Innovations, Tools and Resources

Together with our partners, the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement has identified and developed a selection of free materials to support your healthcare improvement journey.

This collection of local, provincial and territorial, national and international innovations, tools and resources are for everyone – including health and social service providers, researchers, policy-makers, and patients, families and caregivers – who share our passion for improving healthcare. We will continue to add innovations, tools and resources to this repository, to help advance your healthcare improvement efforts.

In addition, check out our Patient Engagement Resource Hub with tools and resources to support, facilitate and enhance patient, family and caregiver engagement in designing, delivering and evaluating health services essential to improve quality of care.

Please note, these innovations, tools and resources are not intended to provide specific medical advice, rather provide information to better understand the organization and delivery of health services and opportunities for improvements. For more information, please see our Terms of Use.

Giving the Gift of Time: Embedding Palliative Approaches to Care

This four-part interactive learning module about palliative care is for long-term care team members. Walking through the journey of a resident, the module provides ways to improve end-of life care in long-term care homes – to avoid unnecessary hospital transfers and support family, care partners and care providers.

Value-based Healthcare by Design: Identifying Promising Innovations in a Canadian Context 

Value-based healthcare (VBHC) is about linking how much money is spent on healthcare programs or services over a patient’s journey to the outcomes that matter most to patients – rather than focusing primarily on the amount of services, or on specific processes or products. This resource is recordings of two interactive webinars held in 2019. Participants discussed the key foundations of VBHC, including early lessons to support implementation and spread. A report from Canada’s Economic Strategy Tables was also shared.

Appropriate Use of Antipsychotics Resources

These resources inform everyone involved in dementia care about more effective ways to address negative personal expressions and behaviours, than prescribing antipsychotic medications. Options that provide a better quality of life and enhanced safety for people living with dementia are available.

LTC+: Acting on Pandemic Learning Together Self-Assessment Tool

Better Together Change Package

In 2015 the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement, in partnership with the Institute for Patient- and Family-Centered Care, led the Better Together Campaign to support healthcare organizations implement family presence policies across Canada. As part of the campaign, we also developed a Change Package to support the adoption of family presence and participation in acute care hospitals. The Change Package is a guide for developing family presence policies that welcome and recognize families as essential partners in care. The recommendations and resources were drawn from evidence-informed patient- and family-centred care practices, improvement stories and research studies investigating the impacts of family presence and participation in healthcare.

Re-Integration of Family Caregivers as Essential Partners in Care in a Time of COVID-19

This report aims to help leaders and hospital organizations who are revisiting family presence policies in a time of COVID-19. It focuses on seven steps to guide this process, including having patient and caregiver partners at the table for those reviews, distinguishing between family caregivers who are essential partners in care and casual visitors, and considering a balanced harm reduction approach when implementing new policies. These evidence-informed steps were developed with a Rapid Response Expert Advisory Group that brought together a diverse range of experience and expertise from across the country.

Building an Indigenous Mental Health System of Care: Why Culture Matters

This video was an interactive webinar held in April 2016 as part of the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement’s Recommended Learning Journey on Indigenous Health. It was led by Carol Hopkins, Executive Director of the Thunderbird Partnership Foundation.

Readiness to Receive Assessment

The Readiness to Receive Assessment tool helps organizations assess their readiness to implement an effective improvement project from another site or location.

Guidelines: Treating Disruptive Behaviour in People with Dementia

Antipsychotic medications are often prescribed to help manage common responsive behaviours people with dementia experience, such as agitation and verbal or physical reactions. However, there is a lack of evidence to support their effectiveness and a risk they can cause significant side effects, including confusion, dizziness, stroke or even death. These guidelines were adapted by Choosing Wisely Canada and explain antipsychotic medications and potential alternatives for people who do not have psychosis.

Framework for Diversity in Patient Engagement

In 2019, the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement hosted a Diversity in Patient Engagement Learning Exchange (DLE) which brought together patient engagement leaders and patient partners from across Canada to consider diversity in patient engagement methods. The objective was to collectively develop common principles to promote inclusion in engagement initiatives.