Workshops

CIHR is leading, in collaboration with partners and the research community, the development of a new primary health care research and innovation strategy, PRIME, Primary Health Care Reimagined through Impact, Mobilization and Engagement. Grounded in the OurCare standard1 and aligned to the
Quintuple Aim, PRIME’s vision is to ensure that research helps to advance “health, wellbeing and prosperity for all people across Canada through accessible, timely, high-quality primary health care”.

As part of the PRIME strategy, CIHR is partnering with the Canadian Primary Care Research Consortium (CPCRC) and Healthcare Excellence Canada (HEC) to engage interest holders to better understand the challenges confronting PHC and the many solutions being implemented or explored across the country. Despite robust primary health care assets across the country (e.g., data, research, practice-based learning networks) and ongoing innovation (e.g., new legislation and policy, standardized patient reported experience and outcome measures implemented through OECD PaRIS,
etc.), widespread implementation and evidence gaps persist. These gaps make it difficult to scale and spread innovative solutions to improve primary health care for all.

To address the implementation and evidence gaps, CIHR, CPCRC and HEC are consulting on the development of a PHC Asset Map and PHC Evidence and Gap Map (EGM). An asset map captures an inventory of Canada’s resources, strengths, and capacities in primary health care. An EGM provides a visual and systematic overview of available evidence, highlighting where knowledge is strong and where gaps remain. Developing a PHC Asset Map and EGM framework will provide a structured approach to synthesize and prioritize evidence to guide implementation, research, innovation and policy decisions. These tools will be co-developed with the primary health care community, shared back as accessible resources for the community’s use, and underpin the forthcoming PRIME strategy.

1. Enhance understanding about PRIME and opportunities to engage and contribute
2. Review and inform a preliminary PHC Asset Map
3. Co-develop a draft framework identifying key interventions and outcome domains relevant to PHC in Canada, which will inform the basis of the Evidence and Gap Map
4. Support engagement and collaboration to advance PRIME

Researchers, health providers/clinicians, policy makers, decision makers, patient partners, and trainees.

• 9:30 am | Welcome & land acknowledgement
• 9:50 am | Setting the stage: Overview of Evidence & Gap Maps (EGM) and Asset Maps
• 10:05 am | Identifying key primary health care interventions for EGM framework
• 11:10 am | Informing the PHC Asset Map
• 11:20 am | Final reflections and wrap up

Download Workshop Package

Colleen Ferris is passionate about making a difference in the healthcare system. She is currently the Director of Innovations and Strategic Development at Healthcare Excellence Canada (HEC). Colleen has practiced nursing clinically in addition to working in health program administration and policy environments over the past 20 years. Prior to joining HEC, she held several senior level positions at CIHR including team lead of the Strategy for Patient Oriented Research at its inception and Director General of Governance. Colleen’s clinical, academic and real-world policy experience drives her ability to bring about innovative and integrated changes in complex environments.

Meghan McMahon is Associate Scientific Director with CIHR’s Institute of Health Services and Policy Research where she works with a team and partners to develop research funding programs that generate evidence, build capacity, and accelerate knowledge mobilization to improve health system outcomes. She is an Assistant Professor (status) with the Institute of Health Policy, Management and Evaluation at the University of Toronto where she co-leads a course on health systems leadership.

Jessica Nadigel is Associate Scientific Director with CIHR's Institute of Health Services and Policy Research. Since joining the institute in 2014, she has played a key role in advancing the institute’s mission by spearheading the design, development, and implementation of innovative research funding programs, capacity-building initiatives, and knowledge mobilization efforts. Her work focuses on developing and nurturing strategic partnerships to drive initiatives that enhance the delivery, accessibility, organization, and financing of healthcare services, with the goal of improving quality, efficiency, effectiveness, and equity of the health system.

Sabrina Wong is Professor and Core Faculty, School of Nursing and Centre for Health Services and Policy Research, at UBC. She is the Interim Scientific Director of the Canadian Primary Care Research Consortium, Co-chair of the Canadian Primary Care Research Network, and a recognized leader in research involving organization and delivery of health care services and patient-reported quality of care. Her work contributes to informing practice and system level interventions.

Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) were developed to capture patients' perspectives on their health, quality of life, and treatment outcomes. While PROMs are increasingly used at the micro (clinical care), meso (patient panel or clinic), and macro (provincial) levels, their implementation varies and patient engagement in their design and use remains inconsistent. This workshop will provide an interactive space for patients and researchers to explore the value of PROMs from all perspectives, discuss challenges and opportunities for their implementation and identify actionable strategies to enhance patient involvement, experience and outcomes. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of PROMs and strategies to support their meaningful integration into patient-oriented research and practice.

1. Increase understanding of patient-reported outcome measures across level of care (micro/meso/macro)
2. Critically reflect on patient-reported outcome measures from patient perspectives
3. Identify actionable strategies to enhance meaningful implementation of patient-reported outcome measures

Patients, students, postdoctoral fellows, researchers/academics, clinician scientists, health system leaders, policy makers.

1. Introductions and brief overview of PROMs, explaining their origins and current applications at different levels of the healthcare system. A patient-led discussion will highlight lived experiences, including how PROMs impact care, where they succeed and where gaps remain.
2. Present the co-developed APERSU PROMs Tip Sheet: a practical tool to help increase awareness and knowledge of PROMs through patient and community groups.
3. Hands-on activity, completing 1 or 2 PROMs to experience their structure, usability and potential limitations firsthand.
4. Facilitated discussion about the tools themselves and the involvement of patients in the development and implementation practices. We will identify barriers and facilitators to their adoption and any ‘killer assumptions’ that may hinder effective implementation. We will generate a list of potential implementation strategies together.
5. To conclude, we will explore why PROMs matter to patients, how patient partners can play an active role in shaping their use, and what impact PROMs and patient engagement can have on research and healthcare decision-making.

Allison Soprovich, Alberta PROMs and EQ-5D Research and Support Unit (APERSU) and Kim Giroux, Alberta PROMs and EQ-5D Research and Support Unit (APERSU) Patient Engagement Network

This workshop will examine why the Quintuple Aim is a framework designed for a complicated system, rather than healthcare which is complex, not just complicated. Frameworks for systems thinking will be introduced and participants will have an opportunity to discuss how they are relevant to their own work and spheres of influence. Ideas for shifting from an outcomes-based framework like the Quintuple Aim to frameworks which focus on learning rather than accountability and relationships rather than transactions will be introduced.

• Understand the difference between “complex” and “complicated” systems.
• Learn why approaches designed for complicated problems are not helpful in complex systems.
• Identify solutions that are better suited for the complexity of healthcare systems.

Anyone interested in systems thinking approaches to addressing healthcare challenges.

The facilitator will introduce systems thinking and a series of frameworks that can be applied by participants to the complex challenges they face. The workshop will be interactive, and participants will be asked to engage in short table discussions that enable application with the core ideas presented.

Diane Finegood is a Professor and Fellow in the Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. Dr Finegood has held numerous leadership positions including as an inaugural Scientific Director for CIHR, President and CEO of the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research and Executive Director of the Canadian Health Services and Policy Research Alliance. Her current focus is the application of systems thinking in complexity.

This workshop will demonstrate how clinics can advance the Quintuple Aim through more effective integration of RNs and LPNs in primary care. Nursing roles are one of the most immediate and scalable levers to improve patient experience, expand access, and enhance population health, yet they remain inconsistently implemented across Canada. Drawing on insights from the Nursing Initiatives for Primary Care program, the session highlights how structured onboarding, role clarity, and nurse-led workflows contribute to better patient outcomes, smoother clinic operations, and more equitable care.

The workshop also speaks to the policy challenges raised by the conference: slowing cost growth, strengthening the workforce, and addressing inequities. Nurse-led models redistribute work to the most appropriate team member, reduce pressure on physicians & nurse practitioners, and improve continuity, while supporting retention and satisfaction among nurses themselves. By pairing data with practical implementation strategies, this workshop offers participants actionable ways to accelerate progress toward the Quintuple Aim in their own clinics.

Participants will be able to:

1. Identify high-impact RN and LPN activities that improve patient experience, equity, and care continuity in primary care.
2. Understand common barriers and system enablers in integrating nurses into team-based care (e.g., scope clarity, workflow design, continuing education).
3. Apply a practical design framework to map where nursing roles add the most value along the patient journey.
4. Co-create prototypes for RN and LPN led care processes that improve access and patient experience while relieving pressure on physicians and nurse practitioners
5. Leave with actionable tools to introduce, strengthen, or scale team-based nursing roles in their own settings.

Primary care leaders and managers (CHCs, family practices, PCNs, Indigenous health organizations); policymakers working on team-based care, access, and workforce planning; quality improvement and transformation teams; educators and researchers interested in primary care nursing roles; interprofessional clinicians (NPs, physicians, social workers, MOAs, allied health). No prior knowledge of primary care nursing roles is required.

• Welcome & Context Setting
• Evidence Snapshot: The Case for RNs and LPNs in Primary Care
• Mapping the Patient Journey (Small-Group Activity)
• Designing High-Impact Nursing Workflows
• Implementing & Sustaining Change
• Closing Reflection & Takeaway Tools

Angela Wignall, RN, BSN, BA, MA, PhD(c) - CEO
Patti Telford RN, BScN, MHS – Provincial Director
Nursing Initiatives for Primary Care, Nurses and Nurse Practitioners of BC

The healthcare system includes many diverse partners that support health and well-being, such as policy-makers, academics, clinicians, administrators, community organizations, Indigenous communities, and the public at large. With so many potential partners, it can be useful to conceptualize the healthcare system more organically, such as an ecosystem with inter-woven relations and cross-sector connections (i.e., education, economics) that intensify and lessen over time. How can we rethink and reshape sustainable partnerships in our healthcare ecosystem?

We are witnessing a critical time for healthcare in Canada. A time of real and perceived resource scarcity (e.g., health professionals, funding, accessibility, public trust, etc.) within the system - the need for, and value of robust, sustainable partnerships and shared accountability, is never more critical and yet can seem just out of reach.

Drawing from diverse experiences and scholarly interests of participants together we will explore new ways to approach the spectrum of healthcare partnerships (e.g., interdisciplinary, interdepartmental, intersectoral, interprofessional, inter-ministerial, interagency, etc.). We need new ways to conceptualize partnerships. Through dialogue we will refocus our collective minds towards new ways to question legitimacy, to innovate, to develop shared accountability and to build trust in our partnerships.

• To articulate what sustainable partnerships mean in healthcare; including who the partners are and other concepts, metaphors, or tools that would support rethinking sustainable partnerships in healthcare.
• To identify ways we can create trust and shared accountabilities within our healthcare partnership; including what those shared accountabilities could be and what success could look like.

Researchers, policy makers, decision-makers, clinicians, patient partners, and students.

1. Welcome and Land Acknowledgements – Introduction to the facilitator
2. Connections and Gratitude – Introductions and connection with those at the tables
3. Healthcare as an ecosystem – Facilitator to present the concept of healthcare as an ecosystem to anchor the workshop and discussions. Why partnerships? Why now?
4. Rethinking – Working in small groups, participants will be asked prompting questions to rethink partnerships. Groups will be asked to capture their discussion on flipchart paper and will be asked to share back in large group.
5. Reshaping – There will be three stations. Participants will move between each flipchart to answer posted questions.
6. Close out – Facilitator to describe next steps and to acknowledge group participation and wisdom in rethinking and reshaping sustainable partnerships in healthcare. Participants will be asked for a one-word check-out on new possibilities for partnerships in healthcare.

Monique Walsh is a scholar-practitioner and certified facilitator working in health systems leadership at the Centre for Health Systems Learning + Innovation. Her focus intentionally connects action, people, research, and resources towards collaborative change.