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Patient Partnering

Build Equity and Diversity Into Your Engagement Activities

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Building Cultural Competencies to Engage with Aboriginal Communities

Effective patient and caregiver engagement requires health care professionals to develop and sustain cultural competency skills. Review the resources listed below to explore the unique histories and worldviews of Aboriginal communities living in Ontario, and how they affect how you should plan for engagement.

Aboriginal Relationship and Cultural Competency Courses

Source: Cancer Care Ontario

Circle of Engagement Model

Source: Perinatal Services British Colombia

A Guide for Working with Aboriginal People of Northwestern Ontario

Source: Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre


Measuring Access and Equity in Patient Engagement

Successful patient engagement projects ensure fair access and participation for all participants. Use this tool to assess how easy-to-access and equitable the patient engagement projects you are involved in are.

Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care

Source: Download the Health Equity Impact Assessment (HEIA) Tool


Using Sex and Gender-Positive Language

Use this guide to ask the right questions and have meaningful conversations with patients and their caregivers about sexual health and gender identity in non-stigmatizing ways. This guide is geared towards mental health counselling and addiction services, but can be adapted for other settings.

Download the guide here

Source: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health


Conversation Guide on Sexual Health and Gender Identity

Use this question-and-answer template to guide your conversations with patients and caregivers on sexual health and gender identity. The template is meant for mental health counselling and addiction services, but can be adapted for other settings.

Download the template here

Source: Centre for Addiction and Mental Health


Creating and Sustaining Patient and Family Advisory Councils – Recruiting for Diversity

Read this guide to discover approaches for creating a diverse and well-represented patient and family advisory council. Use the guide’s templates and tools to support your practice.

Learn how to recruit for diversity

Source: Health Quality Ontario


Build Competencies to Engage with Gender Variant Communities

This guide offers education, resources and support to health service providers who are preparing to engage with gender variant (or trans-gendered) communities.

Download the guide

Source: The Gender Variant Working Group

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