In 2012, the City of Edmonton, the Centre for Public Involvement (C PI), and Alberta Climate Dialogue (A BC D) collaborated to create a citizen dialogue and deliberation process focused on energy vulnerability and climate change. 56 citizens came together every Saturday for 6 weeks to provide advice and guidance to the City. This article is part of a seven-part series exploring some of the lessons learned about deliberative dialogue through the Edmonton Citizens’ Panel. The Energy Transition Strategy that incorporated the Panel’s recommendations was passed unanimously by Edmonton City Council in April 2015.

In 2012, the City of Edmonton, the Centre for Public Involvement (C PI), and Alberta Climate Dialogue (A BC D) collaborated to create a citizen dialogue and deliberation process focused on energy vulnerability and climate change. 56 citizens came together every Saturday for 6 weeks to provide advice and guidance to the City. This article is part of a seven-part series exploring some of the lessons learned about deliberative dialogue through the Edmonton Citizens’ Panel. The Energy Transition Strategy that incorporated the Panel’s recommendations was passed unanimously by Edmonton City Council in April 2015.

In 2012, the City of Edmonton, the Centre for Public Involvement (CPI), and Alberta Climate Dialogue (ABCD) collaborated to create a citizen dialogue and deliberation process focused on energy vulnerability and climate change. The Energy Transition Strategy that incorporated its recommendations was passed unanimously by Edmonton City Council in April 2015. For a video reflecting on the influence of the Panel on City Council discussions, see this link.

In business, the more you engage with your customer, the more you know their needs, and the better you can serve them. Engaging the customer is ultimately a win-win proposition for both parties. This is as true for government agencies and non-profits as it is for any business: everyone can stand to gain from open lines of communication. Below are three ways government agencies can improve their public engagement.

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 theory and practice of Public Engagement is always evolving, thanks in part to ongoing research initiatives from industry leaders around the globe. Staying on top of and incorporating the latest findings is an essential part of effective Public Engagement practice. One example is new thinking that brings a systems understanding to public engagement.

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.

Involving citizens in health care decisions is vital for a number of reasons. As voters, taxpayers, citizens and recipients of care, they can contribute vital input regarding their priorities for, and needs from, the health care system.

The citizen perspective is invaluable in shaping the role and place of social values in decisions about our health care system. And it is complementary to Patient Engagement, which can provide the lived experience of patients and their priorities. Even though citizens are all patients at some points in their lives, in citizen engagement individuals are called on to wear a citizen hat and to think about what is important for the public good.