Four teams are being recognized today by the Health Quality Council of Alberta for improving the patient and family experience across a range of services – including diabetes care, chronic pain management, music therapy, and transitioning from hospital to home.
“This year’s recipients demonstrated ways of working and listening that show how the patient and family voice can improve the healthcare system,” notes Medgine Mathurin, Chair of the HQCA’s Patient and Family Advisory Committee and a judge of the awards. “We hope they will be an inspiration for others in the healthcare system.”
The Patient Experience Awards program was established by the HQCA and its Patient and Family Advisory Committee in 2015 to recognize and spread knowledge about initiatives that improve the patient’s overall experience in accessing or receiving healthcare services. Aspects of patient experience include relationships, and how patients and families are treated; delivery of services to be person-centred, safe, timely, and effective; planning of services, such that patients and families are treated as partners; and a clean, safe, and inviting physical environment that supports healing and the efficient delivery of services.
Submissions are evaluated in a rigorous two-part process in which applicants describe the challenge they were trying to solve, their solution and how they identified it, the impact it has had, and the degree to which their solution can be scaled up and spread to others.
“The teams being recognized model collaboration and ways of working across the system that can support integration,” explains Charlene McBrien-Morrison, Chief Executive Officer of the HQCA. “Each of these teams listened to the needs and preferences of patients, took action to improve, and empowered patients and families in the process. This is at the heart of person-centred care.”
Read about the 2025 recipients here.