Patients Matter: Engaging Patients as Collaborators to Improve Osteoarthritis (OA) Care in Alberta Alberta Health Services

In which context did the PEP emerge and what key problem(s) is (are) being addressed by the intervention? Alberta Health Services has created clinical networks designed to engage clinicians and patients in decision-making about clinical service planning, practice improvement & quality and safety across the continuum of care for specific populations The bone & joint clinical network is responsible for orchestrating health service delivery across the contiuum of care for the Province of Alberta PEP’s goal is to test an innovative training approach to increase engagement & involvement of patients in every zone across the province for osteoarthritis planning for health service delivery

What are the sources of evidence that helped to identify and shape the intervention? Build on the Alberta Patient Engagement Strategy Utilization of the Grey Matters in Action intervention –Based on a CIHR Aging grant to investigate the feasibility of training seniors to become researchers. –This was followed by an extensive joint writing experience where seniors and senior’s groups were involved in applying the methods from the original study and many extensions were added to the final text. –The book has been used in a number of research courses based on participatory principles before the final publication –Chosen by the U of Calgary to launch the universities Open Access initiative.

What are the principal components and stages of the intervention? Engage patients from Arthritis society and other forums related to Bone and Joint Health Teach participants the skills to conduct and understand research (field work, surveys, focus groups and interviewing Mentor patient groups in research design, writing applications, funding, conducting research, write up and publication with reference to existing projects in AHS/BJCN 3 patient engagement projects will be selected and supported by the BJCN Implement projects within AHS / BJCN Evaluate projects and produce summary report

What are the potential challenges in implementing the project, and what strategies will be used to mitigate risks? Recruitment of participants – plan to utilize multiple forums to attract participation Time commitment for participants – use combination of on line and face to face meetings Prioritization of projects – utilize BJCN members to help determine priorities Conducting the grounded theory to uncover the next research directions related to changing perceptions among professionals when encountering trained committee members who are also patients. We are using a participant observation method.