President's Message
NAPCRG – Engagement as Strategy
Various disciplines in health care including family physicians have come to know that narratives/stories and tacit knowledge provide insight into better understanding of a disease over the life span of the patient/individual.1-4 It is for this reason that patient-centered medicine has transformed how family medicine is taught and subsequently practiced.1-4
Engagement enhances a patient’s/community's ability to address their own health needs and disparities by ensuring that researchers are aware of the individual’s and community’s priorities.5,6 Patient/community engagement enhances, the agenda, the approaches/methods, the quality and impact of the research by transforming our understanding of the findings and ensuring that the dissemination is grounded in the meaning/culture of the patient/individual or the community.
Language is paramount. Speaking about the patient-partners/participants in a research project as subjects (subordinates) dehumanizes and causes them to feel less than the experts that they are. We are all experts in our own lived experience so please take the time to get to know the people that you work with which may be patients/communities, health care providers, decision makers, funding organizations as we all have a role to play in patient/community engagement.
While patient engagement is increasing, dissemination efforts are often done without the patients/community members and manuscripts are still published with only the academic authors listed.
PACE Committee
Did you know that NAPCRG has a Patient and Clinician Engagement (PaCE) Committee? Did you know that NAPCRG has two patient/community representatives (one from the USA and one from Canada) on our Board of Directors? To my knowledge, this was the first organization to establish Responsible Research Guidelines7 which were updated in 20098. Consider getting to know some of the members of the PaCE Committee and learn more about what they are doing. You can contact the PaCE Committee at pace@napcrg.org.
How can you be involved? NAPCRG needs to continue to provide leadership in role-modelling and training; as well as the provision of educational opportunities that support authentic patient/community engagement.9
References:
- Stewart M, Brown JB, Weston WW, McWhinney IR, McWilliam CL, Freeman TR. Patient-Centered Medicine: Transforming the Clinical Method. Thousand Oakes, CA: Sage Publications Inc., 1995.
- Stewart M, Brown JB, Weston WW, McWhinney IR, McWilliam CL, Freeman TR. Patient-Centered Medicine: Transforming the Clinical Method, 2nd Ed. Oxon, UK: Radcliffe Medical Press, 2003.
- Stewart M, Brown JB, Weston WW, McWhinney IR, McWilliam CL, Freeman TR. Patient-Centered Medicine: Transforming the Clinical Method, 3rd Ed. London, UK: Radcliffe Medical Press, 2014.
- Brown JB, Thornton T, Stewart M. Challenges and Solutions: Narratives of Patient-Centered Care, 1st Ed. London, UK: Radcliffe Medical Press, 2017.
- CTSA Community Engagement Key Function Committee Task Force. Principles of Community Engagement (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: NIH Publication No. 11-7782; 2011.
- Jagosh J, Macaulay AC, Pluye P, Salsberg J, Bush PL, Henderson J, Sirett E, Wong G, Cargo M, Herbert CP, Seifer SD, Green LW, Greenhalgh T. Uncovering the benefits of participatory research: implications of a realist review for health research and practice. Milbank Q. 2012 Jun;90(2):311-46. doi: 10.1111/j.1468-0009.2012.00665.x.
- Macaulay AC, Commanda LE, Freeman WL, et al. Participatory research maximizes community and lay involvement. North American Primary Care Research Group. BMJ. 1999;319(7212):774-778.
- Allen ML, Salsberg J, Knot M, LeMaster JW, Felzien M, Westfall JM, Herbert CP, Vickery K, Culhane-Pera KA, Ramsden VR, Zittleman L, Martin RE, Macaulay AC. Engaging with communities, engaging with patients: amendment to the NAPCRG 1998 Policy Statement on Responsible Research with Communities. Fam Pract. 2017 Jun 1;34(3):313-321. doi: 10.1093/fampra/cmw074.
- College of Family Physicians of Canada. The Section of Researchers’ Blueprint for Family Medicine Research Success. Accessed on May 15, 2023 from http://www.cfpc.ca/uploadedFiles/Directories/_PDFs/CFPC_Blueprint-Report.pdf.
Prepared by Vivian R Ramsden, RN, PhD (President)
Meetings and Events
2023 PBRN Conference
Our annual Practice-based Research Network (PBRN) Conference is right around the corner! We hope you're joining us in Bethesda, Maryland, May 31-June 1 – check out the conference page for more details.
2023 ICPF Conference
Registration is open for the 2023 International Conference on Practice Facilitation (ICPF) at the Knight Cancer Research Building at Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, Oregon on August 29 and 30. Please check out the website for details and partnership opportunities.
NAPCRG 51st Annual Meeting
October 30 - November 3, 2023 | Hilton San Francisco Union Square
We're gearing up for our big meeting in San Francisco this fall, but now's the time to submit your nominations for awards, which are due by June 12, 2023. NAPCRG has a long tradition of nurturing our members and celebrating their achievements. Through our annual awards program we honor indispensable research coordinators who manage projects, as well as primary care researchers at all stage of their careers from students, trainees, junior, mid-career or seasoned investigators, and mentors. Learn more...
And don't forget: the call for papers for Student Resident and Fellows closes July 21. Find more details on our website.
Opportunities to Engage:
Research, Scholarship, Leadership
AHRQ presents "Using Large Datasets in Primary Care Research" webinar
Join AHRQ’s National Center for Excellence in Primary Care Research (NCEPCR) webinar "Using Large Datasets in Primary Care Research" on Wednesday, May 24, 12:30-1:45 p.m. Central. Three presenters will discuss the large datasets and methods they used and their rationale for using them. Learn more...
28th Annual WONCA Europe Conference
The 28th WONCA Europe Conference will take place in Brussels, Belgium on June 7-10, 2023. The theme of this year’s conference is “Making choices in primary care.” Registration is now open; to learn more about the conference:
BRC Fellowship Call for Applications is open
Applications are now open to become a Fellow with the Building Research Capacity organization within the Association of Departments of Family Medicine. Qualified candidates work toward building research and scholarship in their institutions and help build their organization's capacity for producing scholarly activity. Applications are due July 31, 2023. Learn more...
ADFM LEADS Fellowship Call for Applications is open
The ADFM LEADS Fellowship Program is designed for those who are interested in learning more about whether senior leadership positions in academic family medicine might be a good career fit and for those who aspire to become a senior leader in academic medicine or an academically affiliated health system.
Applications are due July 11, 2023. Learn more...
Career and Training Opportunities
Career Opportunities: Open Positions
UC Davis Family Medicine Clinical Faculty, Hospital Medicine Focus
The University of California, Davis School of Medicine is recruiting for a full-time Assistant or Associate Professor in the Health Sciences Clinical Professor series in the Department of Family and Community Medicine. The Department of Family Medicine is national leader in primary care research, education, and clinical care. More info...
Associate or Full Professor in Family Medicine and Primary Care, Université de Montréal Department of Family and Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine
The Department of Family and Emergency Medicine of the Faculty of Medicine at the Université de Montréal invites applicants for an associate or full-professor position available in the field of family medicine and primary care. More info...
HKUMed Careers: 140 for 140
The Medical Faculty of the University of Hong Kong has launched a global recruitment campaign to recruit 140 clinical and non-clinical professoriate staff ahead of our 140th anniversary in 2027. We look forward to meeting interested academics. Visit www.med.hku.hk/140for140 to learn more about the campaign.
Job seekers can view positions by clicking on links to find additional information or apply. More information is available for institutions interested in advertising available positions to our members.
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