Policy development in a pandemic - is there a role for patient partners? With Julie Drury and Christa Haanstra

Early on in the pandemic, Ontario's long term care (and other healthcare) facilities) shut out all visitors and family members from visiting their loved ones. This included essential (unpaid) family caregivers, who are typically an important part of a resident's care team. The hardship has been, and continues to be, unbearable for many. In addition, many patient engagement and partnership activities were suspended, or dropped entirely. It's a widely held view that if patients and caregivers had been involved in policy-making early on, the focus on 'patient and family centered care' wouldn't have gotten lost, and the tragic exclusion of family caregivers wouldn't have happened in the way it did. Our guests, Julie Drury and Christa Haanstra, share with us their impressions and insights as to where things might have gone wrong, and how things could go better as COVID-19 continues to impact visitation for family members and caregivers. [download transcript] Mentioned in this episode: Patient Partnership and COVID-19 Research - OSSU Patient Partners Working Group Webinar, July 9th 2020 Stronger Together: Adapting Patient-Oriented Research During COVID-19 Podcast (and Webinar) Series Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance BC Patient Safety & Quality Council Hôtel-Dieu Grace Healthcare The Change Foundation The Ontario Caregiver Organization Julie Drury on TwitterChrista Haanstra on Twitter