Dedicated to improving the lives of all Albertans through patient-oriented research.

The Alberta SPOR SUPPORT Unit (AbSPORU) provides expertise, training and resources to increase Alberta’s capacity for patient-oriented research. Our aim is to bridge the gap between research evidence and health decisions – in other words, to make sure health research has an impact for patients and the health system.

AbSPORU collaborates closely and purposefully with patients from diverse communities and with its network of healthcare partners to improve health outcomes for all Albertans.

We are fostering partners to strengthen Alberta’s learning health system, focusing on continuous improvement of quality, patient and provider experience, and health system performance/cost through effective, evidence-based knowledge translation and implementation, and studying implementation to accelerate change.

Training and events

We offer training and events for researchers, patients, clinicians and health-system professionals, policy-makers, and students to increase their capacity in patient-oriented research and in Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI). Offerings include studentships, conferences, webinars, eLearning modules, and online courses and certificates.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Patient Engagement Journal Club
ARTICLE to be discussed: “World Cafés as a participatory approach to understanding research agendas in primary care with underserved communities: reflections, challenges and lessons learned – Research Involvement and Engagement” Download the article.
March 20, 2024
10 AM – 11 AM MT
Patient Engagement in Patient-Oriented Research Certificate
Online Certificate Course
April 15 – June 20, 2024
2024 Collaborative Forum
Save The Date!
May 23 – 24, 2024
MDCH 700 – Public and Patient Engagement in Health Research
September 2024 – December 2024

Research services

Our teams offer a wide range of research services and expertise to support every step of your patient-oriented research journey. We can help with patient engagement, data (including data acquisition and management, analysis, interpretation and data visualization), knowledge translation, implementation science and Sex and Gender-Based Analysis (SGBA).

Patient engagement

We provide support to patient partners, researchers and community organizations to identify research priorities and to collaborate, in active and meaningful ways, on health research studies.

Become a patient partner

Do you have lived experience of a specific health issue – either your own, or as a caregiver, family member or friend? Discover opportunities to help shape the health research that impacts you.

LATEST OPPORTUNITIES FOR PATIENTS

Advisory Group for Patient Oriented Innovative Nutrition Trial (POINT) – Micronutrients for ADHD in Youth (MADDY)

Improving the quality of the Patient Medical Home for patients: Implementing Person-Centred Quality Indicators (PC-QIs) in primary care in Alberta – Patient Advisory Council

Co-creating a person-centered strategy to manage psychological distress in critically ill patients

Research Study to Help Canadians Reduce Their Risk of Heart Disease

Learning Health System

We facilitate Alberta’s learning health system by supporting effective, practical approaches to theory-based knowledge translation and implementation work. In collaboration with health system stakeholders, we coordinate an Implementation Science Collaborative, which will accelerate improvements in health care delivery, outcomes and cost.

Our community

Patient Partner Compensation Guidelines

Alberta COVID Pandemic Follow-up Study: Top 5 Symptoms reported by Albertans (as of Nov 2022)

Stay connected with AbSPORU and our research by signing up for our emails.

CALGARY

University of Calgary Foothills Campus
3330 Hospital Dr NW
Calgary, AB T2N 4N1

EDMONTON

College Plaza
1702, 8215 112 St NW
Edmonton, AB T6G 2C8

Land Acknowledgment

The Alberta SPOR SUPPORT Unit operates on and acknowledges the lands that are the traditional and ancestral territory of many peoples, presently subject to Treaties 6, 7, and 8. Namely: the Blackfoot Confederacy – Kainai, Piikani, and Siksika – the Cree, Dene, Saulteaux, Nakota Sioux, Stoney Nakoda, and the Tsuu T’ina Nation and the Métis People of Alberta. This includes the Métis Settlements and the Métis Nation of Alberta. We acknowledge the many First Nations, Métis and Inuit who have lived in and cared for these lands for generations. We make this acknowledgment as a reaffirmation of our shared commitment towards reconciliation, and as part of AbSPORU’s mandate towards fostering health system transformation.