Presentation: Involving People Who Use Drugs in Co-Designing Health Services

This presentation was delivered in March 2019, by Ginetta Salvalaggio and Shanell Twan from Edmonton Inner City Health at the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement’s Diversity in Patient Engagement Learning Exchange event.

The presenters shared a case study with learnings from the Inner City Health and Wellness Program – a collaborative group of academics and health providers committed to excellence in patient care, building strong relationships between the community and healthcare services, and the Addiction Recovery Community Health Program. 

The program is action-oriented, takes a harm reduction approach and is inclusive of a broad definition of health. It’s co-designed and co-led by community members. Other guiding principles include shared decision-making at the planning level and meeting people where they are at. Fundamental to this work are relationship-building and trust within the community. The strong partnerships and relationships have directly led to success in service planning and design.

Ginetta and Shannell concluded the presentation with a statement: “relationships reduce harm.”