Letter of Support NPAC-AIIPC

February 10, 2019

Damien Contandriopoulos, B.Sc., M.Sc., PhD.

Professor, School of Nursing, University of Victoria

Applied Public Health Chair, Health Policy and Evidence

Re: CIHR application “Impact of Primary Care Teams’ Funding Model on Roles, Processes, and Comprehensiveness”

Dear Dr. Contandriopoulos,

On behalf of the Nurse Practitioner Association of Canada-Association des infirmières et infirmiers praticiens du Canada (NPAC-AIIPC), I am pleased to submit this letter of support and partnership for the application “Impact of Primary Care Teams’ Funding Model on Roles, Processes, and Comprehensiveness.” The study provides a highly relevant approach to understanding and optimizing primary health care team functioning in Canada, and we believe the research team is well positioned to achieve the goals of the project.

NPAC-AIIPC membership includes primary care nurse practitioners (NPs) and acute care NPs. We advocate for models that have positive impact on the delivery of care in Canada and beyond with the International Council of Nurses (ICN). NPAC-AIIPC partners with numerous stakeholders to influence positive change in health care.

We look forward to collaborating with the team on this project research which we believe has the potential to support the strengthening of primary care in Canada, a priority for NPAC-AIIPC. This study aims to reveal the nature of the interaction of team composition, role definition, care processes, and scope of practice, and has the potential to offer insights into optimizing primary care funding and functioning. Such findings would have direct relevance in providing us with stronger evidence with which to advocate for improvements to primary care delivery and benefit Canadian communities.

NPAC-AIIPC is pleased to be a key stakeholder and will collaborate with the research team from the outset of the project. Specifically, we will support participant recruitment by promoting the study to our national membership of NPs, to ensure that their valuable perspectives are well represented. We will also provide expert review during the finalization of the survey tool, as well as during data analysis to contextualize the results of the study. In addition, we will support the dissemination of findings between the research team, researchers and decision makers involved in the development of primary care policies, and through our large network of health care professionals.