We are thrilled to announce that PEAS has won the Health Quality Council of Alberta Patient Experience award for 2023!

The Pediatric Eating and Swallowing (PEAS) Project was initiated because of a strong desire to improve care for children who have a feeding disorder. An estimated 35% of typically developing children and 80% of developmentally vulnerable children have eating and swallowing difficulties, associated with significant health risks, increased use of medical services, family stress, and expense. From the outset, PEAS focused on listening to and collaborating with families, creating a range of resources including an innovative, one-stop shop website for families and healthcare providers.

Over 3.5 years, PEAS has involved families in every aspect of the project including participation in committees, providing input on the website and materials, family feedback surveys, focus groups, participating in conferences, and sharing their stories in our workshops.

Acting on family input and driven by evidence, our outpatient and community care teams across Alberta worked together like peas in a pod to improve healthcare quality, resulting in fewer emergency visits and hospitalizations, more families receiving a care plan, more timely access to services, and a high satisfaction rating from families.

As part of the award, PEAS receives a $2000 education grant, a plaque, and a 5 minute video that will be released this fall to share our story.

This is such a rewarding way to recognize everyone’s efforts as we wrap up the project phase and a great reminder of the importance of family engagement, and how important it is to sustain this work.

Congratulations to all of the HQCA award winners and everyone involved in providing eating, feeding and swallowing care! PEAS take a bow!