Blog

I am a patient partner with focus in two areas: digital health and patient engagement. I am naturally drawn to digital health because of my tech background and am involved in initiatives in digital health. I would like to share my most notable experience to date.

“E-Health’s themes this year are especially timely because they include adoption of new technologies and virtual care, ongoing challenges in remote areas, and meeting Indigenous health needs.”

My personal experience as a long-term caregiver for loved ones led me to feel like an outsider — and at times an adversary — within the system, despite a career as a healthcare provider and educator. But I am an optimistic person who refuses to give up (or give in).

There’s often an internalized stigma when we consider ourselves patients. But the reality is, we’re all patients! From birth and beyond, we rely on our clinics, emergency departments, public health systems, and the experts.

Patient inclusion means that we are all equals and that we all have meaningful contributions to make. At e-Health, for example, patient partners are included at every step of the conference process, from membership to planning committees, to review of abstracts, and attendance as scholarship recipients.

I once read that “teachers don’t teach for the income — teachers teach for the outcome.” That is what motivates me to volunteer as a patient partner / advisor in the healthcare sector. Patient partners aren’t usually paid for their contributions and are often the only unpaid members at committees and conferences. We do this […]

Being a patient advisor has given me access to many discussions and learning opportunities, not just within my home province of Alberta. It has allowed me to gain insight into healthcare across Canada. I am able to bring a patient perspective to various panels, meetings, and projects, and experience has shown that it grounds the […]

For the past 15 years, I have been a volunteer advocate for healthcare, and in the last two years, I have been a patient advocate for the e-Health Conference. Why would I do this, and is it beneficial to improving healthcare? Yes!!! My mantra for years has been to “personalize my healthcare,” from birth to […]

For some, the holidays are the most wonderful time of the year. But for me, it is e-Health season: a time to connect and meet new people in the e-Health field. This will be my fourth e-Health and I am excited for all the hot topics on the agenda this year. e-Health with Mental Health […]

How involved are you in making decisions and taking action to improve your health and wellness? How confident do you feel navigating the health system? With recent developments in digital health across Canada, more and more Canadians are taking their healthcare into their own hands, becoming engaged to improve their health outcomes. But who are […]

Electronic access to healthcare information and services for Canadians has slowly increased over the past decade, with momentum growing in the past two years. Virtual care empowers individuals to manage how and where their personal health information is accessed in order to securely communicate with healthcare providers. It has been shown to lead to reduced […]

On May 29th, I was honoured to speak at the closing session of the e-Health 2019 Conference. Although it was me up at the mic, a multitude of voices combined to create the words I spoke. I was speaking on behalf of an amazing group of patient partners, advocates, and now friends that attended the […]