Reimagining Engagement in Healthcare
Post Date: May 29, 2025 | Publish Date: Oct. 1, 2024
As Erin Moore, a Collaborative Learning Health Systems patient leader says, “There’s no one more engaged in my care than me as the patient. I want (my doctors) to engage in my work, not to try to get me engaged in what they think I should do.”
The most powerful improvements to health and healthcare happen when everyone has a seat at the table. Engagement isn’t just for patients and families—everyone can and should be involved. In Collaborative Learning Health Systems (CLHSs), engagement means creating, using, and sharing resources that improve health.
A recent publication, Engagement as a mechanism of action in collaborative learning health systems, presents a new way to define and understand engagement. Instead of viewing it as simple participation or following medical advice, the CLHS model sees engagement as a key driver of progress. It brings together patients, families, clinicians, researchers, and community partners to work together to solve problems and create and share solutions.
Key Lessons and Insights
One of the main takeaways is that relationships matter. The article highlights the importance of emotional connection—trust, empathy, and shared goals—as a foundation for meaningful collaboration. These personal ties help build stronger teams and support lasting change.
CLHSs also rely on systems that make engagement easier, such as clear ways to get involved, shared values that encourage contribution, and a culture where everyone is expected to teach and learn from one another. The idea is simple—everyone has something to offer, and better results come when more voices are included.
The article also underscores the need for better ways to measure engagement. Traditional tools tend to focus only on visible actions, like speaking at conferences or leading projects, but engagement can also be quiet and behind-the-scenes, such as creating toolkits, onboarding new members, or using pre-visit planning tools, and those forms are just as important to recognize and support.
What’s Next?
CLHSs show us what’s possible when engagement is redefined—not as a checkbox, but as a shared effort to improve healthcare for everyone involved. Looking ahead, CLHS leaders are calling for more research. Key questions include: What supports or limits engagement? How does it vary across settings? How does it affect care and outcomes? A deeper understanding of these patterns will help build stronger, more inclusive models of collaboration.
Redefining engagement through the CLHS lens offers promising avenues for healthcare improvement. As we continue to explore and refine these dynamics, we can build health systems that are more collaborative, more inclusive, and more effective.
Cincinnati Children’s believes in the power and promise of the Learning Health Systems model, which CLHSs are built upon, and supports a variety of chronic care and community-based Learning Health Networks. Visit our website to learn more about our approach and methods.
About the Study
Michael Seid, PhD, Division of Pulmonary Medicine and the James M. Anderson Center for Health Systems Excellence at Cincinnati Children’s, was first author. Alexandra Vinson, PhD, University of Michigan, was corresponding author. David Hartley, PhD, MPH, with the Anderson Center, was a co-author.
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| Original title: | Engagement as a mechanism of action in collaborative learning health systems |
| Published in: | Learning Health Systems |
| Publish date: | Oct. 1, 2024 |
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The Research Horizons blog features news and insights about the latest discoveries and innovations developed by the scientists of Cincinnati Children's. This blog does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
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