Feed the Elephant


In an earlier post, readers were invited to share any ideas they had concerning potential topics for the upcoming 2017 Quality Summit. Karla W. was one person who accepted this open invitation. Below is what she wrote.

“Over the past several years of [my] experience as a patient representative/advisor, the issue of remuneration for time spent as a “volunteer” has surfaced [during] discussions at the tables. Nationally, and provincially, it varies greatly (from zero – up) how organizations acknowledge patient advisors, as well [as how] different people on the same committees are acknowledged differently. I would like to encourage a discussion on this topic.”

Why not be like Karla and “feed” the elephant?

One thought on “Feed the Elephant

  1. A couple of ideas for getting people associated with healthcare together to discuss things that are important:

    – When getting Patient & Family Advisors together, ones who work in different areas of healthcare (e.g. different Strategic Clinical Networks), consider identifying common areas of interest (concerns, opportunities) and encourage intentional discussion on these topics.

    – When getting Patient/Family Advisors and healthcare professionals together (multiple different roles) – ones who should be working closely together – encourage intentional discussion on common areas of interest and importance.

    As much as possible, support the above discussions/conversations with outside, skilled facilitators who use facilitation techniques and tools that support the principles of ‘every voice being heard’, ‘every voice matters’, capturing/documenting what is being discussed for reflection as part of the meeting – all with a sense of respect and urgency. (I have witnessed this having been done, I think led by the DesignLabs people, and it was outstanding).

    Perhaps some of the frustration that exists among so many people in healthcare (patient/family advisors, healthcare professionals, research teams) are:
    – the low number of meaningful multi-role discussions/conversations on topics that matter to all
    – when these meetings do happen, the lack of meaningful progress resulting
    – and that overall, things simply take much too long.

    Perhaps bringing some attention to ensuring these intentional conversations happen in a meaningful way; are well facilitated to limit the extra workload on healthcare professionals; and having more of a sense of urgency – the ‘partnership’ of everyone involved in working positively towards improving care will happen.

    Thanks for the opportunity to share some thoughts.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *