The Chronic Pain Centre of Excellence for Canadian Veterans currently has three funding opportunities open.
For each funding theme
- it is expected that CAD$450,000 will be distributed across 3 projects of 12 months. Multi-year studies will be considered
- Applications are due 28 August 2023.
- All research types are eligible for this request for proposal, including, but not limited to pilot clinical trials, observational studies, evidence syntheses, qualitative studies, policy analyses
- Principal Applicants must hold an academic position in an affiliated Canadian institution, or an international academic institution, and be eligible to hold research funds at their institution. Research with direct relevance to Canadian Veterans living with pain will be prioritized. Submissions focusing on Veteran populations from other countries are eligible for this opportunity but should include a clear rationale about the relevance to the Canadian context.
Deepening our understanding of the military to civilian transition for Veterans living with chronic pain
- To better understand the impact of transition from military to civilian life on the identity and mental health of Canadian Veterans, with a focus on Veterans living with chronic pain and their family members.
- To test the applicability of theories, models, or frameworks for analyzing other kinds of health transitions to the Veteran transition experience, or to develop new frameworks for doing so.
- To analyze how transition impacts access to healthcare of Canadian Veterans living with chronic pain, including specific consideration of access to and engagement with family physicians and primary care.
- To identify opportunities to improve the transition experience of Canadian Veterans living with chronic pain.
- To build the capacity and knowledge of Canadian Veterans with chronic pain to maintain a level of activity, work, and/or function post transition, comparable to their experience in the military.
Addressing the chronic pain and mental illness comorbidity
- Advance the understanding of complex relationship between chronic pain and associated mental health conditions amongst Canadian Veterans, including encouraging innovations in research approaches that adequately capture and account for chronic pain and mental illness comorbidities.
- Explore how the experience and impact of chronic pain and comorbid mental health conditions compares between Canadian Veterans and the civilian population.
- Develop and evaluate clinical, system, and/or policy interventions to improve comorbid chronic pain and mental illness for Canadian Veterans.
- Support Canadian Veterans in alleviating the impact of comorbid chronic pain and post-traumatic stress disorder on their activities of daily living.
- Explore the relationship of chronic pain as a risk factor for suicidal ideation and suicide in Canadian Veterans living with pain.
Addressing health system and policy gaps for Veterans living with chronic pain
- Determine barriers and facilitators of Canadian Veterans seeking access to primary care and chronic pain care in Canada.
- Comparatively analyze chronic pain health services for Canadian Veterans, and civilians, across health systems. This may include, but need not be limited to, comparisons of models and forms of care, issues of accessibility, system-level variations, and considerations of variable policy trajectories.
- Support Canadian Veterans in understanding and navigating common diagnostic and treatment pathways for managing chronic pain related to common service-related injuries and how these compare to best practices in chronic pain management.
- Improve the understanding of the relationships between primary care and interprofessional models of care for Veterans, and civilians, living with pain. This may include, but need not be limited to, understanding the decision-making and communication processes across different levels of care, and consideration of the efficiency and cost-effectiveness of different models of care including interprofessional chronic pain care.
Supporting documents
Deepening our understanding of the military to civilian transition for Veterans living with chronic pain Guidelines: Transition RFP Final – Revised
Addressing the chronic pain and mental illness comorbidity: Mental Health RFP Final
Addressing health system and policy gaps for Veterans living with chronic pain: Health Systems RFP Final PDF
