TABLE 2.
Summary of challenges and actions identified to improve consistency in terminology in public health modelling
| Opportunities and strengths a Community of Practice can provide |
| Develop a unified infrastructure to inform complex decision making and improve health practice based on quality data, evidence and scientific knowledge |
| Avoid duplication, use resources wisely and harness power of complementary disciplines to work collaboratively to common goals |
| Develop and foster the use of a common language for modelling in public health, and help identify similarities and differences in modelling approaches and their outcomes |
| Identify research priorities and data gaps (it is important to note that the lack of evidence and/or data may provide opportunities to exploit factors that affect model outcomes and their policy consequences. These opportunities can enhance our learning and, more importantly, may suggest novel data collection, better models and improved collaborations through a Community of Practice) |
| Facilitate data sharing and critical information in a timely fashion |
| Help address diversity of Canadian contexts |
| Identify relevant partners and stakeholders and engage them in formulating research questions |
| Integrate resources for knowledge translation and bidirectional communication |
| Increase uptake of knowledge and promote best practices for modelling collaborations |
| Community of Practice members |
| Exchange key documents, resources, and expertise |
| Evaluate research outcomes, and synthesize theoretical and practical knowledge gained from national and international collaboration |
| Organize targeted efforts for integrating modelling, surveillance, planning and decision making |
| Partnerships |
| Community of Practice will support the development of partnerships with federal/provincial/territorial health agencies and departments in Canada and other relevant organizations by enabling exchanges of information on the type of evidence used in decision making; assess the policy relevance of research outcomes; and support dissemination and implementation of the health policy recommendations |
| Research and knowledge translation priorities for modelling |
| Intervention strategies for outbreaks of influenza and other respiratory pathogens (eg, tuberculosis, pertussis) |
| Potential benefits of immunization of target groups (eg, school-aged children, or health care workers) |
| School closures strategies during emerging diseases with consideration of population characteristics |
| Cost-effectiveness of immunization programs |
| Strategies for early identification and treatment of active tuberculosis |
| Priorities for modelling consistency |
| Develop a glossary of definitions of terms used in modelling consistent with dictionary of terms for infectious disease epidemiology |
| Develop conceptual frameworks for natural history model of important diseases using standard terminologies |
| Provide guidelines and develop criteria for assessing the quality and relevance of databases for modelling |
| Develop guidelines for review and assessment of modelling research quality and the relevance to public health policy and practice in Canadian contexts |
| Host organization |
| National Collaborating Centre for Infectious Diseases |