Developing patient-provider partnerships across the system

In this program, discussions were held with providers, patients and families to develop an understanding of views, practices and experiences related to patient engagement.

About the Project

Many older adults and their families want to be involved in making decisions about their care, but this doesn’t always happen. Phrases such as “patient-centred care” and “patient engagement” are used frequently, but often without any concrete meaning for patients, their family caregivers, or their health care providers. By working in partnership with patients, their family caregivers and health care providers, we wanted to understand how patients and families have been involved in making decisions about their care. We also wanted to learn what could be done to support greater involvement, for those who wish this. We looked at various parts of the healthcare system. Resources and materials for enhancing patient/caregiver engagement were co-created by patients, caregivers and healthcare providers, for use in multiple care settings. We also learned how to implement the engagement strategies in each care setting.

This works builds on knowledge synthesis project KS2013-08, a review of engagement literature, which can be viewed here.

Project Team

Principal Investigator:

Paul Stolee, PhD, MSc, MPA, BA — University of Waterloo

Co-Investigators:

Veronique Boscart, RN, PhD — Conestoga College

Jacobi Elliott, PhD — University of Waterloo

George Heckman, MD — University of Waterloo

Knowledge Users and Partners:

Judith Carson — SHARP Network

Justine Giosa, MSc — Saint Elizabeth Research Centre

Paul Holyoke, PhD — Saint Elizabeth Research Centre

Peter Puchyr — SHARP Network

Phyllis Puchyr — SHARP Network

Project Contact: Dr. Paul Stolee — stolee@waterloo.ca

CAT 2015-22

Key words: older adults; engagement; primary care; community care; healthcare system; qualitative research