Christina Spencer's blog

On June 17th, we held an open meeting to discuss experiences of hospital-acquired infection, the frequency and causes of these infections, and what we, as healthcare consumers, can do to decrease the risks of readmission.The unfortunate reality is that hospital-acquired infections are estimated to cause 8,000 to 12,000 deaths a year in Canada, so as a group we decided to focus on patient stories to highlight gaps in patient safety. We compared hospital practices and policies surrounding patient engagement and infection control, and came to some surprising conclusions.

Has digital health impacted you? Share your story! Canada Health Infoway has launched a new series of ImagineNation Challenges that offer you a chance at receiving financial awards. The Patients' Association of Canada is a proud supporting organization of the ImagineNation Challenges and we want to hear from you!

The problem with satisfaction data related to doctor-patient communication is that, at face value, it simply doesn’t correlate with other published data on the subject. There is a “disconnect” between what patients say in satisfaction surveys and what happens in actual practice. Find the full article here.

The Healthy Hands campaign/program entered by the Hamilton Health Sciences Centre (HHSC) for the Stop! Clean Your Hands Day What’s Your Hand in It? competition was truly a team effort.

In a new government initiative aimed at preventing adverse drug reactions and medication errors, Health Canada will use different ways to make medication easier to understand, including standardizing the format of non-prescription drug labels (such as a 'Drug Facts' table) and requiring manufacturers to provide mock-ups of labels and packages for review. Find the full article here.

Mounting concern that health professional/patient interactions are often less than therapeutic has led to many initiatives aimed at finding ways to put the care back into the health care system. In Canada, one such initiative is the creation of the Patient Experience department of Alberta Health Services. Find the full article here.

A growing number of Canadians are turning to mobile and virtual health options to improve their health care experience. According to a new report from PwC Canada, almost half of Canadians believe that mobile health apps will make health care more convenient over the next three years. Find the full article here.

We're back with another edition of 'Top Reads of the Week'! When promoting content, we look to material that not only interests patients and their families, but to material that sheds light on the importance of the patient perspective. Please contact us and share what you think is especially fascinating, innovative, or reflective of the changes that you want to see in our healthcare system.