Sheela Basrur Centre Grant

The Sheela Basrur Centre Grant is now accepting applications.

2025–2026 Grant Focus: Fostering Trust and Countering Misinformation in Public Health

Effective public health communication serves as the backbone of community health, providing the tools and knowledge necessary for individuals to make informed decisions. From promoting vaccinations to encouraging healthy behaviors, effective communication ensures that individuals have the information they need to make informed decisions. Recent global events, including the COVID-19 pandemic and other large-scale outbreaks like measles, have highlighted and magnified challenges in public health communication.

Large volumes of misinformation and disinformation have spread rapidly, often undermining trust in science and public institutions. Public health professionals play a vital role in addressing these challenges by fostering trust through transparency, engagement, and culturally relevant approaches. Working at the local level is especially important, as it allows public health efforts to address specific community contexts, build meaningful relationships, and create tailored strategies to counter misinformation and promote trust in science and institutions.

This year, the grant invites proposals that address one or both of the following priority areas:

Priority Area	Project Examples
Building Trust in Public Health Projects should focus on communication strategies aimed at fostering trust in science and the health system. Efforts should prioritize transparency, emphasize evidence-based practices, and engage communities through inclusive and culturally sensitive approaches.	Create a training program for health workers focused on empathy-based communication and delivering culturally relevant, health information. Build an online platform that shares real-time, and easy-to-understand public health information. Develop a toolkit for local public health partners that includes templates, visuals, and messaging strategies focused on transparency, clarity, and empathy. Design and/or implement an evaluation or research study to assess the impact of public health communication initiatives on community trust and resilience.
Countering Misinformation and Disinformation Projects should focus on communication methods designed to address and mitigate the spread of false or misleading information. Emphasis is placed on building public resilience, promoting accurate scientific understanding, and fostering critical engagement with information sources.	Develop an educational program aimed at improving health literacy and combating mis- and disinformation. Conduct a communications campaign that shares accurate scientific heath information and combats mis- and disinformation. Create a community feedback system enabling community members to report or ask questions about confusing health information circulating in their networks. Conduct a research or evaluation study to assess community knowledge, beliefs, and exposure to health misinformation and identify common misconceptions and trusted information sources. Map how misinformation travels in a specific community using digital data (social media, messaging apps, etc.) and evaluate the effect of targeted, evidence-based counter-messaging in slowing misinformation spread.

Priority Area

Project Examples

Building Trust in Public Health
Projects should focus on communication strategies aimed at fostering trust in science and the health system. Efforts should prioritize transparency, emphasize evidence-based practices, and engage communities through inclusive and culturally sensitive approaches.

Create a training program for health workers focused on empathy-based communication and delivering culturally relevant, health information.
Build an online platform that shares real-time, and easy-to-understand public health information.
Develop a toolkit for local public health partners that includes templates, visuals, and messaging strategies focused on transparency, clarity, and empathy.
Design and/or implement an evaluation or research study to assess the impact of public health communication initiatives on community trust and resilience.

Countering Misinformation and Disinformation
Projects should focus on communication methods designed to address and mitigate the spread of false or misleading information. Emphasis is placed on building public resilience, promoting accurate scientific understanding, and fostering critical engagement with information sources.

Develop an educational program aimed at improving health literacy and combating mis- and disinformation.
Conduct a communications campaign that shares accurate scientific heath information and combats mis- and disinformation.
Create a community feedback system enabling community members to report or ask questions about confusing health information circulating in their networks.
Conduct a research or evaluation study to assess community knowledge, beliefs, and exposure to health misinformation and identify common misconceptions and trusted information sources.
Map how misinformation travels in a specific community using digital data (social media, messaging apps, etc.) and evaluate the effect of targeted, evidence-based counter-messaging in slowing misinformation spread.

Anticipated Deliverables
The aim of this funding is to implement public health communication initiatives focused on fostering trust and countering misinformation in public health. Final deliverables may include:

A published resource (e.g., guidance and recommendations resources, training or education program curriculum, toolkits, reports, digital platforms, presentations, checklists, etc.) that can be shared with other public health units or broader public health stakeholders.
Research or evaluation findings that can be published to serve as the foundation for future research or resources.

Funding and Project Duration

Up to $100,000 in funding is available per project.
Funding for successful proposals will be provided from October 2025 through September 2026, distributed in three installments. Installment amounts will be determined based on the scope and details of each project submission.

Who can Apply

Project led by a public health unit in Ontario. Lead public health unit may chose to partner with another public health unit (or multiple) in Ontario.
Work in meaningful collaboration with at least one local academic/research, or community organization.
Address a public health issue within the identified priority areas of fostering trust and countering misinformation in public health.
Generate insights that can be applied across the public health system and actively share those insights by developing and implementing a knowledge exchange and dissemination plan.
Ensure that health equity is a core consideration in all aspects of project planning, delivery, and evaluation.
Involve research and/or evaluation activities.

Evaluation Criteria
Projects will be evaluated for quality of project design, feasibility, potential impact, and alignment with one of the two priority areas.

How to Apply

Read the Application Guide.
Complete the Application Form.
Submit your application by October 1, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. ET

Email your completed form (Word format) to SBC@oahpp.ca
Use the subject line: Sheela Basrur Grant Proposal: [Insert name of your organization]

Virtual Information Session
Interested in applying for the Sheela Basrur Centre Grant but want to learn more before you begin? Join us for a Virtual Information Session on September 12, 2025 from 12 to 1 p.m. ET to explore the grant’s objectives, eligibility criteria, and application process.
Participants can expect to learn about:

The purpose and priorities of the grant
Key elements of a strong proposal
Important dates and deliverables
Guidance and tips for completing the application

Key Dates and Timelines

Date	Project Timeline
September 12, 2025	Information session
October 1, 2025	Application submission deadline
Late October 2025	Project acceptances sent
October/November 2025	Project period starts with first funding installment
March 2026	Second project funding installment
June 2026	Final project funding installment
By September 2026	Final deliverable submitted and knowledge exchange activities completed

Questions?
If you have any questions about the program or application process, please contact sbc@oahpp.ca.

Contacter le Service

Centre Sheela Basrur

sbc@oahpp.ca

Publié le 29 août 2025

Sheela Basrur Centre Grant

The Sheela Basrur Centre Grant is now accepting applications.

Informations connexes

Contacter le Service

Vous devez être connecté et avoir le bon niveau d'accès pour accéder à ce produit.