Twenty-one community members and health care providers from the Fraser Health region participated in a workshop on Saturday October 1st at the Surrey Central Library to discuss ways that citizens can inform the health system. The interactive workshop was the first of its kind developed by the Your Voice Counts collaboration.
The session focused on three topics identified by community members through surveys and community consultations:
- How to talk about your health care
- How the health care system works and the challenges it faces
- How to use your experiences to improve the health care system.
The session was co-facilitated by team members Paul Gallant of Gallant HealthWorks and Associates, Ron Plowright of Fraser Health, Andrea McLagan of ImpactBC and Sheila Allison of the Patient Voices Network. In partnership with the Intercultural Online Health Network, this workshop will be offered in Chinese and Punjabi languages in the spring. Stay tuned for details!
This post has been updated to correct an error. Paul Gallant’s work on this initiative was through INSITE Consultancy, Surrey.
It was a privilege to be part of this project. It was highly rewarding to work with patients, healthcare providers, physicians and partner organizations who are genuinely interested in mutual learning and who see the value of people sitting together as equals to make positive changes in how health is planned at both individual and community levels. My work on the project was through INSITE Consultancy, Surrey.
Thank you for the opportunity!
Likewise, Paul, I was happy to be involved in helping to develop the content for the workshop. I’m looking forward to seeing how it continues to develop as it moves into other communities and platforms.
Thanks Paul and Connie for your comments – I am looking forward to being involved in the next phases of development.