National Network of Libraries for Health
Réseau national des bibliothèques pour la santé

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Provincial Initiatives

Support the NNLH!

NNLH Stakeholder Planning Meeting

October 5, 2004

The Pre-Stakeholders dinner meeting was held in conjunction with the 2004 Cochrane Library Colloquium, which facilitated the recruitment of attendees. Brief presentations were interspersed with focus group activities in order to build a shared vision and a commitment to moving that vision forward. Task Force members Jessie McGowan, Jim Henderson and Patrick Ellis presented and facilitated the discussions. Twenty invitees from a wide range of organizations participated in the event. A complete list can be found in Appendix A.

Before the meeting, an invitation was sent out to participants stating that "At this meeting we will have the opportunity to investigate the creation of a Canadian National Network of Libraries for Health." Included was a short document on the rationale for and vision of the planned NNLH, plus a scenario demonstrating the value of such a network in supporting Canadian health care practitioners.

The first presentation at the meeting provided the attendees with an introduction to the NNLH concept, with examples of past CHLA/ABSC successes and potential successes of the NNLH. This was followed by a group exercise to encourage "buy-in" by building relationships among the participants and personalizing the NNLH concept. The attendees were divided into four groups and each member was asked to describe their setting and one way the NNLH would help them or their constituents. The results of the answers to the question "What would the NNLH do for you?" can be summarized as:

• act as a valuable service for consumers
• allow people without current access to good information to obtain it through the NNLH
• reduce duplication
• offer a consistent interface
• create efficiencies in support, e.g. tutorials, education programs
• foster interdisciplinary collaboration
• make evidence-based knowledge transportable
• provide alternatives to a Google search for both clinicians and their patients
• organize access to a wide range of products, for example eCPS, Cochrane Library, clinical practice guidelines, and databases

This was followed by a presentation on the key challenges, and a group exercise on meeting those challenges. The groups were asked to brainstorm ideas and summarize their suggestions:

• form partnerships with national organizations before governments
• promote the concepts that knowledge is portable and national if not universal, and therefore should not be broken down by province; and that there can be no knowledge transfer without access to the knowledge
• show the government what is in it for them: reduction of errors and ineffective interventions; evidence-based policy making
• use the Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia models to influence others
• get patients on side by working with non-governmental agencies
• keep on top of what's going on and jump onto bandwagons
• lobby
• implement a detailed planning process including: a clear concept leading to an implementation plan and stakeholder analysis; and a communication plan using language that the stakeholders can understand
• learn from successes
• scale up provincial approaches
• build partnerships more systematically
• use the electronic patient record to gain buy-in by professionals
• investigate decision support and motivation

The final part of the meeting looked at the planned Stakeholders meeting and moving forward. The third group exercise focused on advocacy and commitment, asking participants how they would get involved and how to pitch the NNLH to stakeholders. In addition to summarizing their discussion, attendees were also given cards to fill in to contribute their ideas and indicate their involvement in the planning process.

Ideas for stakeholders to be invited included the user groups themselves, rural/native community health providers, associations, funders, consumer groups, partnership contributors such as Health InfoWay and the CCOHTA (Canadian Coordinating Office for Health Technology Assessment), and knowledge producers. Governmental groups suggested included the Knowledge Translation group within CIHR (Canadian Institutes of Health Research), CHSRF (Canadian Health Services Research Foundation), the Council of Health Ministers and another try with Health Canada.

We need to:

• develop a business plan
• look at the issues and fears of the existing providers, e.g. loss of revenue
• look at the environment
• submit an article to CMAJ
• realize that a governance model will be difficult without funding

Building upon the advice of the participants, the Task Force is moving ahead. A business plan is being developed and the list of stakeholder invitees is being compiled. The stakeholder meeting will go ahead in 2005.