Matters of Engagement

When patients and families help design and conduct research, what evidence can we find of their contributions? The Siden Research Team at BC Children's Hospital Research Institute set out to answer what seemed like a simple question, and hit a wall. Studies involving patient and parent partners were difficult to find systematically, and even when found, contributions were rarely acknowledged or po...

Sangeeta Chopra-Charron came to Ontario Health's Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC) with a background in transformational change and a genuine belief that Ontario Health was sincere about partnering with patients and families in system transformation. Four years later, she resigned from the co-Chair role, publicly, with a letter that resonated across the health care sector. Emily sat down...

In this fifth and final episode of the BETTER Women series, Jennifer and Emily zoom out from the study itself to explore what the results actually mean — and why mixed findings are far from failure. Dr. Ruth Heisey reflects on what the project got right, why peer health coaching remains full of promise, and what the healthcare system stands to lose if prevention keeps taking a back seat. Implement...

In this special collaboration with the Knowledge Mobilization Program at  CHILD-BRIGHT , a pan-Canadian research network focused on children and youth with brain-based developmental disabilities, we hear directly from three young advocates who are shaping research from the inside. Kelsey Seguin, Sierra Lynn Vanderdeen, and Megan Blais-Hudson share their experiences as youth advisors and student re...

The BETTER Women research team gathered to review their findings, hoping to see clear evidence that peer health coaching improved women's preventative health behaviours. But the results told suggested a more complex story. While the quantitative data showed no statistically significant benefit from adding peer health coaches to the program, the qualitative interviews revealed a different picture: ...

Meet the peer health coaches - the volunteers at the heart of the BETTER Women project. Through candid conversations, we hear from women who underwent extensive training in motivational interviewing and health coaching to support others on their wellness journeys. From international physicians to cancer survivors to newcomers seeking community connection, these coaches share what drew them to the...

How do you design a study to test whether peer support actually works? In this episode, we dive into the nuts and bolts of the BETTER Women research project - a randomized controlled trial examining whether trained volunteer peer health coaches can help people stick with their health goals long-term. We explore the three study sites, learn about recruiting and training participants across differen...

We know our Canadian healthcare system is overloaded, and that preventative care may help address the increasing pressures on chronic and emergency care services. But how best to support people to actually do what they need to do to improve or manage their own health?  In this series opener, we explore "upstream" healthcare through the BETTER Women research project - a collaboration between Women'...

Discover how peer support could revolutionize Canadian healthcare in this groundbreaking 5-part series from Matters of Engagement, in collaboration with the Canadian Cancer Society and the BETTER Women research team at Women's College Hospital. Follow the BETTER Women research project, where trained volunteers become peer health coaches, supporting women through six-month journeys toward better he...

This REPLAY! episode first aired December, 2021.  New introduction by Emily Nicholas Angl, followed by a full replay of the episode. Also, we've added some publications to the show notes (scroll down) related to this episode. Discussing Failures in Participatory Research, with Lori Ross We initially invited Lori Ross on the podcast to discuss the PEERS  (Peers Examining Experiences in Research) St...

This REPLAY! episode first aired November, 2022.  New introduction by Jennifer Johannesen, followed by a full replay of the episode. Vagueness of language, unarticulated assumptions, and maintaining the status quo. With Amy Katz and Melody Morton Ninomiya This is a conversation we’ve been sitting with for many weeks, thinking hard about how to present it. We spoke to our guests with the idea we wo...

After more than a year of no new episodes, we're rebooting Matters of Engagement—literally from the cottage dock! Between cicada serenades and turtle sightings, we're announcing exciting new directions. Get ready for three fresh content streams: Research Collaborations supporting knowledge translation for health and healthcare research projects (with three already in the works!), our Replay Series...

We're doing something a little bit different! We're taking a shot at making video along with the podcast! You can watch this episode on our YouTube channel , or as always, you can listen in your favorite podcast app. This episode has two parts. We're first going to feature a short talk Jennifer gave at the Canadian Caregiving Summit in Ottawa a few weeks ago, which was specifically focused on her...

What exactly is the best way to engage patients in a healthcare research project? Well, it's hard to say definitively. Funders like CIHR often require patient involvement, but very little direction is provided beyond general frameworks and guiding principles. Often project teams just have to sort things out on their own. So we were curious to find out how this one particular healthcare research pr...

It's been a while since we've published an episode!  We have lots on the go these days. Come hang out with Jen and Em as we wrap up the Health Policy series and share what's next. [download transcript]   Mentioned in this episode: Public Engagement in Health Policy Project Supporting equity-centred engagement - A step-by-step guide with tailored resources Matters of Engagement presents "Podcasting...

A widely-held assumption is that all residents of Long-term Care (LTC) homes are frail, elderly and in need of sweeping protections as determined by government, policy-makers and LTC home management. The reality, however, is that residents of LTC homes comprise a diverse demographic and have a wide range of needs, interests and concerns. And across the spectrum of needs, residents have a strong de...

We're bringing conference vibes to the podcast and presenting a short series of critical work on public engagement from members of the Public Engagement in Health Policy team.  We noted themes of: community exclusion from formal engagement processes; misalignment of goals; questions of legitimacy; and challenges of conducting community-engaged research in institutional settings.  We already publis...

On September 22, 2022, the Public Engagement in Health Policy project team at McMaster University hosted a one-day conference, Reimagining public engagement in a changing world. Community members, engagement practitioners, researchers, and policymakers gathered virtually and in person to discuss the opportunities and pitfalls of public engagement and to envision a way forward. Attendees explored q...

What makes an engagement process legitimate?  How do technical experts feel about engagement, and how have their ideas of legitimacy changed over time?  These are just some of the questions we explore with our guest, Katherine (Katie) Boothe, Associate Professor in the Political Science Department at McMaster University. A recent paper of Katie's (Redefining Legitimacy in Canadian Drug Assessment...

Kim McGrail is the Scientific Director of Health Data Research Network, a CIHR funded initiative whose work in the health data space has implications for, well, everyone living in Canada. And they're keen to involve the public not just in getting input, but in providing guidance into key decisions.  HDRN's work is both technical and somewhat conceptual: their aim is to support researchers to bette...

In previous episodes we've talked a lot about high-level rationales for engagement, like democratic principles and moral or ethical obligations. But we haven't really got into some of the operational nuts and bolts, like the fact that there's a whole fee-for-service industry out there - agencies hired by healthcare organizations to support engagement strategy and activities. Join us for this behin...

In this episode, we continue our conversation with Alpha Abebe and Rhonda C. George!  (Haven't heard the first conversation yet? Listen here! ) This time, we talk about Black communities' response to COVID, and public health response to Black communities. ----------------- During a public health crisis is the exact wrong time to try and build relationships and trust with communities who have not h...

In this episode, we continue our Health Policy series with guests Alpha Abebe and Rhonda C. George. Alpha and Rhonda's research foregrounds Black community experiences and insights related to health policy engagement. We're featuring their work over two back-to-back episodes. This episode focuses on the engagement work of Black communities. Our guests want to "flip the script," shifting away from...

We're back! We're excited to get rolling on this new series on Health Policy!  We have a range of questions we want to explore, including: who is involved in making policy, and how are public needs identified? How is public engagement defined? And who is included or excluded? We're kicking off the series with a conversation with Julia Abelson. Julia is a professor at McMaster University in the Dep...

Just a quick check in to say hello and share what's next!  [ download transcript ]