peer educators. A national working group and its partners, drawn from all stakeholders and supported by the Canadian AIDS Society, would be responsible for acting on these priorities.
5. Assessing Research Literacy in Complementary and Alternative Health Care Products and Practice. This group recommended support for a network (or networks) of CAHC/NHP researchers and clinician investigators to develop CAHC/NHP research capacity. They also recommended support for one or more Centres of Excellence in CAHC/NHPs.
6. Reviewing and Assessing the Role of the Natural Health Products Directorate in Research. Networking played an important role in this roundtable. Participants suggested establishing an effective network for information exchange and knowledge transfer to increase the training capacity of CAHC researchers. A potential structure to realize this is a central advisory committee or working group of people who have a variety of NHP/CAHC expertise/experience and to form sub-committees of interest groups or nodes feeding into this central working group.
7. Exploring Interest in Developing a Canadian Consortium of Integrated Health Care. Participants in this meeting expressed the need for a coordinating mechanism or structure to support ongoing networking and communication between organizations and agencies engaged in the work of integrated health care. As a start, the group envisions a virtual, electronic network to represent a consortium of the above.
8. Roundtable on Information and Informed Choice in the Use of Complementary and Alternative Health Care and Natural Health Products. An infrastructure is required to build research capacity. This group suggested building on existing or emerging networks to foster communication and links between practitioners and consumers to provide information and support informed choice.
9. Forum on Paediatrics and Complementary and Alternative Medicine and the Use of Natural Health Products. The creation of a network and/or Centre of Excellence was the first funding priority identified at this Forum.
10. Complementary/Alternative Health Care (CAHC) and Natural Health Products (NHPs) Strategic Research Priorities Consensus Workshop. The first key strategy identified by this group was to develop a CAHC research network to facilitate collaboration, knowledge sharing and knowledge transfer within the CAHC research community.
11. The Integrative Health and Medicine Network developed a design for a Canadian Office for Complementary and Alternative Health Care (COCAHC), submitted to the Interim Governing Committee of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. This group proposed a dedicated structure that provides focus, is flexible and is built to foster independence within the CIHR. Unfortunately, this proposal was not accepted and while some of the Network members are still collaborating, the IHMN is largely dormant at present.