Your Partner In Patient Care

Angelique Berg
Executive Director

Debbie Gates
Communications and Education Manager

Canadian Orthopaedic Foundation

Imagine the time you could liberate with a real resource where your patients can get answers to their non-medical questions and an understanding ear when they need to talk – time already in short supply. Imagine your confidence in referring the patient to that resource, accessible from a computer or anywhere there are telephones. Imagine the simplicity of giving your patient a postcard, and assuring them that the answers and support they seek is in their own hands. Imagine their comfort in having their questions answered in their own home, and their gratitude to you for having given them the power to help themselves.

We’re almost there. We aspire to be your partner in patient care.

The Canadian Orthopaedic Foundation hears daily the non-medical, practical questions your patients have as they approach their surgery date. The Foundation has become a responsive, patient-focused national health charity, and we know the needs of those we aim to serve. We’re building programmes and services to meet those needs – complementing and extending care provided in your office and in hospital to the comfort of the patient’s home.

Ortho Connect
Ortho Connect is a peer support programme that matches current patients with a trained volunteer – a past patient of similar treatment – and enables them to talk through questions and concerns over the phone. The support is intended to provide practical insight into what to expect, how to prepare their home and their life, and to ease a patient’s anxiety about their upcoming surgery. Ortho Connect is an extension of the expert care and reassurance surgeons provide to their patients.

Currently in limited launch phase, the feedback from patients already confirms our research that this programme is exactly what many patients seek. One Ortho Connect client had this to say, “I had a long conversation with Anne [volunteer] … totally delightful woman. Anne answered pretty much [everything] and put my heart at ease. It is pretty hard to talk to just anybody … they don’t understand. She said things that I didn’t have to ask … that were in the back of my mind bothering me.”

The Foundation aims to make the Ortho Connect service available across the country this year. Further information will be announced in this space.

Reading Resources
Web and print-based information on various orthopaedic procedures aimed at making the patient’s experience a little easier is available from the Foundation. A list of questions and a checklist helps patients to organize their medical questions for you, and to practically prepare for their upcoming surgery. We continue to add information to our Patient Education and Patient Resources sections. Check it out at www.canorth.org.

Future Newsletter
We’re researching the development of a newsletter for current and future patients that may include:

• Info on new procedures, new technology, research in orthopaedics, new products (medications and devices)
• Sections on: prevention, treatment, rehabilitation, living well
• Patient stories
• Info on patient programmes/info available from the Foundation

Do you currently submit articles to other publications? Perhaps that same article could be included in our newsletter. Let us know if you’re interested in writing short information pieces to share with patients.

We welcome your input. The Foundation continually seeks to improve the information it makes available to patients. If you have a suggestion or would like to contribute to the development of patient information, contact Debbie Gates, Communications and Education Manager via e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or via telephone at 416-410-2341, extension 3.

Imagine the possibilities!