promising points for intervention in re-imagining partnered research in health services; comment on “experience of health leadership in partnering with university-based researchers in canada – a call to ‘re-imagine’ research”

In this commentary, we respond to bowen and colleagues’ empirical study of research partnerships between canadian health organizations and university-based investigators. we draw on our experiences of university and health-services partnerships to elaborate on some of the misalignments between researchers and health services leaders identified by bowen et al. we take up bowen and colleagues’ call to re-imagine research by proposing three promising points of intervention in research partnerships. these are: (1) orient towards research relationships rather than project-based partnerships; (2) recognize shared and diverging expectations and objectives; and (3) foster a more nuanced understanding of mutual gains.