A community-researcher alliance to improve chronic wound care.

A partnership between health services researchers from Queen's University and the University of Ottawa, a community nursing agency and a home care authority in Ottawa led to major improvements in the quality of care for people with leg ulcers. The synthesis of both external and local evidence played a key role in the adoption of an evidence-based protocol and provided the critical context to support a significant reorganization of the existing service delivery model. This case demonstrates that, with a collaborative partnership approach, systematic and transparent research processes can be rapidly developed to support policy change.