Lived Experience Partners
Helping to shape health care for residents in our region
Lived Experience Partners
Our goal is to create a health care system that is co-designed with, and responsive to, the diverse needs, preferences and experiences of patients, families and caregivers. We do this by fostering meaningful and inclusive partnerships at all levels of care delivery and decision making.
To achieve this, we partner with individuals who have lived or living experience to provide insight and direction on every part of the care journey for our patients and family members.
At the Barrie and Area Ontario Health Team (BAOHT), our Lived Experience Partners are essential to shaping a local health system that truly reflects the needs of the people it serves.
These volunteers are patients, caregivers, family and community members who bring their lived experiences with health and social care to the table. Their voices help ensure that decisions about programs, services and priorities are grounded in the experiences of those who access them.
What They Do
Lived Experience Partners contribute across our Ontario Health Team in meaningful ways by:
- Sharing insights based on personal experiences with health and social care in our region
- Participating in committees, working groups and leadership tables
- Providing advice and feedback on planning, policies and system improvements
- Helping to design and improve care that is more connected, compassionate and person-centred
- Representing the diverse needs of our communities
Whether at community events, operational meetings or strategic planning sessions, contributions from Lived Experience Partners help us keep the needs of community members at the centre of everything we do.
Contributions at the Barrie and Area OHT
Lived Experience Partners are actively involved across many areas of the BAOHT. Their contributions include participation in the following groups and activities.
Working Group and Project Teams, including:
- Executive Committee
- Collaboration Council
- Equity Diversity Inclusion and Anti-Racism
- Mental Health and Addictions
- Lower Limb Preservation Project
Additional involvement, such as:
- LEP recruitment and onboarding
- Community engagement events
- Guidance and input on OHT deliverables
- Community of Practice group participation
Why It Matters
Lived Experience Partners help bridge the gap between the health system and the people it serves. Their stories and perspectives challenge assumptions, foster empathy and spark innovation. As we work to transform care delivery, their input ensures that the system evolves in a way that is more equitable, accessible and responsive to all.
Frequently Asked Questions
We acknowledge and value the various terms used to refer to individuals receiving health care services. It is important to recognize that within the work our OHT, the terms patient, family, caregiver and persons with lived/living experience are used interchangeably.
Our goal is to bring together people with lived experience, whether that’s as a patient, client,
caregiver, family member or an advocate organization. By sharing your experiences and
perspectives, you can help us make important changes to improve health care services for other
patients, clients, families and caregivers. With member input, Lived Experience Partners will help to provide advice,
recommendation and guidance to the Barrie and Area OHT Collaboration Council, working groups and sub-
committees, helping to drive the co-design of an integrated patient-centred health care system for our
region.
Anyone with lived experience accessing local health care services who is willing to share their personal stories to help make a difference in health care.
Lived Experience Partners (LEP) participate as council and working group members across the many sectors care. LEPs volunteer their time to work with health care partner organizations to encourage and provide input on policies, programs and practices while remaining a champion for equitable and inclusive care.
Ontario Health Teams are a new way to organize and deliver services in local communities to provide patients with better connected care. Under Ontario Health Teams, the health care providers who care for you (including hospitals, doctors and home and community care providers) work together as one coordinated team — no matter where they provide care.
Approved by the Ministry of Health in 2021, the Barrie and Area Ontario Health Team represents a partnership of 19 community agencies, caring for an attributed population of nearly 200,000 people in Barrie, Innisfil, Springwater, Oro-Medonte and Essa. Working together, the partners will strengthen trust and build capacity to enhance care in Barrie and surrounding area, focusing on three key goals: Enhancing care for frail seniors; Palliative care; and COVID-19 recovery and response.
Shared Purpose:
Working together for a healthier community.
Guiding Principles:
- Co-design with Patients, Families and Caregivers
- Be courageous, collaborative and transparent
- Advance diversity, equity and inclusion
- Optimize, align and leverage resources
Areas of Focus:
- Improve Community Access and Equity
- Advance and Spread Integrated Care
- Strengthen Collective Leadership and Collaborative Government