Patient engagement at DFCM: Current state and future directions

There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that when patients and families partner with clinicians to actively engage with their own care, we see improved health outcomes with benefits to both the healthcare provider and patients.

There are many opportunities for patients to get involved with care—whether it is through designing services, influencing health policy, or educating healthcare professionals of the future.

DFCM is working to grow capacity for engaging patients and families, and moving towards routinely doing so in all areas of our work. One of the first steps in this process was the hiring of Dana Arafeh, DFCM’s first Patient & Family Engagement Specialist. Since joining the department earlier this year, Arafeh has worked closely with the Quality & Innovation (Q&I) Program and the broader DFCM leadership team on the Patient and Family Engagement in the DFCM: Current State and Future Directions report.

“Between March and October 2021 we held 27 consultations—one-on-one meetings and focus groups—with faculty and staff across DFCM as well as patient partners, executive directors, medical students, residents, nurses as well as other care team members with experience and interest in patient engagement,” explains Arafeh. “The great news is that DFCM sites and programs are already involved in a wide array of patient engagement activities and there is appetite for more support in this area.”

The new report details the current state of patient and family engagement at DFCM and recommendations for future activities.

Some of the key findings include:

• There is great interest and enthusiasm for engaging patients at DFCM. While patient engagement activities vary across DFCM sites and programs, there was consensus around the importance and benefits of patient engagement and an interest in learning more.
• All sites share easy-to-understand information with patients in a variety of ways and consult with them for feedback on their care experience. Some sites have begun to involve or even partner with patients in improvement initiatives. Patients have also been invited to participate in activities at the central department, resulting in a variety of opportunities for patient partnership.
• Some fear “getting it wrong”, worrying that they won’t be able to engage patients in a meaningful way. Although many were aware of existing frameworks for patient engagement, they reported feeling that they lacked the knowledge and confidence for moving forward with different approaches.

The consultation findings will inform work led by Arafeh and the Q&I Program over the coming years, with the overarching goal of building a culture of patient engagement within DFCM.

Some of the key activities will include:

• Developing, collating and sharing new and existing resources to support engagement
• Providing support to sites and programs to learn from best practices and each other
• Working with the postgraduate program to advance patient partnership in the DFCM residency training program
• Developing and supporting a DFCM patient pool and advisory committee.

"It was great to hear so much enthusiasm for partnering with patients among our faculty, staff, and clinical teams. It was clear that people were keen to do the work but needed support to build skills and confidence in this area,” says Dr. Tara Kiran, Vice-Chair, Quality and Innovation. “We’re hoping that over the next few years we can address the knowledge and skill gaps we identified and get to a place where most of our faculty feel comfortable using a range of tools to involve patients in quality improvement, education and research."

Read the full report >>