Our HERC team has produced several ‘catalyst films’ over time – whether as a primary or secondary product from the different research projects we have been involved with to gather and share individual experiences of illness. Catalyst films are short films – usually about 20 minutes – that feature video and audio excerpts from the interviews we conducted with people talking about their experiences of health and healthcare. They are organized around the themes or topics important to the participants in our studies, based on rigorous analysis of diverse experiences. The purpose of the films is to provide a catalyst (or trigger) for discussion and thinking about improving person-centred care and services, designed to ensure there is meaningful and authentic representation of people’s voices in decision-making about health system design, quality improvement, policy, and/or education. In chemistry, a catalyst is something that speeds up or enables a reaction by lowering the required activation energy, making it faster and more efficient. Here, we are hoping that these short films provide easily accessible, evidence-based information as a stimulus to discussions about the issues facing people with lived experience of various health challenges, as well as inspire solutions! With sincere thanks to all the participants who shared their stories to help support others.
Historically, catalyst films are a product of an approach used in participatory research called Experience-Based Co-Design (Bate and Robert, 2006; Robert, 2013; Donetto et al, 2014) or Accelerated Experience-Based Co-Design (Locock, 2014), where the collection and presentation of patient experiences contributes to discussions with healthcare professionals, patients, decision makers and researchers about the redesign of care processes within organizations. However, they also have terrific value for a variety of other purposes such as in professional education, public awareness campaigns, health and social care design at the systems level, priority-setting exercises for research or care improvement, and/or as a contribution to policy development or reform.
Our colleagues at Health Experiences USA have developed a guidebook for developing and using catalyst films which can be accessed on their website here:
https://www.healthexperiencesusa.org/uploads/files/HealthEX%20Catalyst%20Films%20General%20Guidebook.pdf
References:
Bate P, Robert G. (2006). Experience-based design: from redesigning the system around the patient to co-designing services with the patient. Quality & Safety in Health Care, 15(5), 207-2010. https://doi.org/10.1136/qshc.2005.016527
Donetto S, Tsianakas V, Robert G. (2014). Using experience-based Co-design (EBCD) to improve the quality of healthcare: mapping where we are now and establishing future directions. King’s College London: London.
Robert G. Participatory action research: using experience-based co-design to improve the quality of healthcare services. (2013). Chapter 14 in: Understanding and Using Health Experiences, Edited by S Ziebland, A Coulter, JD Calabrese, and L Locock. Oxford University Press: Oxford.
Locock L, Robert G, Boaz A, Vougioukalou S, Shuldham C, Fielden J, Ziebland S, Gager M, Tollyfield R, Pearcey, J. (2014). Testing accelerated experience-based co-design: a qualitative study of using a national archive of patient experience narrative interviews to promote rapid patient-centred service improvement. Health Services and Delivery Research, 2(4). https://doi.org/10.3310/hsdr02040
Co-Designing Care on a Geriatric Assessment Unit (Co-design Project)
This 24-minute catalyst film was created from interviews with 10 patients and caregivers about their experiences on a geriatric assessment unit in Montreal. It was part of a wider project using experience-based co-design involving patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals working on these wards to contribute ideas to improving care processes. This project was funded by the St. Mary’s Hospital Foundation, with special thanks to the Dylla Family.
Improving the Discharge Process from a Hospital (Co-design Project)
This catalyst film was created from interviews with patients and caregivers to contribute to efforts to improve the hospital discharge process from internal medicine. It was part of a larger study to gather information about transitions from hospital to home or community to improve care from the perspectives of patients, families and healthcare professionals. This work was supported under a sub-grant to St. Mary’s Research Centre from CIHR study funds held by Dr. Robyn Tamblyn at McGill University.
Link to published paper on this study: https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.14023
Co-Designing Cancer Survivorship (Looking Forward Project)
This is a 22-minute catalyst film featuring excerpts from five group discussions with cancer survivors and healthcare professionals about experiences of cancer care and perspectives and implication for life following acute care and treatment. The presentation of results is organized around themes that were identified in the analysis of the interviews and focus groups. This study was funded by the Rossy Cancer Network in Quebec.
Link to published paper on this study: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmir.2017.02.005
Link to published abstract: https://www.jmirs.org/action/showPdf?pii=S1939-8654%2817%2930019-X
Experiences of Mental Health and Pregnancy (Health Experiences Project)
This slightly longer film (32 minutes) was created following a pilot project about women’s experiences of mental health problems during and after pregnancy. It features excerpts from interviews with 21 women in Ontario and Quebec who shared their stories and personal experiences of living with various mental health challenges. This study was funded by the St. Mary’s Hospital Foundation in Montreal from a donation by the Canadian Royal Bank Foundation.
Link to published paper on this study: https://doi.org/10.1111/inm.12884
We then were able to extend our study to complete a full health experiences module including a diverse sample of 32 participants in total from across Canada. The results are featured on our website – with in-depth topic pages on many different topics related to women’s experiences of mental health and pregnancy.
View full module
