IMAGINE is having important conversations about healthcare in Alberta.
The IMAGINE community is a diverse group of Albertans that has been working since 2015 and has been a Society in the province of Alberta since 2018.
We come from all walks of life, and all parts of the province. We are teachers and students, construction workers, bus drivers, farmers and ranchers, consultants, grandparents and stay-at-home moms, healthcare workers, hikers and gardeners, retirees. We are your neighbours, your colleagues and your friends.
Most of us in the IMAGINE community have had some interaction with the healthcare system. Either we have personal experience, or we’ve been involved as the family member or caregiver of a patient. Some of us are healthcare providers, some still working in the system, some retired. Other of us simply want to be a part of the conversation because we know that we will interact with the healthcare system at some point in our lives.
Your voice matters to us. We want to hear about your experiences and hopes.
We invite you to join us and be a part of the conversations.
Our vision
A health system intentionally designed in partnership between citizens and other stakeholders to achieve the best possible experiences and outcomes for all Albertans.Our mission
To enable and mobilize citizens’ ability to influence, and become valued partners in improving health care experiences and outcomes for all.Our principles
Citizen-driven | Independent | Connected and collaborating | Involved in co-designing healthcare | Guided by evidence | Aware that healthcare is one of many determinants of healthOur strategies and actions
Expand and enrich citizen participation
Connect and work together with interested individuals and citizen groups from across the province to create a collective voice that shapes our health system and drives change.
- Inviting participation and providing orientation
- Creating a database of citizens to participate in health care initiatives
- Building a network of citizen leaders and citizen/patient groups
Focus on health outcomes that matter to Albertans
Identify, assess and report back on the outcomes that matter most to citizens.
- Reaching out and listening to what matters to Albertans
- Agreeing on a list of outcomes that matters most
- Working with health care partners to assess progress and report back
Learn from research and experience
Gather and share information that leads to improved patient experience and outcomes and helps us be active partners in our own care.
- Providing citizens with one stop access to useful information
- Using Albertans’ health care experiences to inform health system decisions
- Commissioning scientific studies that provide evidence for system change
Work in partnership with our health system
Collaborate with health system stakeholders to drive system and culture change.
- Engaging with health related organizations on projects of mutual interest
- Building a network of health system stakeholders to move change forward
Thank you to our supporters
At the HQCA, our mission and values focus on improving the quality and safety of health services for Albertans. This work involves engaging Albertans and listening to their experiences and voices, and we do this through a variety of means, including patient satisfaction and experience surveys, supportive living family and residents survey, and our Patient/Family Safety Advisory Panel.
The HQCA is proud to support the IMAGINE Project because of its grass-roots, citizen led focus on patient-first healthcare culture. This adds to the understanding of patient needs, experiences, and will enhance how we connect with Albertans.
Although the aim of The IMAGINE Project was to change the culture of the health professions and health system as they relate to the patient, it was always intended to be a grassroots initiative.
Following the launch of the project on January 22, 2015, the O’Brien Institute handed over the project reins to a new citizen-led committee, IMAGINE Citizens Collaborating for Health.
As part of this evolution, the O’Brien Institute continues to support IMAGINE through funding, by functioning as the initiative’s secretariat and by providing logistical and technical support to the citizens’ efforts. Many of the IMAGINE citizens, such as Dr. Ward Flemons and Adjunct Professor Gail McKean PhD, are also O’Brien Institute members.
Alberta Innovates Health Solutions (AIHS) provides leadership for Alberta’s health research and innovation enterprise and aims to work with partners in the health system to ensure innovation in care, policy and practice and that the needs of patients and clinicians influence research in the province. AIHS’s vision is to transform the health, health system and wellbeing of Albertans through research and innovation. Patient centred care and citizen engagement are important drivers of research and innovation and are supported by AIHS through Alberta SPOR (Strategy for Patient-Oriented Research) SUPPORT Unit’s Patient Engagement Platform and other initiatives.
AIHS is pleased to support the work of IMAGINE to effectively engage individual Albertans and citizen groups from around the province, and through that bring the patient perspective toward improving health care.