Impact Stories - Alberta Strategy for Patient Oriented Research SUPPORT Unit (AbSPORU)

The Impact of AbSPORU

AbSPORU helps to facilitate health system change. The impact of a patient-oriented approach to research can be both direct and indirect, and takes place along various pathways, ultimately leading to changes in policy, practice, process, or behaviour.

Throughout 2025 and 2026, we followed key projects and initiatives that span the breadth of AbSPORUʼs services.

Stories of Impact

Click on an image below to read the full story.

Our Way to Wellness

AbSPORU has partnered with the Metis Settlements Health Board (MSHB) and the Indigenous Wellness Core (Acute Care Alberta) to support a community-led effort to improve healthcare services across the eight Metis Settlements in Alberta.

Heroes in Mind, Advocacy and Research Consortium

AbSPORU’s partnership with the Heroes in Mind, Advocacy and Research Consortium (HiMARC) is building infrastructure to improve mental health and resilience support for Canadian military members, Veterans, public safety personnel, essential service providers and their families, who face disproportionate trauma exposure and occupational stress.

A Decade of Data in Alberta

Since the early 2000s, Alberta has possessed some of the richest population-based health data resources in the world. At the same time, healthcare was becoming increasingly data-driven. A partnership between AbSPORU and Alberta's Provincial Research and Data Services is helping to transform Alberta's data landscape and improve access and analytical ability for researchers.

Publications

The reach of health research findings and the resulting impact can be accelerated through publications such as online health journals, articles, news stories, and more. Since 2014, AbSPORU has amassed over 750 publications, which are more highly cited than comparable publications.

In 2025, we released a comprehensive Publication Impact Report.

In 2025-26, AbSPORU team members contributed to an additional

84 Publications

View List of Team Publications

Thank You

Our annual report offers insight into AbSPORU's work. The research projects that we support culminate in the impact that we have, and the evidence produced goes on to influence our health system.

Through our team, clients, patient, family and community partners, and health system network, we support improvements in healthcare that are aligned with the needs and priorities of the people most affected.

Proactively and responsively, we strive for continuous improvement: in collaborations, services, training, impact, and in contributing to a learning health system that responds to patient-oriented research generated evidence to improve health outcomes for all Albertans.

Sincerely,