Pages 575-578 in S. Chatwood, P. Orr and Tiina Ikaheimo, eds. Proceedings of the 14th International Congress on Circumpolar Health, Yellowknife, Canada, July 11-16, 2009. Securing the IPY Legacy: from Research to Action. International Journal of Circumpolar Health 2010; 69 (Suppl 7).
Global eHealth Research and Training Program, Health Innovation and Information Technology (HiTEC), Department of Community Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Calgary, Canada
Department of Community Health Sciences, The Aga Khan University, Karachi, Pakistan
Source
Pages 575-578 in S. Chatwood, P. Orr and Tiina Ikaheimo, eds. Proceedings of the 14th International Congress on Circumpolar Health, Yellowknife, Canada, July 11-16, 2009. Securing the IPY Legacy: from Research to Action. International Journal of Circumpolar Health 2010; 69 (Suppl 7).
Objectives: To review experience from a recently established and successful thematic research network and to speculate on the potential value of a similar approach to more rapidly accumulate evidence and move forward implementation of eHealth solutions in the pan-Arctic setting.
Study design: Retrospective review of (1) documents describing the genesis, deployment and performance of the Pan Asian Collaborative for Evidence-based eHealth Adoption and Application (PANACeA), and (2) the eHealth publication record of the International Journal of Circumpolar Health (ICJH) from 1998 to 2008.
Methods: The consultant's report, first-year technical reports and interim presentations on PANACeA progress were reviewed, and key information that illustrated the progress and performance (challenges and successes) in planning, initiating and implementing this research network was extracted. In addition, the number of eHealth-related articles published in the IJCH over a 20-year period was enumerated.
Results: The findings demonstrate that the thematic research network approach has value. Placed in the context of the relevance of eHealth to the Arctic, research into eHealth adoption and application as well as the evidence of sparse publication of eHealth activities in the circumpolar region, a similar approach focusing on northern circumpolar eHealth research could prove valuable.
Conclusions: It is recommended that consideration be given to creation of a pan-Arctic collaborative for eHealth research in the northern circumpolar region.