Nurses begin a national plan for the integration of supportive care in health research, practice, and policy.

The demand for and use of health, social, and other human services is related not to the type or severity of disease but rather to a person's socio-economic, cognitive, and emotional characteristics and environmental circumstances. A workshop on supportive care was held to promote a robust research environment, the creation of new knowledge, the setting of an integrated health research agenda, a focusing of attention on the evolving health-care system, and anticipation of emerging health challenges. While the workshop was intended to address a research mandate for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, a larger vision emerged, to include advocacy, information system, surveillance, and policy development required by institutional, community, voluntary, private sector, family caregiver, and provider systems. The development of a national supportive care strategy will enable Canadians with disease and disability to live with all of their challenges, and could engage researchers, clinicians, advocacy groups, and people experiencing major health challenges.