Tag: Members Only

In January and February of 2016, we conducted a series of focus groups with AFHTO-member Interprofessional Health Care Providers (IHPs) about what you need in order to get better at what you do – and about how we can get better at helping you with that. We heard a lot of great information from these focus groups! Now its our turn to teach back in order to be sure we heard right from all those who were able to be a part of the focus group discussions, as well as to get input from the wider group of volunteers to help us set priorities for action. To do this, we have created an anonymous, online survey. This brief questionnaire is your opportunity to tell us what Quality Improvement (QI) means to you, whether that’s even an accurate term to describe the process of getting better at what we do, and how we can support you in doing this. The questions for this survey come out of our discussions at the focus groups. Please confirm/correct our impressions and tell us which aspects of the enablers and barriers are the highest priority for you so they can also be the highest priority for our work together. Data from the focus groups and this survey will be used internally to set priorities in supporting teams to move beyond measurement to improvement. We can’t promise we will do everything that you identify as important – but at the very least, we can commit to focusing whatever resources we have in that direction. Data from the survey will also be used externally via direct communication and broader publication to advocate for resources/tools/other supports for AFHTO members. The results will also constitute part of the data being considered in my (i.e., Carol Mulder) doctoral thesis. Rest assured that your survey data will be completely anonymous, even to us – we won’t know who has completed it The survey has been sent to everyone who signed up for the focus groups. We look forward to learning from your responses and using them to help us in improving our efforts to help you. Thanks again for taking the time to share.

March 3, 2016

Thanks to the more than 100 IHPs who  have signed up for focus groups!

What’s next?

Meeting invitations have now been sent for sessions in London (March 24), Toronto (March 29) and Kitchener (March 30). Planning for sessions in other locations is still underway.  Not all IHPs will have received a meeting invitation; they were sent to those who indicated availability for the chosen date/time.  Where there were more IHPs available than space in the focus group (maximum size of 8), a random sample of available IHPs was invited to the session. Closer to the dates of the sessions, we will send the high-level questions that will be addressed during the focus groups. There is no presentation planned as the goal of the sessions is to hear from IHPs about quality improvement, what it looks like in their teams and what it would take to better support it. All IHPs (not only those who take part in the focus groups) will be invited to comment on the guidance emerging from the focus groups and implications for AFHTO. To do that, we are hoping all IHPs who have signed up will agree to be added to the email distribution list for updates – watch your email for more information. AFHTO will work with all members to develop activities, resources and/or tools to support quality improvement within teams. These interventions will be informed by the focus group discussions and reflection on them by IHPs as well as other staff of AFHTO member organizations.

All IHPs are invited to participate in a series of regional focus groups. AFHTO has been making progress with measurement of comprehensive, team-based primary care.  There is still more work to do with that. In the meantime, it is time to look beyond measurement to improvement in interprofessional care. IHPs are invited to complete the online survey about potential dates, times and locations as soon as possible so we can set up the sessions.  We are looking for up to 6 people for each session on a first come, first served basis. The sessions will be facilitated by Lori Chambers, a qualitative researcher and doctoral candidate from McMaster and Carol Mulder, Provincial Lead for AFHTO’s Quality Improvement and Decision Support program. There is no charge for the sessions, which are expected to be about 1.5 hours long. Date and location of groups will be decided based on response to Doodle polls. The first sessions (which we anticipate to be in late March) will be held in the locations which fill up first.  Additional options will be offered after the first sessions are set. Contact Carol Mulder for more information