Calling Patient/Family Advisors

If you are a patient/family advisor, want to attend the upcoming Quality Summit in Calgary but have not yet registered, here is a tweet you won’t want to miss.

This Just Out!

Registration for Quality Summit 2018 will begin on June 27th, 2018 at 10:00 a.m. MT. Given the popularity of this event and the limited spots available, you will want to register as quickly as possible. Click here to find out more.

Deadline is Approaching


Just a reminder that the deadline to submit your abstract for this year’s Quality Summit is on April 18th, 2018 at 11:59 p.m. MT. The theme of this year’s summit is “1 + 1 = 3,” with the goal being to create synergy to transform Alberta’s health system.

Abstracts will be accepted in the following two themes:

Stream 1: Transformation through Innovation

“This is for you rebels out there! Are you trying something completely new or different in your area; going boldly where no person has gone before? This stream is for you – we want to hear your radical ideas and emerging ways of how to improve care. You might only have limited results that your idea is on the right track, but we want to hear how you are breaking new ground, how you made it happen and what you believe is possible for the future! The summit is an opportunity to seek input, inspire collaboration, and motivate action at an early stage in your project.

The definition of innovation that we are hoping to showcase is: New ideas that oppose and contradict our accepted ways of delivering health care services.”

Stream 2: Successful Quality Improvement Projects

“If you have implemented a successful quality improvement project and want to show it off, this is the category for you! We want to hear about your evidence-based improvement projects for delivering healthcare services and advancing a culture of patient and family centered care. Your journey doesn’t necessarily need to be complete – just show us what you’ve done so far and what could be possible in the future.”

Click here to find out more.

***Remember, the deadline for submissions is April 18th, 2018 at 11:59 p.m. MT***

And So It Begins

After months of hard work and planning, the 2017 Quality & Safety Summit is underway. If you are unable to attend the event in person, you can catch the livestream beginning October 31st at 8:30 a.m. http://www.albertahealthservices.ca/news/Page13765.aspx
Here is to a great summit!

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?

Is the Room Getting Smaller or the Elephant Getting Bigger?

Continuing on from an earlier post, below are some additional advisor-related topics that have been suggested for this year’s Quality Summit 2017.

  • Diversity and Healthcare – This could include such things as gender, sexual orientation, culture, ethnicity, age, disability etc.  Diversity is a topic that applies to all populations, regardless of whether one is a patient, member of the community, healthcare provider, advisor, or healthcare professional.
  • Disparity and Healthcare – Socioeconomic status, poverty, accessibility and health/well-being.
  • Volunteer Burnout – What is volunteer burnout?  What causes volunteer burnout?  How can it be prevented?
  • What is the ideal healthcare system as seen from leadership, management, frontline staff, patient/family advisors.  What are the frustrations and barriers associated with realizing this ideal?
  • What is an effective partnership for patient/family advisors and AHS staff?
  • Why does storytelling matter and how could it help in connecting with the person before the patient?  Empathy vs. apathy.
  • Drawing from patient/family advisors across Canada, what are their frustrations, hopes, dreams and lessons learned with respect to their advisor role?
  • What are some advisory opportunities and innovative ideas and programs from Alberta and beyond?
  • What does meaningful involvement mean to patient/family advisors?
    “[T]he meaningful involvement of patient and family advisors with healthcare, (where meaningful means for everyone involved – the advisors, front-line providers, research, operations, senior mgmt, etc.)”
  • “To what extent are patient and family advisors meaningfully involved with healthcare?” (where ‘meaningful = having a serious, important or useful quality or purpose’ … and reference to meaningful means for all stakeholders involved – the advisors themselves, front-line providers, research, operations, senior mgmt, etc.)”

Quality Summit 2017 – Elephant in the Room


Planning for the upcoming Quality Summit 2017 is underway. To this end, members of the Patients 4 Change (Pts4Chg) community were asked to provide their thoughts on what they would like to see at the summit. During a recent Pts4Chg community telephone chat, which focused on the Quality Summit 2017, one of the key ideas raised was the need to talk about the “elephant in the room,” as it relates to partnering with Patient/Family Advisors.

While it is true that these topics may be difficult to raise and cause some angst and discomfort when discussed, by pretending that such issues do not exist and hence failing to address the elephant in the room, genuine collaboration and engagement with advisors is not apt to occur.

Below are some of parts of the elephant the Pts4Chg community identified.

  • Devaluing advisors
  • Fear of including advisors
  • Wasting advisors’ time energy and experience
  • Exploitation versus engagement – When does inclusion become exploitation?
  • Partnership versus Tokenism
  • Ignoring advisors

Click here to read more from the recent Pts4Chg conversation. If you have any ideas, suggestions or comments pertaining the following four areas, you are welcome to reply as a response to this post.

  1. What advisor-related topics would you like to see included at the Summit?
  2. What speakers would you like to have as part of the advisors’ sessions?
  3. What format would you like to see for the advisors sessions? For example, formal presentation, workshops, breakout session, etc.?
  4. Other Comments