CES - SCÉ 2019

Patient and family engagement in evaluation has become a priority for many health organizations in an effort to improve the quality of health services and the patient and family experience, but progress has been limited. To date there is a paucity of empirical research that has examined the process or effects of effectively engaging patients/family in evaluation and quality improvement initiatives. To address this gap, we implemented a longitudinal intervention study of patients, family members, health professionals and decision makers engaged in a sustained strategic planning initiative facilitated by an evaluator using collaborative approaches to evaluation. The results of this one year prospective study are discussed in terms of the facilitators, barriers and observed effects of engaging patients/family in evaluation and the importance of bridging knowledge between the evaluation community and health sector as well as ongoing research in this area. The audience will be encouraged to contextualize questions/comments in terms of their own experience with patient/family engagement.