Making Rapid Evidence Part of Saskatchewan Health Research
A new partnership led by the Saskatchewan Centre for Patient-Oriented Research (SCPOR) is helping health system leaders access high-quality evidence in weeks, rather than years, strengthening the province’s capacity as a Learning Health System (LHS) and ensuring decisions are grounded in the best available research.
Established in early 2025, the Rapid Evidence Synthesis Team (REST) is a collaborative initiative between SCPOR, the University of Saskatchewan (USask) Library, the USask Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, and the Saskatchewan Health Authority (SHA), under the leadership of Dr. Gary Groot.
REST was created to address a long-standing challenge in healthcare decision-making: providing timely access to evidence that can inform operational, clinical, and policy decisions. The team offers rapid evidence products tailored to decision-makers’ needs, ranging from evidence scans delivered within two to three weeks to comprehensive evidence syntheses completed in six weeks or more. REST aims to provide rigorous, trustworthy evidence at the pace decisions are being made, while ensuring patients remain central to the process.
The initiative grew directly from conversations about strengthening Saskatchewan’s Learning Health System. In May 2024, SCPOR convened more than 100 representatives from across the health system—including health authority leaders, researchers, Indigenous health leaders, government representatives, students, and people with lived experience—to explore how Saskatchewan could advance learning health systems. One of the strongest themes emerging from the symposium was the need for rapid evidence synthesis capacity that could support continuous learning and improvement across the province.
In response, SCPOR led the development of REST and ensured the integration of Patient Partners into rapid reviews. A distinguishing feature of REST is its commitment to patient-oriented research. Unlike other rapid review services, REST embeds patients directly into the evidence synthesis process.
Patient Partner Janet Gunderson helped develop and deliver training for other Patient Partners to engage in rapid reviews. Seven additional Patient Partners have been trained to contribute to REST. Patient Partners are matched to reviews based on lived experiences, preferences, and availability and are engaged in providing feedback on the review, co-creation of key messages, and advising on dissemination activities.
Gunderson said, “The questions that are being asked in the rapid review affect the patients in Saskatchewan, so I think it's important that the patient voice be heard.” She expressed the importance of rapid reviews in the health system, saying, “rapid reviews are becoming more important because people want answers quicker.”
Although only operational for one year, REST completed 11 rapid reviews and received 22 review requests from health system leaders and clinicians, with an average turn-around time of 31 days to completion. The demand highlights an important gap REST is helping to fill and feedback from health system leaders underscores the value of the service.
“REST provides organized and efficient support to answer questions related to operational priorities within the SHA,” noted one senior SHA leader. “The reports have supported decision-making and were impactful to ensure that the work was proceeding in an evidence-informed manner.”
Beyond individual projects, REST is helping build the foundation of a more responsive LHS. By bringing together expertise from the USask Library, Community Health and Epidemiology, SCPOR, and the SHA—and by ensuring patients have a meaningful voice throughout the process, the partnership is creating a new model for how evidence can move quickly into action.
REST represents an example of how strategic investments in patient-oriented research can generate real-world impact. What began as gap in LHS infrastructure has rapidly evolved into a provincial resource supporting evidence-informed decision-making, patient engagement, and continuous health system improvement.