Introduction: Patient engagement has historically referenced engagement in one's healthcare, with more recent definitions expanding patient engagement to encompass patient advocacy work in Learning Health Networks (LHNs). Efforts to conceptualize and define what patient engagement means-and what patient engagement means-are, however, lacking and a barrier to meaningful and sustainable patient engagement via patient advisory councils (PACs) across LHNs.
Methods: Several co-authors (Madeleine Huwe, Becky Woolf, Jennie David) are former ImproveCareNow (ICN) PAC members, and we integrate a narrative review of the extant literature and a case study of our lived experiences as former ICN PAC members.
Background: Patient and Family Advisory Councils (PFACs) are an emerging mechanism to integrate patient and family voices into healthcare. One such PFAC is the Patient Advisory Council (PAC) of the ImproveCareNow (ICN) network, a learning health system dedicated to advancing the care of individuals with pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Using quality improvement techniques and co-production, the PAC has made great strides in developing novel patient-led resources.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF