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Getting Health Policy Evidence to the Media:

EvidenceNetwork.ca

Noralou P. Roos, CM, PhD2012 Cochrane Canada Symposium May 10, 2012

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What is EvidenceNetwork.ca?

EvidenceNetwork.ca makes the latest evidence on controversial health policy issues available to the media

(funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Manitoba Health Research Council)

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What do we do?

• Provide web based evidence

and contact information for Experts• Write & push evidence-based OpEds

• Connect using social media

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Focus on Newsy Topics• Aging population• Costs and spending• For-Profit • More not always better• Health more than Health Care• Patient Pays• Sustainability • Waiting for care

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Maintain Neutral Evidence-Based Position

This project is about getting the evidence right – if there is anything we are missing – let us know. If we have anything wrong let us know and provide the evidence demonstrating this. We expect people will sometimes interpret the evidence differently. That is ok, but we do want to make sure we have the evidence right.

Why the markets can’t run hospitalsby Julia Belluz on Monday, December 5, 2011

Defining public vs. private care

According to the non-partisan Evidence Network website, out of the University of Manitoba, health care funding can be public, quasi-public and private. Public funding is paid for by the government: medically necessary hospital care and physicians’ services. Quasi-public funding, such as Canadian workers’ compensation plans, is “legally private but highly regulated by government and expected to act in the public interest.” Private funding refers to that which you pay for out-of-pocket: dental care, vision, outpatient drug costs, private hospital rooms. The government doesn’t cover this stuff, so you can pay for it yourself.

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OpEds—Our Big Success

• 170 plus OpEds and climbing• Work with Professional (Kathleen O’Grady Quoi

Media)• Encouraging Experts to Write

- getting it polished ($200 - $1500 per)• NPR gets the OpEd Peer Reviewed (sometimes)• Offers to high profile outlets

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Troy Media News Service

• “Pushes” OpEds• Health and Lifestyle News Beat, opinion

page editors and talk shows, Health and Lifestyle Editors, and Weekly News Service

• Pick up by papers (big & small) across the country

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History of one OpEdTitle Publication DateWe can sustain our health care system - here's how

IPolitics.ca Nov 1/11

Medicare sustainable: Seniors' care can show the way

Halifax Chronicle Herald

Nov 1/11

Sustaining our health care Guelph Mercury Nov 4/11

Sustaining our health care Waterloo Region Record

Nov 4/11

How we can sustain our health-care system Victoria Times Colonist

Nov 6/11

How we can sustain our health-care system Calgary Herald Nov 6/11

OpEd Written by EN Expert Advisors: Neena Chappell and Marcus Hollander

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Social Media

• Twitter (1700 followers)• LinkedIn (invite only group)• Facebook • Wikipedia• Youtube; Pinterest• Atkinson Foundation /Toronto Star

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Interest from Academic Media

• Healthcare Policy: we do OpEds on their stories, they publish expanded OpEds

• Canadian Medical Assn Journal: asking for our OpEds

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What’s Next? (we hope)

• Double the number of Experts• Creative Commons License for OpEds• New topics; videos; audio on website• Meet with editorial boards across country• Internship program for Journalists• Teaching Module for journalism students• Merge with ongoing operation: SMCC / CIHR

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Evaluate: Do Things Change?

• Monitor use of Network over time• Google Analytics• Ask journalists what works and what doesn’t• Track media coverage of 2 key issues

Before / After EvidenceNetwork.ca

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Contact Us

• www.EvidenceNetwork.ca

• Noralou Roos, CM, PhDnoralou_Roos@cpe.umanitoba.ca

Conflict of Interest DisclosureName of speaker: Noralou Roos

Name of presentation: Getting Health Policy Evidence to the Media: EvidenceNetwork.caDate of presentation : May 10, 2012

• Consultant for:N/A

• Speaker for: The University of Manitoba

• Received grant/research support from: Canadian Institutes of Health Research/Manitoba Health Research Council

• Received honoraria from: N/A