The National Lead Clinicians Group (LCG), an eminent group of practising clinicians and consumer representatives, provides a focal point for the engagement of senior clinicians in Australia. Its role includes promoting improved clinical engagement and leadership and advising the Minister of Health on matters related to national standards and guidelines and other areas. Reports, fact sheets and discussion papers produced by the LCG are available on the site, along with outcomes from the clinician networks.

Isocyanates are widely used in many industries and can negatively affect respiratory and skin health. They are the leading cause of occupational asthma in Quebec workers. This guide aims to educate and support health and safety officers, employers and workers in their efforts to prevent the risks associated with exposure to isocyanates.

The prevalence of musculoskeletal injuries among obese individuals, along with Indirect (non-medical) costs, are higher than those of workers with a healthy weight. The aim of this study from Québec’s IRSST is to analyze the work methods of obese handlers and compare them with those of handlers with a healthy weight. The tasks studied were the transfer of loads from one conveyor to a hand truck and back. The results suggest that overweight and obese workers suffer an inevitable and significant additive impact on the musculoskeletal structures of the back.

Health Reform Observer – Observatoire des Réformes de Santé is a new open access, peer-reviewed, online journal publishing concise, plain-language analyses of individual health reforms related to the governance, financing and delivery of health care in the Canadian provinces and territories, as well as in-depth, cross-issue and cross-jurisdictional “roll-ups” of these reforms. Launched in May 2013, the journal is actively seeking submissions and building its list of reviewers.

The NSHRF will host a two day practice-oriented Knowledge Translation (KT) training workshop in Halifax, NS. The workshop will help researchers, KT professionals and educators to develop fundamental skills and competencies around creating and implementing a KT plan that will: improve research impact; promote research utilization; and ensure that research findings reach the appropriate audiences. Date: Tuesday, December 2 and Wednesday, December 3, 2013.

This report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality presents the results of an environmental scan of patient safety education and training programs. It presents data collected and catalogued on 333 current, active, and recurring patient safety education and training programs. Programs are categorized by factors such as sponsor, target, cost, duration, etc. and recommendations for future programs are made.

This second report from an independent expert group takes stock of the impacts, challenges and limitations of EU-funded public health research under the current and previous research framework programmes, and identifies priorities for future research. Findings will inform the EU research and innovation framework programme 'Horizon 2020'. Chapter five focuses on the policy uptake of EU funded public health research.

This systematic review, published in Implementation Science, examines factors influencing the implementation and sustainability of wait time management strategies at the organizational level. Specific factors for successful implementation were consultation with front-line actors and common standards and guidelines, and at the organizational level, financial incentives and dedicated staffing. The authors consider that more research is needed to understand the sustainability of wait time management strategies.

The question of how to determine when a systematic review needs to be updated is of considerable importance. The RAND Corporation was asked by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to develop and implement a surveillance process for quickly identifying Comparative Effectiveness Reviews (CERs) in need of updating. Results show it is both useful and feasible to do such surveillance, in real time, across a program that produces a large number of systematic reviews on diverse topics.

Based on a narrative review of selective literature on implementation science and policy implementation research, the aim of this paper, published in Implementation Science, is to describe the characteristics of policy implementation research, analyze key similarities and differences between this field and implementation science, and discuss how knowledge assembled in policy implementation research could inform implementation science.

As part of a renewal of public health in British Columbia, The Ministry of Health initiated a collaborative evidence-informed process to identify core public health functions and develop a model core program for use by different health authorities. In this study, published in Implementation Science, the authors interviewed managers responsible for implementing the model in programs on healthy living and sexually transmitted infections. Findings demonstrate the original vision of the core function was lost in the implementation process.

The 24th EAHM Congress will take place on November 28 and 29, 2013, in Luxembourg. Over 600 CEOs and hospital managers from all over Europe will participate. It will examine how managers can continue to deliver better care during times of fiscal restraint and even take crisis as an opportunity to introduce organizational and structural changes.

The Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement is offering this two-day workshop on October 24 and 25, 2013, in Ottawa. It is designed for clinical quality teams and finance leaders to improve their knowledge, skills, and strategies to implement measurable cost reductions while improving quality of care.

The CRDCN 2013 Conference will take place in Waterloo, Ontario on October 3&4, 2013, with preconference workshops on the 2nd. This year's conference will focus on the importance of having access to high quality data for academic research and policy analysis. If you wish to present a paper or a poster at the conference, please submit an abstract by July 18, 2013.

Healthy Debate is led by a team from Alberta and Ontario that includes physicians, nurses, pharmacists, journalists, managers, policy advisors and researchers. Led by Editor-in-Chief Andreas Laupacis, they work with leaders across the healthcare system to provide unbiased evidence and informed opinions about healthcare issues in Alberta, Ontario and Canada.