2017 in review

The new year is off to a busy start, but we wanted to take a moment to look back on some of the many highlights from 2017. During the past year, the Forum:

  • launched Social Systems Evidence, a free online repository of pre-appraised, synthesized research evidence for social-system policymakers and stakeholders;
  • reached over 12,500 registered users for Health System Evidence - the world’s most comprehensive source of synthesized research evidence about how to strengthen health systems and get the right programs, services and drugs to those who need them;
  • responded, through our Rapid Response program, to 12 time-sensitive requests from policymakers and stakeholders for evidence about health- and social-system challenges;
  • convened seven citizen panels and four stakeholder dialogues on pressing health challenges, such as enhancing equitable access to assistive technologies, modernizing the oversight of the health workforce, and taking a step towards achieving worry-free surgery;
  • trained more than 275 policymakers and stakeholders through our capacity-building program, which offers both online and face-to-face learning opportunities;
  • launched an ebook version of ‘Ontario’s health system: Key insights for engaged citizens, professionals and policymakers’;
  • hosted nine webinars in our ’Top Ten’ series, featuring insights into health and social systems, evidence-informed policymaking and a range of key health and social issues;
  • launched Forum+, through which the Forum is moving beyond health in our work.
  • helped to expand content on the McMaster Optimal Aging Portal to include content on the social aspects of aging (such as civic engagement, consumer protection, and transportation);
  • helped to make evidence-based information on optimal aging more accessible through the launch of the Portail sur le vieillissement optimal de McMaster, a French version of the McMaster Optimal Aging Portal;
  • engaged 24 Queen Elizabeth Scholars in Strengthening Health Systems (35 scholars supported since 2015), creating lasting impacts on health systems both at home and abroad;
  • expanded our international reach through a number of new initiatives, including: a partnership for academic collaboration in research, education and service with the University of Antioquia’s School of Medicine; and an agreement with Ministry of Health in Brazil and the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) to promote the use of Health Systems Evidence in Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries;
  • redesigned our McMaster Health Forum site to allow users to easily access our content; and
  • reached more than 3,300 followers through @MacHealthForum on Twitter and launched supporting handles focused on health and social systems (@forumHSS), low- and middle-income country health systems (@forumLMIC) and Canadian health systems (@forumCDNhealth).

Thank you to all our partners, collaborators and supporters for making 2017 such a success. We look forward to building on these accomplishments in 2018!