Gratitude in a time of change: A holiday message from HEC

As 2022 comes to a close, we want to express our gratitude to partners like you who continue to respond to the evolving phases of the pandemic and strains facing health systems across the country. At Healthcare Excellence Canada, we believe that together with partners, we can build safer, more resilient and equitable ways of delivering care in the future. Looking ahead, we’re excited to continue building meaningful partnerships with people and organizations across the country in pursuit of our shared goal of safer, higher-quality care for all.

Here are some resources you may find valuable as you continue your work from this year to the next:

Care of older adults with health and social needs

• Safety Conversations Resources

  • These resources and opportunities can aid you in creating safe spaces that invite conversations and empower effective responses. Plus, they’ll help you improve the safety conversations you’re already having.

• Practices of Interest to Support In-Person Family Presence and Communication with Families

  • Commissioned by Healthcare Excellence Canada, this report reveals new or updated long-term care home practices initiated during the pandemic. Mount Saint Vincent University’s Nova Scotia Centre on Aging researched and produced the report.

Care closer to home and community with safe transitions

• Clinician Change Virtual Care Toolkit

  • The toolkit shares information and resources to support clinicians with the tools they need to provide safe, high-quality virtual care. It can be used by clinicians and support staff who are new or experienced users of virtual care. Canada Health Infoway and Healthcare Excellence Canada prepared this toolkit.

• Paramedics and Palliative Care: Bringing Vital Services to Canadians Change Package

  • This change package, prepared by the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer and Healthcare Excellence Canada, provides core principles and elements required to develop and implement a palliative approach to care for paramedic services.

• Shaping the Future of Care Closer to Home for Older Adults Environmental Scan and Consultation Summary Report

  • This report summarizes opportunities to reimagine excellence in care for older adults living at home. It brings together the voices of people with lived experience and individuals and organizations working in the home care field, as well as relevant literature and reports.

• Rapid review: Delivering primary care services in non-traditional healthcare settings to people experiencing homelessness

  • The report identifies six key considerations for providing primary care services to people experiencing homelessness in non-traditional settings. The North American Observatory on Health Systems and Policies completed the report with support from Healthcare Excellence Canada.

Pandemic recovery and resilience

• Engagement-Capable Environments Organizational Self-Assessment Tool

  • This practice-based tool harnesses characteristics of healthcare organizations that support purposeful and meaningful engagement at an organizational level to help people in healthcare improve in their engagement work.

• Pandemic Recovery and Resilience Self-Assessment and Toolkit

  • This toolkit helps guide healthcare leaders and policymakers to renew health systems strained by the pandemic and better prepare for future health emergencies. It helps you and your team assess your progress in nine priority areas and identifies options for moving ahead, highlighting innovative approaches that provide patient-focused solutions.

• Promising Practices for Supporting Long-Term Care Provider Resilience

  • This report commissioned by Healthcare Excellence Canada identifies promising practices that support the mental health and well-being of long-term care providers, as well as opportunities for organizational learning. The Translating Research in Elder Care Group at the University of Alberta researched and produced the report.

Quality and Safety Perspectives

• Hospital Harm Project

  • This collaboration between Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) and Healthcare Excellence Canada is aimed at answering the question "How often do patients experience harm in hospital?" The initiative uses administrative data to develop a patient safety measure for inpatient care, designed to help identify patient safety improvement opportunities in hospitals.

• How safe is your care? Measurement and monitoring of safety through the eyes of patients and their care partners

  • Grounded in the Measuring and Monitoring of Safety Framework, this report outlines research findings that represent a critical shift in how patients perceive and experience safety, as well as how patients, care partners and providers, together, can enable safer care.

• Mino Bimaadiziwin Podcast Episode: Life Promotion with Connor Lafortune and Gabrielle Jubinville

  • Thunderbird Partnership Foundation’s podcast conversation is an opportunity to promote understanding of suicide prevention and highlight resources on life promotion.