Research For Wellness Fund 2025
Research for Wellness Grants 2025
Call for Proposals
The Ministry of Health and Wellness (MOHW) is committed to using research evidence, to guide its policies and programmes.
The MOHW is seeking to support projects with grants of up to J$ 20 million covering the following wellness areas:
| Wellness Area of Focus | Theme |
|---|---|
| 1 | Wellness in the workplace |
| 2 | Wellness in schools |
| 3 | Wellness in homes |
| 4 | Wellness in communities |
| 5 | Wellness among persons with non-communicable diseases and risk factors (tobacco use, physical inactivity, the harmful use of alcohol, unhealthy diets, and air pollution) |
| 6 | Mental health |
| 7 | Maternal health |
Value of Grants
Grants will be awarded to Tier 1 and Tier 2 studies.
- Tier 1 studies are those led by experienced/seasoned investigators with research budget up to a maximum value of JA $20M for the life of the project.
- Tier 2 studies are “proof of concept” research with a maximum budget of JA $5M.
Research for Wellness Fund
Call for Research Proposals
1. Background
The RFWF is expected to provide evidence to guide the policy initiatives of the Ministry including the provision of evidence to counter the rising burden of Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). NCDs are a leading cause of death and disability globally, accounting for 71% of deaths. The findings of the 2016/2017 Jamaica Health and Lifestyle Survey indicated that the proportion of Jamaicans living with selected NCDs and risk factors is high, with a prevalence of diabetes and hypertension among Jamaicans 15 years and older of 12% and 34% respectively.
The Research for Wellness Fund serves as an acta non verba of the Ministry’s adherence to the principles of wellness. The fund was created to finance applied research to help the organization understand wellness in specific settings (i.e. the workplace, school, homes and community) and populations. The RFWF initiative opens the possibilities for multi-disciplinary research across the physical, social, biomedical and clinical aspects of health and well-being.
The areas of focus for the Ministry are:
| 1. | Wellness in the workplace |
| 2. | Wellness in schools |
| 3. | Wellness in homes |
| 4. | Wellness in communities |
| 5. | Wellness among persons with non-communicable diseases and risk factors (tobacco use, physical inactivity, the harmful use of alcohol, unhealthy diets, and air pollution) |
| 6. | Mental health |
| 7. | Maternal health |
2. Who Can Apply?
The RFWF 2025 is open to all researchers and research teams, where the Principal Investigator (PI) is resident in Jamaica.
3. Scope of Research
The research project should address the following:
- A multi-disciplinary approach to wellness
- Multi-disciplinary teams are encouraged
- Deal with a significant challenge or impediment to the attainment of health and wellness
- Specify how the planned research will promote scientific knowledge, policies and programmes, and/or practice.
- Specify how the successful achievement of the aims will alter the concepts, methods, technologies, treatments, services, or preventative interventions that foster health and wellness
- Specify whether a basis for ongoing and/or upcoming population health and comparative research will be provided
- Research must, in the short-term, inform policy and practice for health and wellness; and be in alignment with the priority areas mentioned above.
Ethics Review & National Regulations
- All research involving human subjects or animals will require ethical review.
- The disbursement of funds will be contingent on written documentation of ethical approval from the relevant ethics oversight bodies.
- Applicants do not require ethical approval upon submission of proposals; however, they are urged to seek ethical approval while their applications are being considered in order to facilitate efficient disbursement of funds.
- The research proposal should be compliant with the necessary laws of Jamaica, including the Data Protection Act, 2020.
4. General Guidelines for Submission
Applications
The Research for Wellness Fund is open to teams conducting research in Jamaica. The research team must be led by a Principal Investigator who is resident in Jamaica.
Your application comprises four (4) parts and all four (4) parts must be submitted via the form below to be considered a complete application:
| Application Part | Form | Instructions |
|---|---|---|
| Part 1 | Application Form | This is a fillable PDF. Please use Adobe or a PDF reader to complete this form. |
| Part 2 | Workplan, Budget and Budget Justification | This is a Microsoft Word form. |
| Part 3 | Declarations Form | This is an Adobe PDF form. This form is to be signed by the Principal Investigator and Business Official. This form should be scanned and uploaded in pdf format. |
| Part 4 | Qualifications and Experience | Biographical Sketch template provided in Microsoft Word format |
NB: Any proposal found to be in contravention of the listed instructions will not be considered for the adjudication process
Proposal Submission
All four (4) forms above must be submitted to be considered a complete application.
Proposals will be accepted by online submissions ONLY.
Submissions are made through the form HERE.
Proposals will be acknowledged within three (3) working days of submission. If there is no acknowledgement within this time, you may contact the Secretariat at [email protected] or telephone 876–633-8157.
Proposal Assessment
The following outlines the scoring criteria that will be used in assessing the proposals.
The RFWF Proposals will be evaluated by an independent panel who will assess the submissions based on whether they can demonstrate: an understanding of the existing literature and evidence base as relevant to the wellness area; appropriate research design and methodology; involvement of varied expertise in research.
Round 1: Pre-Screening
All applications will be screened in the first round to determine if the applications:
- Align with any of the wellness areas-Pre-screening criteria 1 (PS1)
- Demonstrate researchers’ expertise, where the scope of the project will be examined in relation to the research team and combined skills-Pre-screening criteria 2 (PS2)
Note: Proposals that receive a fail in Round 1 will not be advanced to Round 2.
Round 2: Full Scoring
Applications that pass the first round will move on to Round 2 and then judged by an independent panel according to the adjudication criteria, outlined below. Applications with the highest scores will be sent on to the award committee for notification of awards.
| Round 1 Review | ||
|---|---|---|
| PRE-SCREENING STATUS (PS) | REVIEW | PRE-SCREENING CRITERIA |
| 1. Alignment to the Wellness Priority Areas | Pass or Fail | PS1 |
| 2. The necessary qualifications and experience to conduct the proposed research and achieve its stated objectives | Pass or Fail | PS1 |
| Round 2 Adjudication | ||
|---|---|---|
| ADJUDICATION CRITERIA (AC) | MAXIMUM SCORE | ADJUDICATION CRITERIA |
| Scope of the project | 10 | AC1 |
| Research Environment & Research team composition (multi-disciplinary teams yes/no) | 10 | AC2 |
| Demonstrated rationale for pursuing research into indicated Topic | 15 | AC3 |
| Clear, realistic and measurable objectives, which can be achieved | ||
| within the approved timeframe, using the resources available | 10 | AC4 |
| A clearly defined plan for conducting the research | 20 | AC5 |
| A cogent review of the potential risks to the successful completion and feasible recommendations to minimize or eliminate these risks | 5 | AC6 |
| A pathway to impact on health policy development and/or implementation as well programmes or practices | 20 | AC7 |
5. RFWF Timeline
