S.11-129
SFU
OFFICE OF Tl IE VICE-PRESIDENT, ACADEMIC AND PROVOST
MEMORANDUM
University Drive, Burnaby, BC
TEL: 778.782.3925
Canada V5A IS6
FAX: 778.782.5876
ATTENTION
Senate
DATE
October 18, 2011
FROM
Jon Driver, Vice-President, Academic and
PAGES 1/1
Provost, and Chair, SCUP
RE:
Community Health Solutions (SCUP 11-41)
www.sfu.ca/vpacademic
At its October 12, 2011 meeting SCUP reviewed and approved the/prqposal for the establishment of
Community Health Solutions as an Institute.
Motion
That Senate approve the proposal for the establishment of the Community Health Solutions as an Institute
for a five year term.
:ncl.
c:
S. Lear
D. Finegood
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
thinking of the world
Norbert H. Haunerland, Ph.D.
Associate Vice-President, Research
Professor of Biological Sciences
MAILING ADDRESS
8888 University Drive
Burnaby BC Canada
V5A 1S6
TEL: 778.782.4i52
FAX: 778.782.4860
www.sfu.ca/vpresearch
SFU
OFFICE OF THE VICE-PRESIDENT, RESEARCH
ATTENTION Sarah Dench, Secretary
Senate Committee on University Planning (SCUP)
SCUP 11-41
FROM Norbert Haunerland, Associate Vice President, Research
RE Community Health Solutions
DATE September 21, 2011
Attached is a proposal from Dr. S. Lear and Dr. D. Finegood, for the establishment of
"Community Health Solutions".
I recommend approval as a research Institute according to Policy 40.01. Once approved
by SCUP the proposal should be sent to Senate and the Board of Governors for
information.
Motion:
That SCUP approves the "Community Healtb^Solutions" as an Institute for a 5 year
term.
Dr. Norbert Haunerland
Associate Vice-President, Research
Attachment
C:
Scott Lear, Faculty of Health Science
Diane Finegood, Department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
THINKING OF THE WORLD
SFU
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
THINKING OF THE WORLD
Norbert Haunerland, PhD
Simon Fraser University
Strand Hall 3195
8888 University Drive
Burnaby,BC V5A1S6
September 6, 2011
Dear Dr. Haunerland
We wish to submit the attached proposal entitled
Community Health Solutions
for consideration as an institute
within Simon Fraser University.
This proposal succeeds an earlier institute proposal submittedon March 10, 2011 entitled
Research Institute for
thePrevention and Management of Chronic Diseases
that was later withdrawn to allow for a revision of ideas
taking into account SFU's unique position withinthe Surreycommunity and beyond. Over the past few months,
we have had extensive discussions across the SFU faculties, with the Surrey campus administration and various
community stakeholders such as Fraser Health. The current proposal is the result of these deliberations and has
been enthusiastically received by the SFU and outside communities.
The proposed Institute aligns with the sub-themes of Chronic and Infectious Diseases, and Human Development
and Aging of SFU's Strategic Research Plan. The reviseddocument better reflects SFU's direction of being
Student Centred, Research Driven and Community Engaged.
It is targeted to increasing the research productivity
and capacity at SFU in the area of chronic diseases, as well as translation of this knowledge to the local, national
and international community.
An important feature of CHS will be the strongpartnerships with external community organizations, NGOs and
health authorities that will serve as a flagship endeavour at SFU's Surrey campus. This community integration
will be reflected in CHS' Stakeholder Steering and Learning Opportunities committees and will facilitate
collaboration within and beyond the SFU environment, such as facilitating the design
of experiential education
courses and stakeholder integration in research endeavours.
Please do not hesitate to contact us for any further information.
Yours sincerely,
Scott Lear, PhD
Associate Professor, Faculty of Health Sciences & Dept. of Biomedical Physiology & Kinesiology
Pfizer/Heart and Stroke Foundation Chair in Cardiovascular Prevention Research at St. Paul'sHospital
Diane Finegood,
PhD
Professor, Department of Biomedical Physiology & Kinesiology
Executive Director,
The CAPTURE Project
Community Health Solutions
A) Statement of Special Purpose
Chronic diseases including cancer, cardiovascular disease and diabetes are the leading causes of death
and disability worldwide. The prevalence of these diseases is increasing rapidly despite being largely
preventable. Care and management for people with chronic diseases has begun to overwhelm our
health care systems with costs rising to unsustainable levels as the prevalence ofthese conditions
grows.
The challenge of chronic disease prevention and management is complex due to the need for integrated
solutions at multiple system levels (individual, family, community, national and global), involving a wide
range of actors and organizations (government, private sector, non-governmental organizations,
academia, health care) and applied across
the lifespan (prenatal to old age). Solutions based on systems
thinking and complexity science include multidisciplinary and multi-sector networks and teams and
support for individualsand organizations to take action and to learn continuously from and improve the
effectiveness of their policies and programs. To influence the emergence of a healthier population we
need to integrate efforts by "acting locally, connecting regionally and learning globally".
Community Health Solutions
(CHS),(an Institute under SFU Policy R40.01),will bring a systems approach
to the challenge of chronic disease prevention and management. By situating CHS at SFU'sSurrey
Campus with satellite centres in
other regions of the province, this unique Institute for research and
knowledge translation will be well positioned to support community, government, non-governmental
organizations and the health care system in planning, implementation and continuous learning from
community-based solutions to improve health and prevent chronic disease. Powered by SFU students
engaged in a program of experiential learning, CHS will build community along with health care system
and
student capacity for "real world" learning, and will integrate these efforts so that others can learn
from their experience. CHS will be driven by the best available evidence and the need for new evidence
about what works, for whom and under what conditions.
Vision
Healthier communities populated by healthier Canadians and supported by a sustainable health care
system because we continuously learn from and improve our efforts at chronic disease prevention and
management.
Mission
Community Health Solutions will establish integrated, community and health care system based
solutions for continuous learning and adaptation of chronic disease prevention and management
policies and programs.
With a local action model initially established in Surrey, CHS will be expanded into other communities
leveraging SFU's other campuses and partnerships, with inclusion of those with vulnerable populations
at high risk for chronic disease.
Goals
To achieve this vision and mission, the CHS Institute will:
1) Engage community members, organizations and health authorities in the identification of
challenges and opportunities for improving chronic disease prevention and control.
2) Build community, health care system and SFU student capacity to apply systems oriented
solutions, to assess effectiveness of current and future programs and policies and to improve
actions based on lessons learned in the "real-world".
3) Build a knowledge exchange platform1 for sharing lessons learned between community
members and organizations and with other communities in the region, across Canada and
internationally.
4) Create a vibrant research environment for SFU scientists wanting to work with community
members and the health care system on chronic disease prevention and management.
5) Create a unique opportunity for SFU students interested in experiential learning, a keyfeature
of the Exercise and Nutrition in Health and Disease program approved for the SFU Surrey
campus.
Approach
Community Health Solutions will engage a broad range of stakeholders including community members,
community and patient advocacy groups, health care workers and decision makers, government and
non-governmental organizations, students and faculty, in identifying priority actions and opportunities
to support health promotion and chronic disease prevention and control. Inthis way, communities and
organizations will have a key role in developing research questions and projects, therefore ensuring that
CHS will be responsive to the needs of patients, populations and health care, allowing for the timely and
innovative development of solutions that can be readily implemented into practice.
At the core of CHS will be a platform for data and knowledge sharing that will be built up and improved
semester after semester by students and researchers working with community based organizations and
1 This platform will serve as a medium/repository for a variety of data types (literature, quantitative data, maps,
etc.) and support the building of the CHSlogic and conceptual models.
the health authority. This platform willallow community groups, government organizations and health
authorities to share their lessons learned with each other, with community leaders and with the wider
community regionally, nationally and internationally. This platform will also allow groups to track their
own progress and identify approaches to improve their practice and continually learn from what they
are doing. Over time the platform'sdata bases will become a rich resource for researchers and
practitioners to identify common themes about what works, for whom and under what conditions.
Another key feature of CHS is that experiential learning opportunities will power the initiative. Work
integrated learning positions
will be developed for graduate, undergraduate and Co-op education
students across a range of disciplines. Students will be deployed to help adapt the platform and create
the curriculum. Students will also work with community organizations and health care providers to help
identify priorities, deliver programs and assess their effectiveness. Each semester's specific
opportunities will build upon the previous semester'sefforts and successes. This means that in the
earliest days for example, computing science students
will help to build the platform and get it ready for
use, while students interested in various health disciplines would help to build the curriculum and
engage communitygroups so as to prepare for future students who would be deployed to help deliver
and/or evaluate programs in the community. As the system develops and advances there will be
opportunities for students from a range of programs to improve and develop new applications for the
platform, do research on the data available in the platform and support community groups in advancing
their own practices. As health related programs at SFU grow, such as the Exercise and Nutrition in
Health and Disease program approved for Surrey, CHS will help provide the large number experiential
learning opportunities that will be needed.
Community Health Solutions will also provide an umbrella for SFU health related research, education
and community engagement in Surrey and other communities. The platform and curriculum developed
will support "real-world" research and evaluation projects of policies and programs. Researchers will be
supported by the development of strong linkages and relationships with communitygroups and the
health care system.
Effectiveideas for solutions to the epidemics of chronic disease can come from anywhere, the
community, the health care system and the university. CHS will provide all of these stakeholders with
the opportunity to advance their ideas and to learn ifthey work and how to improve them.
Funding
The recently funded Community Trust Endowment Fund project "Using a Systems AnalyticApproach to
Living (SynAL) with Chronic Diseases" lead by CHS co-Director S. Lear, with members across four SFU
faculties including CHS co-Director D. Finegood, will provide a nucleus of research activity relevant to
CHS.
The CHS Directors will obtain funding for CHS through applications to the appropriate granting agencies
(e.g. CIHR, MSFHR, CFI), through contracts with government and non-governmental sources and through
donations or educational grants from private sector and community sources.
B) Provision for the Appointment of a Director
Community Solutions for Health will be co-led by Drs. Diane T. Finegood, PhD, Professor in the
Department of Biomedical Physiology and Kinesiology and Dr. Scott Lear, PhD, Associate Professor in the
Faculty of Health Sciences. Dr. Finegood brings her international reputation as a leader in systems
thinking as applied to obesity and chronic disease prevention, as well as a wealth of administrative
experience, having served as inaugural Scientific Directorof the Canadian Institutes of Health Research,
Institute of Nutrition, Metabolism and Diabetes (2000-2008) and currently as the Executive Director of
the CAPTURE Project, a prototype shared measurement platform. Dr. Lear brings his extensive
experience in leading major research projects in cardiovascular disease prevention, telehealth, and
disparities in heart disease risk in different ethnic communities. Dr. Learwas recently appointed the
Pfizer/Heart and Stroke Foundation BC & Yukon Chair in Cardiovascular Prevention Research.
The role of Director or co-Director will be subject to a five-year renewable term made at the discretion
of the Vice President, Research. Three months prior to the end of their term Directors willsubmit a
report to the Vice-President Research and to the Steering Committee. For Director's seeking renewal
the report will outline progress made over the past fiveyears and a strategic plan for the next term The
Steering Committee will make a recommendation to the VP Research about renewal and/or the need for
a search for a new Director.
C) Obligations
Community Health Solutions will conduct its affairs in accordance with SFU Policy R40.01. The Institute
willcome under the direct authority of the Vice President of Research and have a renewal term of five
years. An annual report on the Institute'sactivities and financial status will be prepared each fiscal year
(ending March 31) and will be submitted to the Vice-President Research by June 30th of that year.
D) Internal Governing Procedure
Two committees will be established to help steer the work of the Institute:
A
Stakeholder Steering Committee
comprised of representatives from key stakeholder organizations
including SFU, Fraser Health
and other health authorities, municipalities and community groups
interested in health, health promotion and chronic disease prevention. The Steering Committee will be
responsible for strategic planning and willsupport the development of linkages between stakeholders.
The Steering Committee willconsist of an initial group of six
members that will be chaired on an
alternating basis by the co-Directors (non-voting members of the Steering Committee). While the initial
composition of
the Steering Committee has yet to be finalized, we willensure it consists of three SFU
faculty members, one representative from Fraser Health, one from the Cityof Surrey and one
representative from one of the province'sother health authorities (see table below). As CHS grows, we
envision the Steering Committee to include representation from additional stakeholders but be limited
to approximately 10 members.
Diane Finegood, Co-Director
Department of Biomedical Physiology and
Kinesiology, Simon Fraser University
Scott Lear, Co-Director
Faculty of Health Sciences, Simon Fraser University
Cynthia Patton
Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Simon
Fraser University
Andrew Wister
Department of Gerontology, Simon Fraser
University
Surrey Campus Faculty Representative
Simon Fraser University
Sonia Singh, Program Medical Director of Research
Fraser Health Authority
To be named
City of Surrey
To be named
Other BCHealth Authority
Steering Committee members will serve two-year renewable terms, after which they have the option to
renew for a subsequent term. The Steering Committee willmaintain a membership of at least five
members. The Steering Committee will meet three times per year to review progress during the
previous term. Any member of the Steering Committee or the Director has the opportunity to callfor a
meeting of the Steering Committee if needed to address time sensitive issues. Quorum for meetings will
be 50% plus one ofthe total number of Steering Committee members.
A
Learning Opportunities Committee
will be comprised of representatives from SFU Faculties and
Departments interested in supporting the experiential learning component of CHS. Each semester this
committee will consider the learning opportunities available for undergraduate and graduate students,
as well as community learners. Committee members will be determined on an as needs basis depending
on the stage of development and the current projects associated with CHS. It is anticipated that the
Learning Opportunities Committee will include representatives from Biomedical Physiology and
Kinesiology, Faculty of Health Sciences, Computing Science, Communications, Interactive Arts and
Technology, Co-op Program, Centre for Teaching and Learning, and the Centre for Dialogue.
Also to be housed under the umbrella of Community Health Solutions will be The CAPTURE Platform
(www.thecaptureplatform.ca). This first generation shared measurement platform developed at SFU
with funding from the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer will serve as the basis for the core data
system to be further developed for CHS. Through this platform CHS will be able to exchange lessons
learned within and between communities, provinces, nationally and internationally.
SFU
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY
Library Assessment for Community Health Solutions
September 28, 2011
This is the Library's report on the proposed Community Health Solutions Institute.
The SFU Library supports the establishment of this Centre as outlined in the proposal. The SFU Library is actively
collecting in the areas of Chronic Diseases and Community Health at the Burnaby Campus. As the Centre will be
located on the SFU Surrey Campus, there are library costs associated with it.
Exisiting online journal and database subscriptions will adequately support this Institute.
The Fraser Valley Real Estate Board Academic Library will need to start collecting monographs to support this
centre. Books in the subject areas of Chronic Disease (cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, etc) and
Community Health will need to be added to their profile with our book wholesaler. It is estimated that
approximately 20 books/year at an average cost of $180 per book will be required.
Total library cost:
$3,600 / year ongoing money
The Library will request funding from Surrey Administration to cover these costs.
From: "Megan L. Crouch" <mcrouch@sfu.ca>
Subject:
Library Report for Community Health Solutions
Date: September 30, 2011 11:22:47 AM PDT
To: Valerie Murdoch <murdoch@sfu.ca>
Cc: Scott Lear <salear@sfu.ca>, Diane Finegood <diane_finegood@sfu.ca>, Gwen Bird <gbird@sfu.ca>, Natalie Gick
<natalie_gick@sfu.ca>
Dear Valerie, Scott, and Diane,
The Library has completed it's assessment of the proposal for Community Health Solutions. Because of the
Institute's location in Surrey, there are costs associated with our assessment.
Existing online journal and databases are sufficient to support this Institute in Surrey, but a budget for
supporting monographs will need to be established. It is estimated that $3,600/year will be required to
Our full assessment has been added to the Library website here: http://www.lib.sfu.ca/collections/course-
assessments/chs
The Library will request funding from Surrey Administration to cover these costs.
Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.
Regards,
Megan
Megan L. Crouch
Health Sciences Librarian
Collections Librarian
Simon Fraser University / W.A.C. Bennett Library
8888 University Drive, Burnaby, B.C. V5A 1S6
mcrouch@sfu.ca / Tel: 778.782.4962 / Fax: 778.782.3023
**I am on campus Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and alternate Fridays**
