Organization 

Home and Community Care Support Services. 

The Steering Committee (staff, patients, families and caregivers across Ontario). 

URL

https://healthcareathome.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/HCCSS-Community-Engagement-Framework.pdf

Area(s) of Focus 

Ontario

To provide exceptional patient-centred home and community care programs, services and policies, through purposeful collaboration between patients, families, caregivers, community partners and staff.

The specific focus is on Personal Care and Health Decisions, Service Design and Delivery, and Policy, Strategy, and Governance. 

Relevance to social determinants of health and health equity

Moderate

Intended Use

The framework outlines what, why, how and when we will engage people using our programs, services, and community partners. It also demonstrates our collective commitment to listening to, and learning from, those who we serve.

Principles/Values

Purpose -providing clear direction as to why we are engaging.

Respect- valuing the unique insights and perspectives shared. Recognize the background, culture and values that people bring, as well as the personal health journey they are on. Appreciate the time of our volunteers and engage with kindness, empathy, gratitude and compassion.

Trust- Having mutual respect and seeing each other as essential participants in making programs and services more patient-centred. Ensuring a safe space where people are listening to each other and acting upon what is shared.

Co-Design- Partnering through sharing unique forms of expertise. Working towards a collective goal of developing and delivering high-quality, patient-centred programs, services and policies. Involving Advisors early in the process so they have a greater impact on shaping outcomes.

Diversity- Hearing from different voices that reflect the diversity of the communities we serve, including Indigenous and Francophone populations. Taking an adaptive and inclusive approach in our processes to enable greater participation. Learning about, and adapting to, the unique needs of different populations to ensure access to equitable programs and services.

Transparency- Being proactive and forthcoming about our role, scope and legislative requirements.

Commitment- Commitment throughout the organization that engagement is valued.

Structure- Creating a consistent, standardized and impactful approach to engagement throughout our organization that utilizes various methods and tools tailored to each project and initiative.

Tools/Guides

Surveys, focus groups, virtual sessions, town halls, working groups, committees

Strategies

Strategies are tailored to engagement of people receiving home and community care/supports are outlined throughout the document, some of them include:

• Share information about our programs, services and other relevant community resources.

• Educate health system partners on the role, expectations and process for obtaining Home and Community Care Support Services, while learning about, and supporting, other sectors of care

• Develop a structured and thoughtful approach to capture a diverse range of experiences, aligned with our commitment to working as one overarching organization across 14 geographies

• Involving patients, families, caregivers in key strategic decisions and priority setting of the organization such as drafting the Annual Business Plan

• • Development of key Frameworks, reporting and accountability, through more formal, engagement methods, including a Provincial Advisory Council, Committees of the Board, Hiring Panels, etc.

Barriers/Risks

Not mentioned  

Success Factors 

Highlights enablers such as Outreach, Relationship Building, Communication, Clarity of Purpose, Training and Coaching, Feedback and Impact, Resourcing, and Connecting with Partners. 

Evaluation 

Brief section mentioning Going Forward, a short-term focus area to evaluate engagement  

Other Comments 

This document is an example of  aligning the Mission, Vision, Values and based on our Drive Excellence in Care and Service Delivery Strategic Priority which states that “we will create new opportunities for patient, family and caregiver co-design to ensure that the patient voice is incorporated in everything we do” with the proposed framework. The Framework aligns with other influential engagement frameworks and best practices that have improved broader understanding of why and how engagement adds value to health care organizations and it guides us in the development of patient-centred programs, services and policies that are more reflective of the needs of the communities we serve.