Patient Engagement in Health Education Curriculum

Candace Skrapek is a retired registered nurse. Following her retirement after a 40 year career, she has utilized her education, experience and expertise in numerous volunteer activities and patient advisory roles. Candace’s background as a health care provider and educator combined with her own experiences as a patient have led to her involvement as a patient partner with the SHA and SCPOR in a variety of quality improvement and health research initiatives. She is of the view that the patient’s influence can lead to more responsive, equitable, and innovative health research and health system transformation. For many years, Candace has been a dedicated advocate with the Saskatoon Council on Aging, focusing on promoting positive aging and creating a better quality of life for Saskatoon’s older adults.

She co-led the SCOA’s Age-friendly Saskatoon Initiative, a 5-year community based participatory action research project aimed at creating a more age-friendly Saskatoon.

Diana is a retired nursing leader, having spent over 40 years working as a Nurse Educator. Diana recognizes the need for fostering collaborative partnerships in health care practice, education, research, and management. This informs her volunteer work, where she is a passionate advocate for patient engagement and for patients having an equal voice at all health-related decision-making tables. Currently, Diana serves as Past Chair of the Canadian Breast Cancer Network, is a Patient Partner on the SCPOR Patient Partner Advisory Council, co-teaches SPOR modules in Saskatchewan and is a patient partner on several research projects. She serves as co-chair of the SPOR Refresh Steering committee.

Dr. Kim Sears is a Professor at Queen’s University. She is the Associate Director of Health Quality Programs. Dr. Sears has over thirty years’ experience as a nurse. Throughout her teaching experience, she has been primarily involved in the area of quality and safety in healthcare. She conducts an active program of research in health services with a focus on advancing quality care, reducing risk and improving patient safety. The majority of her work focuses on furthering the quality and safety of medication delivery. Dr. Sears has experience working integrative studies using systemic review methodology.