Community engagement is about fitting the Health TAPESTRY approach to the local community. Community engagement involves purposeful connection with key stakeholders, users, and anyone directly impacted by a program or project. This process has two pieces:
- Learning about the needs of the community by drawing on the knowledge and experiences of community members and organizations.
- Forming partnerships with other organizations in the community helps ensure that the Health TAPESTRY approach is sustainable and can grow in the community.
Health TAPESTRY projects have partnered with universities, family health teams, volunteer organizations, technology businesses, public health departments, hospitals, and social service organizations.
Volunteers play an important role in community engagement in Health TAPESTRY. Community members are provided with opportunities to volunteer in their community, and through Health TAPESTRY, volunteers increase awareness and support stronger links to community resources.
Research Findings
Primary care providers are critical in providing and optimizing health care to an aging population. This paper describes the volunteer component of a program (Health TAPESTRY) which aims to encourage the delivery of effective primary health care in novel and proactive ways. As part of the program, volunteers visited older…
Abstract Background In keeping with the changing needs of the Canadian population, primary care systems need to become more person-focused in providing quality care to older adults. As part of Health TAPESTRY, a complex intervention to strengthen primary care for older adults, a goal setting exercise was developed and tested…
BACKGROUND: The Health TAPESTRY (Health Teams Advancing Patient Experience: STRengthening QualitY) intervention was designed to improve primary care teamwork and promote optimal aging. We evaluated the effectiveness of Health TAPESTRY in attaining goals of older adults (e.g., physical activity, productivity, social connection, medical status) and other outcomes. METHODS: We conducted…
Abstract Objectives: The aim of the study was to explore the perceptions of older adults on the implementation and impact of Health Teams Advancing Patient Experience: Strengthening Quality (Health TAPESTRY), a multicomponent primary care programme that seeks to improve care coordination for individuals through health-related goal-setting supported by trained lay…
Abstract Background Many countries are engaged in primary care reforms to support older adults who are living longer in the community. Health Teams Advancing Patient Experience: Strengthening Quality [Health TAPESTRY] is a primary care intervention aimed at supporting older adults that involves trained volunteers, interprofessional teams, technology, and system navigation.…
Abstract Background Increasing the integration of community volunteers into primary health care delivery has the potential to improve person-focused, coordinated care, yet the use of volunteers in primary care is largely unexplored. Health Teams Advancing Patient Experience: Strengthening Quality (Health TAPESTRY) is a multi-component intervention involving trained community volunteers functioning…