The crew of Connected in Motion was once again well represented and made a strong impact on Canada!
On March 28th and 29th, nine CIM members gathered in Toronto and were a crucial part of the 1st Canadian Patient Summit (CPS). For the first time ever, over 100 patients with various medical conditions (as well as caregivers, politicians such as Ontario’s Minister of Health, health care professionals, members of various non-profit organizations, etc.) from our country met to discuss current issues/concerns with the healthcare system and brainstorm ideas/solutions to improve our system and quality of life. It is extremely important for us to express our thoughts and recommendations in an effort to implement change since we learned that our government is spending more than 40% of its funds on public health care (and this number is expected to grow faster than our economy).
There were individuals with various physical disabilities and/or mental illnesses that shared their stories and voiced their opinion on what changes need to be made to improve our current system during smaller workshops on day one at the Marriot Hotel and/or on day two when all summit participants were brought together at the MaRS Centre (no, not a different planet but a building connected to Toronto General Hospital). Todd Janes, a remarkable diabetic advocate from Edmonton, was extremely vocal during the summit and brought forth various suggestions to improve the delivery of health care and increase patient engagement.
The two highlights of the event (in our opinion) took place on the second and final day. First and foremost, Sarah Ketcheson gracefully led the seventh inning stretch mid-afternoon with a group of CIM members (proudly wearing their CIM shirts!) in unison with all other individuals attending the Summit. She performed an excellent, entertaining upper extremity stretching regime to Black Eyed Peas – I Gotta Feeling! Secondly, Shawn Shepheard showcased his outstanding facilitator skills while he guided the agenda and ensured that all speakers and panelists’ voices were heard. On the initial day it was also a wonderful opportunity and experience to listen to Paul Rosen, Canada’s Paralympic Men’s Sledge Hockey goalie, share his story during the welcome reception and dinner. We cannot forget to mention and applaud Karen Philip, Chair of the CPS, and her working group who spearheaded this summit as well as Chloe Steepe, who was 1 of 13 individuals who were part of the Summit’s Steering Committee.
All in all, individuals with diabetes were the most represented group in numbers and perhaps in voicing their opinions (thanks to Todd)! Even though the CIM crew members were definitely the young “pups” at the summit, I feel we had a voice that will be (or should be) listened to and we all can hopefully work collectively with other patient populations to influence change. I feel that CIM’s proactive approach and mission is a huge step in the right direction – we are uniting a single patient population and promoting a healthy, active lifestyle that will continue to allow us to manage our disease and in turn reduce the risk of complications and curb the spending of health care dollars. It is hoped that the idea of health promotion and education early on in life, regardless of gender, ethnicity, geographical location, etc. and even whether one has a medical condition or not, will enable Canadians to increase control over their health, reduce or even eliminate the factors/conditions that cause illness and diseases, and improve their wellbeing.
Although there were definitely some tense moments and strong debates during the summit, there were also some inspiring discussions and progress seems to have been made. In the end, there appears promise and hope that patients will be more involved in the development of the healthcare policy making process. Despite a convoluted process, a patients’ only vote took place on the final day (and believe it or not, CIM members accounted for nearly 10% of all votes!) and we casted our votes on effective ways to engage patients in health policy decisions. It was evident that we had a large impact on the end result since many of the patient engagement ideas that were chosen by the group to be the main focus during the next year were selected by us; a patient coalition was formed to advocate for our rights and the group also plans to focus on the role of a patient navigator and One Patient, One Record.
It is my hope that Canadians with and without various medical conditions can continue to strive to work collectively to influence positive change and look at developing strategies and policies that focus on engaging patients in the decision making process. Instead of being reactive in nature where some individuals only adopt measures/actions when they are faced with a disease or illness, people are encouraged to take control of their lives and lead as healthy a life as possible.
