Little changes go a long way. An interesting example of innovation in Public Engagement is currently taking place in England as a result of changes to their National Health Services (NHS).

Response To Major Structural Changes In The Health Care System in England

In 2012, the government changed the operating structure of the NHS so that it no longer reports to the Health Ministry of the government, but instead to the NHS Commissioning Board, a group of 24 appointees who render all decisions on its behalf.

The health care system can be intimidating for patients and their families to navigate: many patients, their families, and advocates feel that their wants and needs are little understood. Yet health care providers feel the strain of the system too, as providing the best possible care often involves coordinating treatments across multiple departments and managing pressure-filled situations.

Many of these issues can be solved by engaging in dialogue. Patient Engagement (PE) provides a helpful model for bringing together health care providers and patients and their families to identify common issues and generate potential solutions.

Every step of Experience-Based Co-Design (EBCD) is essential to the overall process, but perhaps the most powerful component is that of storytelling. It is important to emphasize the value that storytelling brings to EBCD in truly capturing the lived-experience of patients and their families, and how critical it is that patients are engaged in the best way possible in order to share their unique experiences.

As growing numbers of health care providers and policy makers embrace the notion that paying attention to patient experience contributes to improving patient health outcomes, various tools to assist in patient engagement are being designed, used and evaluated. One such methodology with a proven track record is Experience-Based Co-Design (EBCD)

What is Experience-Based Co-Design (EBCD)?

The simplest way to explain EBCD is to say it is a highly productive process for exchanging stories and information between patients and health care providers. It focuses on drawing out the experiences of patients and staff and bringing them together to find ways to improve the experience.

While there have been numerous changes and innovations to health care in Canada through the years, our health systems still depend to a great extent on inherited, top-down models of care. The shift to patient-centred care (aka person-centred care) and increased Patient Engagement, as a means of improving health outcomes, are relatively new concepts that have only just begun to take root.