Matters of Engagement
Episodes
Optics over Impact: Patient Engagement at the Provincial Level
31 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
Sangeeta Chopra-Charron came to Ontario Health's Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC) with a background in transformational change and a genuine...
Zooming Out: Research, Implementation, and the Road Ahead (BETTER Women 5/5)
12 Mar 2026
Contributed by Lukas
In this fifth and final episode of the BETTER Women series, Jennifer and Emily zoom out from the study itself to explore what the results actually mea...
CHILD-BRIGHT: Voices of Youth Involved in Research
18 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In this special collaboration with the Knowledge Mobilization Program at CHILD-BRIGHT, a pan-Canadian research network focused on children and youth ...
Learning From Unexpected Results: What the Numbers Didn't Capture (BETTER Women 4/5)
02 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The BETTER Women research team gathered to review their findings, hoping to see clear evidence that peer health coaching improved women's preventative...
Voices from the Heart of the Project: Peer Health Coaches (BETTER Women 3/5)
01 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Meet the peer health coaches - the volunteers at the heart of the BETTER Women project. Through candid conversations, we hear from women who underwent...
The Science behind Peer Health Support (BETTER Women 2/5)
23 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
How do you design a study to test whether peer support actually works? In this episode, we dive into the nuts and bolts of the BETTER Women research p...
Going "Upstream" to Prevent Chronic Disease (BETTER Women 1/5)
16 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
We know our Canadian healthcare system is overloaded, and that preventative care may help address the increasing pressures on chronic and emergency ca...
✨ Coming soon! ✨ The 5-part BETTER Women Series ❤️
09 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Discover how peer support could revolutionize Canadian healthcare in this groundbreaking 5-part series from Matters of Engagement, in collaboration wi...
⭐ REPLAY! ⭐ Discussing Failures in Participatory Research, with Lori Ross
28 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This REPLAY! episode first aired December, 2021. New introduction by Emily Nicholas Angl, followed by a full replay of the episode. Also, we've adde...
⭐ REPLAY! ⭐ Vagueness of language, unarticulated assumptions, and maintaining the status quo
14 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This REPLAY! episode first aired November, 2022. New introduction by Jennifer Johannesen, followed by a full replay of the episode. Vagueness of lan...
We're Back! Matters of Engagement Returns with a Splash 🌊
11 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
After more than a year of no new episodes, we're rebooting Matters of Engagement—literally from the cottage dock! Between cicada serenades and turtl...
Caregiving and Work
03 Jan 2024
Contributed by Lukas
We're doing something a little bit different! We're taking a shot at making video along with the podcast! You can watch this episode on our YouTube ch...
”How did we do?” : A debrief on the role of Lived Experience Advisors in a healthcare research project
13 Jul 2023
Contributed by Lukas
What exactly is the best way to engage patients in a healthcare research project? Well, it's hard to say definitively. Funders like CIHR often require...
Spring Update 2023: Checking in with Jen and Em
13 Jun 2023
Contributed by Lukas
It's been a while since we've published an episode! We have lots on the go these days. Come hang out with Jen and Em as we wrap up the Health Policy...
Beyond Mandates: The Essential Input of Residents in Long-term Care Policy (Health Policy Series)
16 Feb 2023
Contributed by Lukas
A widely-held assumption is that all residents of Long-term Care (LTC) homes are frail, elderly and in need of sweeping protections as determined by g...
Critical Reflections on Public Engagement (Health Policy Series)
15 Dec 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We're bringing conference vibes to the podcast and presenting a short series of critical work on public engagement from members of the Public Engageme...
Transformative Public Engagement: Pitfalls, Possibilities and Promise - keynote by Dr. Jamila Michener (Health Policy Series)
29 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
On September 22, 2022, the Public Engagement in Health Policy project team at McMaster University hosted a one-day conference, Reimagining public enga...
Understanding Legitimacy in Public and Patient Engagement, with Katherine Boothe (Health Policy Series)
17 Nov 2022
Contributed by Lukas
What makes an engagement process legitimate? How do technical experts feel about engagement, and how have their ideas of legitimacy changed over tim...
Deliberation, Democracy and Public Engagement: A Conversation with Kim McGrail (Health Policy Series
15 Sep 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Kim McGrail is the Scientific Director of Health Data Research Network, a CIHR funded initiative whose work in the health data space has implications ...
The Business and Politics of Engagement, with John Perenack of StrategyCorp (Health Policy Series)
26 Jul 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In previous episodes we've talked a lot about high-level rationales for engagement, like democratic principles and moral or ethical obligations. But w...
Black Communities, Medical Mistrust and COVID Response, with Alpha Abebe and Rhonda C. George (Health Policy Series)
16 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we continue our conversation with Alpha Abebe and Rhonda C. George! (Haven't heard the first conversation yet? Listen here!) This t...
”Flipping the script” on narratives about Black communities and engagement, with Alpha Abebe and Rhonda C. George (Health Policy Series)
07 Jun 2022
Contributed by Lukas
In this episode, we continue our Health Policy series with guests Alpha Abebe and Rhonda C. George. Alpha and Rhonda's research foregrounds Black comm...
Health Policy Series Kick-off!: A retrospective look at public engagement, with Julia Abelson
19 May 2022
Contributed by Lukas
We're back! We're excited to get rolling on this new series on Health Policy! We have a range of questions we want to explore, including: who is inv...
Onwards and upwards: Jen and Emily check in
13 Apr 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Just a quick check in to say hello and share what's next! [download transcript]
Season 3 Finale: Patient Partner Reflections, brought to you by OSSU
29 Mar 2022
Contributed by Lukas
For this final episode of Season 3, we want to acknowledge the Ontario SPOR SUPPORT Unit for supporting us to get this project off the ground and esta...
Moral Distress in Engagement Professionals, with Mark Weir
03 Feb 2022
Contributed by Lukas
Our guest Mark Weir is a seasoned engagement professional working in healthcare. Typically, engagement-related communities of practice tend to focus o...
Engagement in Context: Reflections from Jenn Broad and Paula Tookey of the South Riverdale Community Health Centre
20 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Most of our episodes have been about engagement in institutional healthcare spaces - places like hospitals or research institutes. But of course, ther...
Discussing Failures in Participatory Research, with Lori Ross
13 Dec 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We initially invited Lori Ross on the podcast to discuss the PEERS (Peers Examining Experiences in Research) Study - a 2 yr federally funded researc...
We‘re looking for patient partner stories and experiences!
28 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Hi there – Jennifer here! We know everyone’s busy this time of year, so just a quick announcement! We’re looking for some short contributions ...
Interview Extra: Advocacy and Health Equity, feat. Biba Tinga of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of Canada
25 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Our guest, Biba Tinga, is President and Executive Director of the Sickle Cell Disease Association of Canada. We initially spoke with Biba to ask for h...
Equity, Diversity, and Patient Engagement - with Dr. Nav Persaud
16 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
There's increasing pressure on government and healthcare institutions to address barriers to health equity, which disproportionately impact people who...
Webinar Extra: Paula Rowland presents Dilemmas of Representation for BPER
02 Nov 2021
Contributed by Lukas
On October 12 2021, Emily and Jennifer moderated an online presentation featuring Paula Rowland. Paula was a guest way back in Season One, discussing ...
Patient-Oriented to Patient-Partnered: Aspirations, Implications, Challenges
19 Oct 2021
Contributed by Lukas
In this first episode of Season 3, we go back to basics. What does "patient-oriented" (as in patient-oriented research) actually mean? To answer thi...
Webinar Extra: Podcasts and Patient Engagement - with SPORcast, PEP Talks and Matters of Engagement
04 Mar 2021
Contributed by Lukas
We're busy preparing for our next season. But in the meantime, we have a fun episode to share with you! It's the recording of the webinar we did in co...
Walking a Tightrope: Inside the Engagement Professional Role, with Kelli Dilworth
25 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
The Ontario Center of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health is an organization that supports the child and youth mental health sector through a...
Research Ethics Boards and Patient Partnership
12 Jan 2021
Contributed by Lukas
Back in December 2020, Jennifer moderated a panel for Child-Bright titled "Roles and Relationships: Ethical Considerations Related to Involving Childr...
Engaging in Storytelling, Part 3: "Creating Spaces for Storytellers" - produced by PEP Talks
17 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We have a special mini-series we’re releasing this week: Engaging in Storytelling: A 3-part collaborative podcast series with SPOR Cast, Matters o...
Engaging in Storytelling, Part 2: "Organizations and Patient Stories" - produced by Matters of Engagement
16 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We have a special mini-series we’re releasing this week: Engaging in Storytelling: A 3-part collaborative podcast series with SPOR Cast, Matters o...
Engaging in Storytelling, Part 1: "The Patient Story Experience - Cost or Benefit?" by SPORcast"
15 Dec 2020
Contributed by Lukas
We have a special mini-series we’re releasing this week: Engaging in Storytelling: A 3-part collaborative podcast series with SPOR Cast, Matters o...
Vagueness of language, unarticulated assumptions, and maintaining the status quo. With Amy Katz and Melody Morton Ninomiya
23 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
This is a conversation we've been sitting with for many weeks, thinking hard about how to present it. We spoke to our guests with the idea we would si...
Patient Experience as Evidence, with Miles Sibley
08 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
The Patient Experience Library is a UK-based online archive of research and reports focused on patient experience. They just published a report titled...
Hosts Jennifer and Emily learn to "let go of perfection"
02 Nov 2020
Contributed by Lukas
It'll be another week or so until we release our next scheduled episode. So we thought this would be a perfect opportunity to give listeners a bit of ...
Lived Experience, with Katherine Dib and Katie Birnie of SKIP
18 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
What exactly do we mean when we say 'lived experience'? What does it convey that other terms don't? What sort of extra 'work' is the term doing, and f...
Policy development in a pandemic - is there a role for patient partners? With Julie Drury and Christa Haanstra
04 Oct 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Early on in the pandemic, Ontario's long term care (and other healthcare) facilities) shut out all visitors and family members from visiting their lov...
Reflections on Engagement, with Lorraine, Maureen, Keith and Jess
31 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
In this final episode of the season, we invite special guests Lorraine, Maureen and Keith (patient partners) as well as Jess (researcher/MD from the U...
Evaluating Holland Bloorview's Family Leadership Program, with Aman Sium
17 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
How does an organization like Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital evaluate its extensive client and family engagement programs? Join us for...
Evaluating Patient Engagement, A Conversation with Julia Abelson
03 Aug 2020
Contributed by Lukas
How can we evaluate patient engagement when often the goals for engagement are not clearly defined or articulated? How do we come to agreement on what...
Compensation, with Zal Press and Dawn P. Richards
20 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
How to compensate patient partners, and under what circumstances, has long been a topic of debate among patient partners, researchers, and engagement ...
Democratic patient-led councils, the rise of patient engagement, and the erosion of advocacy - with Lucy Costa
06 Jul 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Patient engagement is often loosely described as adhering to democratic principles even though, as we discussed in Dilemmas of Representation, there i...
Dilemmas of Representation, with Paula Rowland
29 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Calls for more diversity and better representation among engaged patients or patient partners seem to prompt changes to recruitment tactics and making...
Expertise Part 2, with Francine Buchanan
16 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Patient partners should be supported to elevate their skills and knowledge so they can contribute to healthcare improvement and system change, as expe...
Expertise Part 1, with Frank Gavin
16 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Are patients ‘experts’? Does lived experience automatically mean one has expertise? What are we really saying, or accomplishing, when we call pati...
Meet the hosts!
10 Jun 2020
Contributed by Lukas
Welcome to Matters of Engagement - a podcast exploring the complex world of patient engagement and partnership. Full episodes will be released startin...