Are you currently managing three or more chronic conditions? Patients Canada is partnered with health researchers at McMaster University and The University of Alberta to gain an understanding of how older adults manage their chronic conditions. The project is open to residents of Southern Ontario and Edmonton, Alberta or surrounding communities.
Over the past few years, more and more organizations have been welcoming Patient and Family Advisers (PFAs) into their organizations to sit on committees and help to advise elements of service delivery and care. On April 3rd of this year, Patients Canada held our first conference for PFAs. With our goal of increasing the patient and family voice in healthcare, we were excited to have PFAs from across Canada in one room where they could discuss their experiences as advisers, and see what they could learn from each other. Around 50 people showed up, and dozens of topics were discussed.
Is your physician or specialist committed to patient and family-centred care? If you live in the Sarnia-Lambton area, please consider nominating your physician as a meaningful way to recognize their committment to consistently practising patient and family-centred care. The Award will recognize a family and specialty physician who has exemplified exceptional patient care and leadership within the community.
The headline for the July 29th New York Times article read “Scientists Seek to Rein in Diagnoses of Cancer.†The accompanying article discusses the fact that many diagnoses of cancer are of conditions that, though pre-malignant or not life-threatening, are labelled as cancer and frighten patients into seeking “what may be unneeded and potentially harmful treatments.â€
Most healthcare systems are working hard to exceed their patients’ expectations and understand that the long term benefits to the patient and organization are manifold. Click here to read which strategic objectives can lead to a state-of-the-art service model, and better healthcare experiences overall.
We are looking for an Administrative Assistant to join our team! Are you an experienced administrator? Would you be excited to join a growing organization? Are you passionate about patients and family caregivers having a role in healthcare? Check out the job posting here.
Last week's Maclean's article Doctors, conflict of interest and evidence med schools are ignoring the problem looks at the first study of its kind that analyzes conflict of interest policies at medical schools across Canada.
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.