Values-based Decision-making and Public Engagement
Canadian citizens have a critical role to play in managing their own health. The Foundation acknowledges that organizations need to do a better job of engaging and informing citizens, of involving the public in setting priorities for healthcare, and of including public values and priorities in making decisions.
Under this past research theme, we aimed to support the identification, investigation and sharing of promising practices for values-based decision-making, and took a particular interest in exploring the value of using deliberative processes.
Some questions our funded reserach is addressing:
- What models and approaches for public engagement have been adopted in Canada?
- How do we measure successful public engagement?
- How can citizens be supported in order to make informed choices about the use of health services?
Currently, under the strategic priority of "supporting and engaging citizens," CHSRF primarily focuses on citizens in two specific roles—as members of boards of healthcare organizations and as patients in the healthcare system. We do this by:
- Exploring effective ways to involve patients in the design, delivery and evaluation of health services
- Helping organizations work with patients to improve service quality
- Providing support to citizen representatives on boards of healthcare organizations to strengthen their capacity to govern for quality and patient safety
Read more about our work in patient engagement and supporting boards.
CHSRF Resources
- Abelson, J., Montesanti, S. et al. Effective Strategies for Interactive Public Engagement in the Development of Healthcare Policies and Programs (February 2011 and in partnership with the New Brunswick Health Research Foundation)
- Boivin, A et al. Research in progress. Engaging citizens in health services improvement: A cluster randomized trial of public involvement in quality indicator development.
- Dobrow, M., Chafe, R. et al. In press. Designing Deliberative Methods for Combining Heterogeneous Evidence: A Systematic Review and Qualitative Scan: A Report to the Canadian Health Services Research Foundation
- Insight and Action: Public Engagement (Part III): How is it done? How can we tell if it’s effective? (June 2009)
- Insight and Action: Public Engagement (Part II): How Do Deliberative Processes Achieve Meaningful Public Engagement? (February 2009)
- Insight and Action: Public Engagement (Part I): Engaging the Public in Healthcare Policy: Why do it? And what are the challenges? (February 2009)
- Wallace. J., Teare, G.F. et al. Public Reporting on the Quality of Healthcare: Emerging Evidence on Promising Practices for Effective Reporting ; executive summary (September 2007)
- Rathwell, T., Deber, R. et al. Building a Public Dialogue Framework for Defining the Medicare Basket (June 2006)
- Abelson, J., Forest, P.G. et al. Towards More Meaningful, Informed,and Effective Public Consultation (February 2004)
- Giacomini, M., Hurley, J. et al. Values' In Canadian Health Policy Analysis: What Are We Talking About? (October 2001)