Broad Economic and Social Impacts
Broad economic and social impact is an area that attempts to capture monetary and long term benefits of health research. Thus, it is the most difficult to capture in one, two, or even three indicators. SHRF works with provincial and national partners to develop and improve indicators in this area.
The following section presents indicators on the economics and social impacts of health research.
Definition: SHRF return on investment on Establishment grant holders five-years post award
Source: SHRF Five-year follow-up study
Definition: SHRF leveraged funds from various partners
Source: SHRF financial database 
Definition: CIHR dollars coming to Saskatchewan
Source: CIHR online database
Story
Dr. Nazeem Muhajarine
Smart Cities, Healthy Kids
For the first time in modern history, the life expectancy of children may well drop lower than that of their parents. The reason: lifestyles that discourage physical activity and foster obesity.
“To a large extent, the way we behave is shaped by our environment,” says Dr. Nazeem Muhajarine. “We tend to develop sedentary lifestyles if we don’t have a lot of
opportunities for physical activity, or have competing activities that discourage us from being active.”
Muhajarine leads the Healthy Children research program within the Saskatchewan Population Health and Evaluation Research Unit (SPHERU), which includes researchers from the University of Saskatchewan and University of Regina. Their “Smart Cities, Healthy Kids” project is looking at the design of urban neighbourhoods in Saskatoon to identify the elements that encourage children to get up and go. These elements include things such as buildings, roadways, sidewalks, parks, and green spaces, and how they contribute to increasing children’s physical activity. By learning what is and isn’t working in Saskatoon, the team hopes to inform the design of future neighbourhoods throughout Saskatchewan and across Canada.
Through their research, Muhajarine and his team also seeks to shed light on how the social contexts in which children live — their families and their neighbourhood— help or hinder them in their early years. This is the type of research that he thrives on.
“We have done studies looking at various factors—from family, neighbourhoods, schools, and larger society—that impact children, beginning with even before they are born to when they begin school,” Muhajarine says. “What do we see in a community that is essential to nurturing healthy children that grow up to be well-adjusted, productive citizens? How can we provide these essentials?”
In addition to the “Smart Cities, Healthy Kids” project, Muhajarine and his research team are also working on many other research and knowledge transfer projects in early childhood development. They are just about to wrap up a three-year evaluation of the effectiveness of KidsFirst, the provincial government’s early childhood development program for vulnerable families with young children delivered locally at nine sites in the province. KidsFirst uses home visiting to mentor parents and connect them to needed supports so they can be the best parents they can be, and have the healthiest children possible. Muhajarine is looking at the impact KidsFirst has made on children and their parents’ lives in the first few years of the program.
Findings from previous research projects have contributed to improved programs and services for children in several ways. Saskatoon’s school boards have initiated major literacy programs and have introduced and expanded a full-time kindergarten option, while the city’s public library has improved access to services in underprivileged areas. Last year, he received CIHR funding to launch kidSKAN, the Saskatchewan Knowledge to Action Network for early childhood development, a provincial community of practice to connect researchers with practitioners and policymakers across the province.
Muhajarine was awarded his first research grant while he was a doctoral student, from the Saskatchewan Health Research Board (a precursor to SHRF).
“I believe the early funding really contributed to my development as a researcher,” Muhajarine says. “Being funded when I was fairly new to the research community as a PhD student was certainly beneficial when I subsequently applied for national grants.”
Since his early days as a student, Muhajarine has continued his success in funding through a variety of post-doctoral and establishment grants through HSURC and a variety of national funding sources such as the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. He has won prestigious honours such as CIHR’s Knowledge Translation Award and SHRF’s Achievement Award.
