#ckf13 – the second week

So, I’m now on my way home after almost two weeks in Canada, meeting and exploring ideas with a whole range of bright, interesting people who are passionate about what they do.

This week I finished my impromptu time in Ottawa with (see what happened before here):

• Brian Peever, Project Manager & Training Consultant at the Centre for Continuing Education, University of Ottawa, who took me on a driving a tour with his partner Doug, who demonstrated what it’s like to really know your home.  And just for the record, if you see me with one of those lemon shortbreads from that cute coffee shop – I am never going to share those with you, no matter how near starvation you are.  I’m looking forward to connecting more with Brian once I’m home to get under the skin of the certificate in knowledge management and – as it’s non-credit, how it enhances the researcher learning experience.
• Graeme Barlow, CEO of RocketOwl.  After a jointly nervous start (it’s not every day you pick up/ get in a car with a complete stranger) we realised we were pretty excited about the opportunities games might offer to help address some of the challenges facing health systems around the globe. As an entrepreneur and  product developer he seems to instinctively understand the idea of working things out iteratively, starting small, working with enthusiasts, revise, revise, revise – and the importance of systems.

I then headed back to Toronto via Niagara Falls to see:

• Heather Bullock, Director of the Knowledge Exchange team based at CAMH, and one of her team, who told me about their system level collaboratives, working to find ways many players can work together to make change that enhances care and treatment for children and adolescents.  They’re using an implementation science approach, which raises some hackles as being prescriptive, but appears to be delivering results and is strong on data.  Their engagement platform EENet is impressive.  While I was there one of their youth advisors, a teenage boy, was leading an on-line chat about engaging with young people – and had 56 people involved in the chat.  735 people have gotten involved in the forum since it was launched earlier this year.
• Ross Baker, Professor in the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation, University of Toronto, who, in a brief time, managed to advise me on the next CLAHRC NWL funding application, my own fellowship, give me some other insights and explain how he’d like to replicate the Health Foundation Improvement Science Fellowships in Canada.
• Sarah Caldwell, ex-colleague from her time in London, and recently submitted PhD, is ‘looking forward’ to her defence date in a couple of months.  Now, she just has to focus back on the day job as Manager, Planning and Partnerships at Ministry of Children and Youth Services.  She gave me her social time, her knowledge and wisdom about the Canadian Systems, and was bravely encouraging of my new cartoon, Norman the Knowledge Broker…  We’ll see how that goes!
• Wai-Hin Chan Business Manager in the breaKThrough Service Unit in the Knowledge Translation Program at the Li Ka Shing Knowledge Institute at St. Michael’s Hospital.  Their primary focus on evidence synthesis, and development and research on guidelines does not distract them from their implementation work around the world, including in improving maternal health for the WHO in several African countries.
• Ron Saunders from the Institute for Work & Health, who seems remarkably sanguine considering the potentially enormous scope of what he’s expected to achieve – some of this research relates to pretty much every employee in every workplace everywhere.
• David Phipps from York U Knowledge Mobilization Unit, was willing to help me reflect on what I’d seen and how it all fits together.  He’s at the leading edge of working between university researchers and the community, brokering relationships in both directions.  Their approach has evolved over time to reflect the changing needs of both sides as capacity and capability builds and embeds, and he is seeing a new breed of researcher come through the system for whom KMb is ‘just part of what we do’, not an annoying add-on (it’s in the academic contract now).  I wish I’d been at his ‘Tech Transfer Stand-up Comedy Routine’ for the KTPC – perhaps you’d like to do it for youtube David?
• Melanie Barwick from SickKids who kindly gave up her lunch break to step away from her Knowledge Translation Practitioner Course to give me some more insights, share some of her experiences and perceptions of the different approaches around Toronto – and around the world.  In response to the question about why do people come from all over the world for your course she said simply ‘it isn’t done anywhere else’.  Fancy having her come to do the 2 day  Scientist Knowledge Translation Training certificate or 5 day KT practitioner course for you?

Thanks to everyone, I learned so much and have come back brimming with ideas 🙂