Mythbusters Award for Journalists
CHSRF and MHCC Seeking Journalists to Debunk Myths related to mental health
The Canadian Health Services Research Foundation (CHSRF) and the Mental Health Commission of Canada (MHCC) are co-sponsoring a unique Mythbusters Award call inviting journalists to submit an issue of Mythbusters, a popular series of reader-friendly research summaries addressing some of today’s major debates in Canadian health services management and policy. The award will be given to the strongest application (as determined through merit review using the criteria below), and the submitted Mythbusters article will be produced into issue of official series.
Important note! To be eligible, applicants must ensure the myth they are busting deals specifically with mental health issues in Canada, and has direct implications for at least one of the following areas:
- Healthcare financing
- Healthcare delivery
- Health system management
The Mythbusters series was launched by CHSRF in 2000 to challenge the many misconceptions about healthcare in Canada. Articles in the series summarize research and other evidence and communicate actionable messages to policy-makers, managers and others in a conversational, easy-to-read format.
RESOURCES
In 2008, CHSRF created the Mythbusters Teaching Resource. This document walks readers through all of the steps in developing a Mythbuster—from spotting a myth, to searching for evidence to disprove it, to writing a draft. Applicants are invited to use the information in the Teaching Resource to strengthen their application. In addition, it is a good idea to read a few issues from the Mythbusters series. We’ve also compiled a list of 5 tips you may wish to read to help give your application that competitive edge!
Who is eligible for this award?
- Journalists with a proven track record of publishing in the areas of healthcare financing, delivery, management, and policy.
The winner will receive
- an award of $5,000
- travel, accommodation and registration to a Mental Health Commission of Canada conference, where the award will be announced and presented.
The application process
The following information is required in the application form:
1. Your full contact information;
2. A proposed Mythbusters article, which includes:
- a short descriptive title, beginning with “Myth: [your myth here]”
- a section establishing that the myth exists in the Canadian healthcare system (approx. ½ page)
- a section outlining the evidence base to debunk the myth (approx. 1 page)
- a conclusion (approx. ½ page)
3. Up to two additional pages of references.
Application submission
Applicants must submit an electronic version of the completed application form in MS Word to grantsandawards@chsrf.ca. Applications must be received by January 17, 2012 at 12 noon eastern time.
The successful applicant will be notified of the results in early March 2012.
» Request an application form
The competition is closed.
Conflict of interest and ethics
Applicants should review and ensure they are aware of CHSRF’s conflict of interest policy (PDF).
CHSRF requires that program teams, administering agencies, and partners respect the requirements for the ethical conduct of research as expressed in the following policy documents:
1. “Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans” (1998) available from the website of the Interagency Advisory Panel on Research Ethics. The appropriate local review committee operating in accordance with the relevant statements of policy must approve any research involving human subjects before it starts; and
2. “Tri-Council Policy Statement: Integrity in Research and Scholarship” (1994): a Tri-Council Policy Statement prepared jointly with the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, available from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada web site.
Selection process and criteria
Applications will be assessed by a merit review panel composed of health services research and policy experts. The merit review panel will assess the applications using the following criteria:
- Originality of the topic (i.e., the selected topic addresses a myth that has not yet been featured in the Mythbusters series)
- Relevance of the topic to Canadian health services management or policy (i.e., the myth has direct implications for healthcare financing, healthcare delivery and/or health system management)
- Suitability of the supporting evidence (i.e., the evidence must be robust and come from reliable sources)
- Strength of the conclusions (i.e., the main messages are actionable and evidence-based)
- Readability of the Mythbuster (i.e., it is written in a reader-friendly way and uses lively prose)