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ObjectiveA recently established data research network identified the need to address Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility and established a team committed to IDEA informed change. The Team identifies, develops, and implements IDEA strategies in distributed research network. We will share the process of establishing this Team and outline identified coordinated opportunities moving forward.
ApproachAdministrative data and analyses are not neutral. Colonialism, racism, gender discrimination, ableism, and other forms of oppression have shaped the data that are available and the research processes that are used to analyze and evaluate data. It is imperative that health data research adopts and develops methods that embed IDEA. An informal survey of a health data research network identified four areas for action including capacity building, culture shifts, information sharing, and coordinated development of policies, practices, and tools. A multi-regional team was established to move forward with this work with an emphasis on operations and research practices.
ResultsIn the fall of 2021 IDEA Team members were recruited from data centres across the network, including IDEA professionals, researchers, data collection and curation specialists, human resource professionals, and public/patient engagement specialists. The first IDEA Team meetings focused on team buildings and building shared purpose by shaping the Terms of Reference and creating principles for working together. Next steps will include an environmental audit to assess network capacity and a consensus oriented decision-making process to identify priorities. The Team includes over 20 members with a broad range of knowledge and expertise, making facilitation a key operational component. Establishing a baseline of knowledge and defining priorities will encompass the first year of the Teams work, navigating the distinct needs of a distributed network, the diverse needs of data centres, and the breadth of data that flows through the network.
ConclusionThis multi-regional inter-disciplinary team is crucial to adopting, developing and embedding IDEA in a distributed data network and could serve as a model for other data research organizations. The Team will work towards capacity building, creating an internal culture shift and coordinating the development of new tools and resources.

ObjectiveA multi-disciplinary E2A group was established as part of a linked administrative data study examining methamphetamine use in Manitoba. In this presentation we will share our experiences of establishing an E2A, embedding stakeholders in the research process, and outline an iterative engagement plan for the remaining study years.
ApproachThe E2A group is led by two researchers with expertise in patient and public engagement and guided by Pal's (2014) work on policy analysis and activation. Pal emphasizes a multidisciplinary and iterative process as the basis of a more inclusive approach to policy development for complex problems, such as the prevalence of methamphetamine use in Manitoba. Our goal in engaging public rightsholders, service providers and knowledge users in the research is to ensure that their first-hand knowledge and perspectives are reflected in the interpretations of the findings and that analyses address identified complexities in a culturally sensitive and equity-focused way.
ResultsIn the fall of 2020 E2A members were recruited, including persons with lived experience using methamphetamines and their families/care-givers, academics, clinicians, government, and non-government stakeholders. Training was provided on the topics of trauma-informed care, public engagement, effects of colonial and racist institutions, and cultural safety. The first E2A meetings co-developed guiding principles, a vision and mission, as well as provided capacity building around administrative data research. This work was done as a foundation for the next two years, wherein the group will make decisions about key variables (ie: between methamphetamine use and mental health), interpretation of results, knowledge mobilization, and policy development using an iterative self-evaluation process. To date challenges addressed included public health restrictions related to Covid-19 and adapting the research flow to centre lived-experience decision making.
ConclusionThe E2A group is a key component of this study and could serve as a model for other administrative data studies. The group prioritizes stakeholder knowledge, interprets results, flags potential biases in the data research process, and ensures the findings are relevant to the people they are meant to support.

Problem: In Canadian society, public policies guide the development and administration of social services and systems, including the public education system, the justice system, family services, social housing and income support. However, because social services are often planned and implemented in a 'siloed' manner, coordination and collaboration across departments, sectors and organisations is sorely lacking. Data and resource constraints may prevent services being evaluated to ensure they meet the needs of the people for whom they are intended. When the needs of individuals are not addressed, the result is poor outcomes and wasted resources across multiple areas.Our Response: In 2018, we formed the SPECTRUM Partnership in response to a recognised need for collaborative cross-sector approaches to strengthening the policies that shape social services and systems in our country. The tripartite SPECTRUM partnership comprises representatives from community organisations, government and academia, and is an entity designed to conduct social policy research and evaluation, incorporating interdisciplinary perspectives and expertise from its members. Guided by community-driven research questions and building on existing data resources, SPECTRUM seeks to address specific knowledge gaps in social programs, services and systems. New research findings are then translated into viable public policy options, in alignment with government priorities, and presented to policy-makers for consideration.Implications: In this practice-based article, we describe the key steps we took to create the SPECTRUM partnership, build our collective capacity for research and evaluation, and transform our research findings into actionable evidence to support sound public policy. We outline four of SPECTRUM's achievements to date in the hope that the lessons we learned during the development of the partnership may serve as a guide for others aiming to optimise public policy development in a collaborative evidence-based way.