Patient Partners

A key aspect of PIRN's mission is to work in partnership with children and families to understand their needs and perspectives in order to work towards improving hospital care. We view the voices of children and families as key factors that drive our research activities. Youth, parents, and patient partners are directly involved in research studies, including setting research priorities for paediatric hospital care.

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Our approach to research involves active collaboraiton between researchers and those with lived patient/caregiver experience (patient partners). Unlike enrolled study participants, patient partners are involved in all stages of the research process, including study design, outcomes measured, analysis, and dissemination of findings. We build relationships that foster trust, respect, and collaborative partnerships.

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PIRN's Patient Engagement activities are led by Francine Buchanan and Michelle Quinlan, who are committed to having patients and families continuously inform and shape research to advance the field of Paediatric Hospital Medicine.