Walking a Tightrope: Inside the Engagement Professional Role, with Kelli Dilworth

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 number of initiatives and services. Their approach to developing and delivering that support is done in active collaboration with young people and their families. In healthcare spaces, we often see engagement practice as something separate, maybe adjacent, to everyday operations. But here, youth and family involvement is deeply embedded. Kelli Dilworth is a Knowledge Broker at the Center. She's responsible for supporting agencies and their engagement efforts, and implementing quality standards for youth and family engagement.

For this episode, we've put aside the ins and outs of Kelli's job per se, and instead wanted to share her reflections and insights about her role - the rewards and frustrations that come with both her official responsibilities and the personal obligations and commitments she feels to the young people that she works with. It really is a tightrope - and Kelli's honesty and openness help us get a better understanding.

[download transcript]

Mentioned in this episode:

• Ontario Center of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health
• Ontario Center of Excellence for Child and Youth Mental Health on Twitter 

Also, join Matters of Engagement, SPORcast and PEP Talks for a live collaboration event on February 2 for a session titled "Podcasting and Patient Engagment"! Details and registration here.