The power of partnership
“Research is the currency of the chiropractic profession,” says Dr. Richard Brown, Secretary-General of the World Federation of Chiropractic. At the Canadian Chiropractic Research Foundation (CCRF), we believe this to be true.
Why? Because currency means “to be generally accepted” and the reason that high-quality, evidence-based research is crucial to support the acceptance of our profession as a leading healthcare provider. Interestingly, currency also means a “medium of exchange,” which certainly applies in policy and insurance provider discussions, as these decision-makers are interested in exchanging financial support for effective and efficient patient treatment.
So how do we take this dynamic concept of currency and grow the amount of research we can support? Thankfully, it’s an easy answer: partnerships
The Canadian Chiropractic Research Foundation (CCRF) decided to embrace the idea of alliances with allied organizations back in 2019 by creating a Partnership Committee (PC). The reason was simple – there are hundreds of groups across Canada who want to work with trustworthy foundations, like ours, to advance their work. This is because well-established partners can quickly provide new resources and skills at a very low cost. Which is encapsulated in single word: leverage.
Leverage unlocks remarkable value by enabling CCRF to combine contributions and resources from within the profession with meaningful assets outside the profession.
An excellent example of this kind of leverage is very close to home. CCRF recently teamed up with the Foundation for the Royal Canadian College for Sports Sciences (FCCSS) to offer Canada’s first co-sponsored Request for Proposals (RFP) for sports science research projects. This created a larger grant pool with both foundations providing financial support. The net result was $75,000 in new research grants and an expansion of our shared professional networks.
“I’m delighted with the success of our jointly sponsored RFP,” says Dr. Sasha Hamid, chair of the Partnership Committee. “It’s a win-win for both organizations because our priorities aligned to create very good value.”
“Through this call alone, we’ve been able to shine a spotlight on the valuable inroads being forged by this country’s dedicated sports chiropractic researchers,” reports Dr. Richard McIlmoyle, CCRF Research Committee chair. “For athletes, this is about improving performance and returning to play faster. For chiropractors, it’s about accessing a learning module for the treatment of concussion as well as a tool kit for general practitioners to help their athletic clients return to play.”
While financial investments are appreciated, partners can bring a wide range of resources, from in-kind support to personnel, marketing or knowledge transfer like access to high-value information, technology and events.
“If research is the currency of the profession, we believe that partnerships are some of the best investments we can make. And this is just the beginning!” Dr. Hamid concludes. “We’ve now signed agreements with the Temerty School of Medicine at the University of Toronto, the Chronic Pain Centre of Excellence for Canadian Veterans (CPCoE), La Fondation Chiropratique du Québec (FCQ) and Acadia University. The bottom line is we’re primed for plenty of partnership success over the course of our three-year 2023-2025 strategic plan.”
Watch for more exciting news from CCRF about the tangible gains that result from well-considered collaborations. And if you don’t want to wait – or have a partnership idea – please get in touch anytime at info@chiroresearch.ca. We love to hear from clinicians across the country. Your relationships and expertise create the seeds of future success.