On October 12, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital received the Organizational Leadership Award from the Canadian Association of Paediatric Health Centres (CAPHC) recognizing an innovative training program we developed for leaders in education and healthcare sectors, and children and community services across the province. The training program offers organizations the chance to practice patient and family centred care principles when working with children and youth who have disabilities and their families.
“Client and family centred care is deeply ingrained in the Holland Bloorview culture,” says Golda Milo-Manson, vice president of medicine and academic affairs. “We are honoured to receive the Organizational Leadership Award in recognition of the important work we are doing inside and outside of our walls to strengthen client-provider relationships.”
The training program encourages organizations to assess their current practices in patient and family centred care (PFCC), and to explore new and different ways to embed the core principles of PFCC when working with children and youth with disabilities and their families.
“This training program helps to enhance the quality of care children and their families receive by supporting providers in their continued development of crucial skills, like relationship building, empathy and communication,” says Karmali. “We are very grateful for the opportunity we have been given to share knowledge and for receiving this important recognition from the Canadian Association of Paediatric Health Centres.”
About the client and family centred care training program:
Ontario’s Ministry of Children and Youth Services approached Holland Bloorview to create the training program to help participants strengthen relationships and communication with the children, youth and families they serve as a part of the province’s special needs strategy. Amir Karmali, manager of client and family centred care and partnerships, and Kathryn Parker, senior director of academic affairs and simulation lead, led the development and delivery of the two-day training program featuring case studies, live simulations, children and family stories, a team challenge and other engaging activities.
Over a four-month planning process, healthcare leads, community partners, children and families were full partners in the co-design and development of the training program. Children and families were deeply involved in the facilitation and delivery of the training by sharing their personal insights, perspectives and experiences of care.
The two-day training has received overwhelmingly positive feedback. 96 per cent of participants felt they gained insights and strategies that will help them and their organization. So far Holland Bloorview has delivered this training to 20 agencies and 180 leaders across the province.
The team would like to acknowledge the support of the many family leaders, staff from across the hospital, individuals from community organizations, the Ministry of Children and Youth Services and the Holland Bloorview Children’s Advisory Committee, whose time and contributions helped make this training program a success.
To learn more about this training program, please contact Amir Karmali, manager of client and family centred care and partnerships at akarmali@hollandbloorview.ca
About the CAPHC Organizational Leadership Award:
This award recognizes the leadership of an organization, a foundation, or a corporation to enable the best health care for Canada’s children and youth. The recipient organization has demonstrated leadership to inspire change and innovation that has had a significant and lasting impact on the pediatric healthcare system(s), and/or populations served.
This award also recognizes the value an organization places on partnerships and collaboration within the healthcare community. For more information, please visit the 2018 CAPHC Award Winners page.
Update: As of October 23, 2018, the Canadian Association of Paediatric Health Centres has rebranded as Children's Healthcare Canada. Learn more.
