Concurrent Session M
Date: November 9
Time: 10:45am - 11:45am
Location: University of Northern BC, Canfor Theatre
Theme: Co-Creating Healthcare for All
Oral Presenters:
UHNBC Coleadership Advisory Committee
Title:Radical Collaboration: The Development of the UHNBC Co-leadership Education Pilot Series
Description: The UHNBC Co-leadership Education Series is a unique and innovative partnership between Northern Health, the Prince George Medical Staff Association, the Specialist Services Committee (Physician Quality Improvement, Facility Engagement), RCCbc, and Prince George Community CME to support leadership development for staff and physicians. The first cohort began in the fall of 2022 and will continue for 2 years with 8 quarterly 2 day learning sessions.
Participants were selected through a nomination process to identify current and future leaders and the cohort is comprised of a maximum of 3 participants, equally divided between physicians and health authority staff. The learning series seeks to provide practical leadership skills to help participants address complex challenges, build relationships to support better care, and lead transformation in healthcare in the north.
This approach to leadership development builds on the highly successful physician leadership education series Navig8 developed in Interior Health by providing practical leadership training and development to physicians and staff together. The model seeks to support shared understanding and strong relationships that will enhance the effectiveness of the co-leadership dyad model.
The first three learning sessions have covered a variety of topics including: Insights Discovery: Understanding Self and Peers, Quality Improvement, Systems Level Thinking, Ethical Decision Making, Addressing Unprofessional Behaviour, and Cultural Safety and Humility.
Participants indicate that the sessions have increased their ability to collaborate with health authority/physicians and that the skills they are learning have provided a better understanding of how they can make a change in the system.
Details: This presentation will share information around the collaborative development of this learning series including the many organizations and individuals supporting the work, the unique funding model, nomination process, identification of topics and development of resources, and evaluation results. Presenters will include members of the advisory committee with comments from participants. Presentation will include the opportunity to ask questions.
Ruhina Rana
Title: Building Research Capacity: Developing the role of a health research facilitator
Aim: To introduce the needs, opportunities, and role of a health research facilitator in building research capacity in a practice or academic institution.
Description: This half day workshop will briefly outline the literature on evidence-based/ evidence-informed practice and how it improves patient care. Research that demonstrates how the development of a health research facilitator can build research capacity in a practice-based or academic environment will be presented. Innovative examples of strategies will be provided as well as time to work on creating proposals for a role in participants’ institutions.
Robyn Turner-Klopper
Title: “I can't wait to harvest the next zucchini!” – Engaging residents and improving our food systems using on-site gardens
Objective: To create and establish a Northern Health (NH) policy that allows foods from on-site gardens to be used in NH kitchens, while maintaining food safety.
Methods: A working group involving multiple NH departments (including Support Services, Environmental Health, Risk Management, Infection Control and others) developed a policy which was trialed in 4 NH facilities during the 2022 growing season, then finalized in 2023.
Person/Family/Community Partner Engagement: Residents and patients across 4 NH facilities were engaged with throughout the 2022 pilot through garden programs and food service.
Results: On-site garden programs are growing food to be used in NH daily meals and snacks. Residents express excitement, pride and gratitude for their ability to partake in food production. With this policy in place, produce grown on-site can be leveraged to address changing food landscapes and create meaningful connection of residents to their meals.
Lessons Learned:
- It takes a lot of people in the organization to facilitate a positive change in how care is provided.
- This policy may allow sites to learn about the cultures of the persons receiving care, through their gardening and harvesting practices.
- Traditional and Indigenous plants may be grown, and then served, which embraces the diverse Indigenous foods across the North.
- With the right supports and the right opportunity, a vision can become a reality.
- There is a need for local champions to carry out the work.
- Local, fresh food is possible in healthcare.
Conclusion: Future work includes encouraging more NH sites to make use of the policy, sharing knowledge with other interested health authorities and exploring possibilities to include locally sourced protein foods, farm fresh produce, berries and baked goods.