Patient and Family Centred Care Week – November 4-8

The theme for Patient and Family Centred Care Week will be “The Human Connection in Healthcare.” Below is a video that highlights what the human connection means to patients, families, and members of our care team at Alberta Children’s Hospital.

What does “The Human Connection in Healthcare” mean to you?

Four Small Words = Big Impact

As you may recall, June 6th was “What Matters to You?” day. Although these four words are simple in and of themselves, when a member of our Pts4Chg community introduced them to her homecare team, something special came about. See the results here. Way to go, Emma!

Cast Your Vote

Protocol prohibits transplant

Delilah Saunders is critically ill and requires a liver transplant. Unfortunately, she has been deemed ineligible based on a past history of alcohol use. What are your thoughts about this decision and the associated protocol?

Click here to read the story.

Feedback Please

A small group of patient/famiy advisors and Alberta Health Services staff have been working to create an app that could easily capture data regarding the patient/family experience at the end of a clinic/hospital visit. This app would allow programs/areas to obtain information about the patient’s/family’s experience immediately after the care was received. All feedback, including Ideas and suggestions of how the program/area could be more patient and family centred, would be provided anonymously. Having this information readily available would allow managers and healthcare teams to make improvements in the care provided by their program/area.

A prototype of this app has been developed, which will be tested in two clinics. However, before doing so, your assistance is being sought via the completion of a short survey relating to the prototype. If you could take a few minutes to complete this survey, it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for your help! Please note that the survey is NOT limited to family/patient advisors.

Calling All Albertans


Do you live in Alberta?
Would you like to see improvement in Alberta’s healthcare system?

If you answered “Yes” to the above questions, IMAGINE Citizens Collaborating for Health is looking for you. In particular, IMAGINE is seeking 25 Albertans to participate in a province-wide conversation that will focus on improving Alberta’s primary health care system. Deadline for applications is June 19th. Click here to find out more.

Let Your Voice Be Heard


On Tuesday, February 28th, Red Deer doctors held a public meeting to discuss the deficiencies at the Red Deer Regional Hospital.and the impact they were having on patients and the care they received. In 2014, there was a plan to address these issues, which included redeveloping the hospital. However, in late 2016, Alberta Health Services removed this redevelopment plan from its list of priorities. This they did even though the Red Deer Regional Hospital is the fourth busiest in the province, is in need of “96 more admitting beds, 8 more emergency room beds and three more operating rooms.” In a notice issued by the doctors, “‘If you find the treatment of central Albertans by policy-makers and government unacceptable and unfair, let your voice be heard.'” Click here to read more.

Canada Offers A Healing Hand

In the wake of President Trump’s recent travel ban, which prohibits individuals from seven countries from entering the United States, Canada has extended a helping hand. In particular, recognizing that some of these banned individuals are children requiring medical attention, these children may be obtaining the treatment they require in Canada. 

As Eric Hoskins, Ontario’s Health Minister, states:

“Canada is a country that has always looked into ways it could reach out and support vulnerable people around the world.”
(Canada Will Offer Healthcare To Critically Ill Children Affected By Trump’s Muslim Ban)

WHOLE Meet Up – Patient First Strategy

Will you be in or near Calgary on Friday, January 27th? Are you interested in healthcare and Alberta Health Services’ “Patient First Strategy”? If so, Mike, a member of the Pts4Chg community, is hosting an event that you may find of interest. Clicking on the image below will take you to Mike’s invitation.

Did You Miss It?

transformathon
The National Health Service in England hosted The People’s Transformation on Monday, November 28th. If you were unable to attend the event or missed some sessions, all is not lost. Recordings from the Transformathon will be accessible via the People’s Transformathon web page. They are sure to be worth watching, even if you attended the session live.