Article contributed by Lori Beesley, Family-Centred Care Specialist

On July 24th, Holland Bloorview's family-engagement specialists travelled to New York City for the 7th International Conference on Patient and Family-Centered Care. Joined by professionals from across North America, the three-day conference featured innovations in processes and inter-professional education fueled by the shared goal of rich partnerships between health professionals and families in organizations large and small.

I, along with family-centred care specialist Amir Karmali and family leader Gideon Sheps, were honoured to be invited to present Holland Bloorview's Research Family Engagement Committee (RFEC) framework. Gideon was the first co-chair of the RFEC. Together, we presented how family engagement in research beyond the role of a participant occurs at Holland Bloorview, and the impact it has. We were also fortunate to learn from others across North America on what works for them out of a desire to build a network of family engagement in research and grow its reach.

Learn more about the Research Family Engagement Committee