The following are not eligible for funding through the CTKC’s ACT Research Grants Program funding:

• Overhead, including an organization's ongoing operational or core expenses (ex. employee salaries, etc.)
• Direct health care service delivery expenses (i.e. paid care givers)
• Retroactive funding, or for any project expenses to be incurred prior to the agreed upon project start date
• Debt retirement (including deficits) or reserves and mortgage pay-downs
• Office equipment and furniture
• Activities of religious organizations that primarily serve their membership and/or their direct religious purposes, unless the community at large will benefit significantly
• Annual fund drives
• Fundraising dinners or event sponsorship
• Sabbatical leaves or student exchanges
• Medical facilities or equipment, buildings, renovations or equipment replacement
• Political causes
• Library acquisitions and construction
• Publication of books
• Knowledge transfer to support publication of grant findings
• Making contributions to an endowment fund; endowment funds can provide matching grants for a CTKC funded grant
• Capital requests, with exceptions – capital requests that are part of the broader project and required for the implementation or delivery of the project to the community will be considered; funding just for capital costs that are not part of a larger applied esearch project will not be considered
• Activities previously supported through government funding; separate but related activities may be considered

Additional appropriate support from the community, including supplemental or in-kind contributions of 50 to 100% (e.g. $25,000 to $50,000 in matching funding contributions for requested grant funding of $50,000) is required. The RFP must identify the source of matching funding contribution and provide confirmation of the commitment in a letter from each source, signed by the organization’s CEO.

Matching funding contributions may be direct grants to the project, or in-kind contributions (e.g. supplies and services) that relate specifically to the grant project. The following are eligible for matching funding or in-kind contributions:

• Overhead, including an organization's ongoing operational or core expenses.
• Office equipment and furniture.
• Knowledge transfer to support publication of grant findings.

The CTKC funds single year projects. Research projects that may take longer than one year to fully develop may be considered on the basis of the potential to achieve planned results and the likelihood of making a meaningful and sustainable contribution to positive change for the client. Projects should not exceed an 18 month period. Applicants should consider applying for funding for a particular phase of their project if the completion date will take significantly longer than the 12 to 18 month funding window.

The proposed project must:

• Address one of the CTKC’s 2009/2010 Grants Program themes;
• Have the capacity to achieve the proposed results;
• Verify that matching contributions have been secured; and
• Review and accept the CTKC’s letter of agreement

Proposals are invited from Canada, and worldwide. Areas not eligible for funding include clinical trials, replication of existing program, needs assessments and epidemiological studies.

The CTKC will review and fund requests for applied research projects relating to the outlined themes. Projects should fall under at least one of the following four theme areas:

1. Client Self-Care Strategies and Programs
2. Information Communication Technology
3. System Approaches to Client-Centered Care
4. Informal Caregiver Support Programs and Services

Projects may range from improving health and supportive home-based care to a better understanding of the instantaneous and transformative nature of technology.

Examples of types of projects eligible for funding include:

• Program development and evaluation
• Program implementation pilot evaluations
• Systematic literature reviews
• Evidenced based public policy statements and advocacy guides
• Investigations of models of care – alternative provider and/or delivery model with an emphasis on the role of personal support workers

Project teams should be composed of the members who bring the competencies and skills needed to successfully carry out the proposed activities. Teams must include a researcher and a decision-maker partner. Decision-makers include leaders from provider and service organizations. Projects that combine members from academic, community and corporate organizations are considered to have additional strength that will be recognized during the application review process.

When appropriate, those affected by the proposed initiative, such as a client population, should be involved in the development, implementation and evaluation of the proposal. At minimum, health clients should be involved in at least one phase of the project.

Applicants and partners must demonstrate their commitment to knowledge transfer and exchange with multiple audiences and through diverse forums such as:

• Collaborative implementation of programs or tools with organizations that may benefit from the program
• Consultations with organizations for replication
• Publications
• Posting project summary on The Care to Know Centre website
• Conference presentations

The goal of the ACT Research Grants Program is to ensure that the knowledge gained through the project will be leveraged to influence practice within the home and community health sector and have the potential to impact the broader health system.

The CTKC does not claim ownership of intellectual property based on the findings of your ACT Research Grant project. However, knowledge transfer and exchange is an integral part of the program. Therefore, acceptance of an ACT Research Grant involves a partnership with the CTKC to promote and exchange the findings for maximum exposure and sharing of results.

The CTKC adheres to the highest standards of ethical practice. On occasion, conflict of interest or perception of a conflict may arise. We have a comprehensive set of guidelines for our advisors and staff as well as the directors and staff of grantee organizations.

Grantees will be informed of the acceptance or rejection of their proposal prior to the processing of the funding. A cheque will be issued via Saint Elizabeth Health Care to the grantee. The payment schedule is based on two equal installments, with a 10% holdback payable on receipt and acceptance of the final report. The first payment will be paid out at the beginning of the project, 60 days after the notification of the grant award, and the second payment will be received halfway through the project, at six or nine months depending on the length of the individual project, after the mid-project reporting requirement.

Online RFPs must be received by February 26, 2010, 5:00 pm EST

Applicants will be contacted with final funding decisions on or before April 19, 2010.