2024 Agenda

Every leader has a different leadership style. Depending on the organization’s culture, many styles can be effective.

In this panel discussion, we will explore different leadership experiences, what has worked, what hasn’t, and where we see the communications role’s biggest challenges – and how to manage them.

We have proliferation of communication tools thrown at us, but email continues to drive up our attention to the point of saturation. Whether you are struggling to keep up, or are an Inbox 0 aficionado, email will consume a large part of your day, breaking your focus, and preventing quality time to provide creative strategies.

In this session, we will learn how email can be better managed to free up time for more creative endeavours.

Key Session Takeaways Include:

• Why email is such a behemoth to slay, and what you can do to manage it
• How to keep on top of email without it overwhelming your time
• Simple strategies to get started, and how to set up expectations

Great communications start with great insights that are grounded in data. As one of the largest community hospitals serving one of the fastest growing communities, William Osler Health System (Osler) uses regular community studies to capture perceptions and attitudes among its community to help shape insightful communications strategies that result in meaningful PR campaigns. This strategic approach to reputation-building helps ensure that communications resonate with audiences, translate into results, and help shift the narrative.

Key Session Takeaways Include:

• How Osler benchmarked and how that informed its PR strategy
• Where Osler’s PR team focused its efforts to change the narrative through campaigns
• The importance of developing a storytelling campaign, and what that looks like

Healthcare organizations are facing a national nursing shortage. We are seeing this in both rural and urban areas, with few success stories to share.

Many of us are actively working on this, and some have seen some success. But most of us are still engaged in recruitment drives.

This is your chance to sit down and learn how to reset your strategy, and deliver on the results you need.

Key Session Takeaways Include:

• Discuss which successful strategies were developed, and why
• How were nurses targeted and how did geography factor in
• How you can develop a step-by-step plan on how to achieve similar results

Recruitment continues to be a national healthcare challenge, requiring the expertise of various teams to executive a coherent and successful strategy.

Often, we are now seeing the communications department becoming a vital part of this strategy.

Key Session Takeaways Include:

• Interesting ways to showcase the “Why Work Here” through team stories
• Innovative strategies to integrate your recruitment brand in all internal and external channels consistently
• How to partner with your community to create inclusive and accessible recruitment initiatives

One of the core responsibilities for healthcare communicators is stakeholder engagement. Used effectively, it can have incredible benefits; its ineffective use can be detrimental to your organization’s goals.

This discussion will dive into the various ways we pursue stakeholder engagement, what has worked, what hasn’t, what has changed in the past few years.

Key Session Takeaways Include:

• How to understand what is your audience looking for, and how it shifts over time
• How should critical messages be delivered – and in which tone
• What new best practices in stakeholder communications have emerged since Covid

The annual economic cost of mental illness in Canada is estimated at over $50 billion per year. The annual economic cost of substance use in Canada is estimated at nearly $40 billion. The cost of a workplace disability leave for a mental illness is about double the cost of a leave due to a physical illness. While the economic costs of mental illness are clear – there are other costs that aren’t as obvious: the cost of creativity, the cost of new ideas, and the cost of productivity. 

When done effectively, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives can not only impact communities, but also workplace culture and company reputation. It’s an opportunity to present your company’s values and showcase your commitment to fostering a better future, whether that be in health, environment, recreation or more. 

However, without strong communication and knowledge mobilization principles underscoring your strategy, CSR often results in confusing messaging, and unclear goals for audiences.

Key Session Takeaways Included:

• 5 strategies you can begin implementing as soon as tomorrow to help overcome common barriers and obstacles
• Explore ways to ensure your solutions are grounded in lived expertise, marketing best practices and subsequently, more effective, accessible and relevant
• Learn how you can leverage Frayme’s expertise, resources and network to implement your own effective social impact strategy

Discover how Indigenous accessibility diverges from general compliance principles. Join in the discussion as we delve into cultural considerations and Indigenous perspectives that foster inclusive solutions.

Key Session Takeaways Include:

• Gain valuable insights from agency experiences on applying accessibility standards meaningfully for Indigenous audiences
• Explore the power of engaging and creating projects that resonate with Indigenous communities
• Challenge norms, embrace inclusivity, and focus on creating positive change through this insightful presentation

Communications professionals require their message to reach their target audience. Sometimes it’s the patient and caregiver, sometimes the hospital staff, and sometimes it’s the media and government influencers.

Reaching key government legislators to influence policy is the most difficult. Yet that is what Patricia Tomasi was able to do. She was able to create a movement that helped draft a motion to create a national strategy on post partum depression, and convince Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to include “timely access to perinatal mental health services” on his mandate letter for the minister of mental health and addictions in 2021.

Key Session Takeaways Include:

• How can communicators maximize their opportunities to gain media attention even as media outlets continue to decline?
• How should communicators position stories and provide the best scenario for influence
• Strategies for crafting your message to influence those in the political sphere
• Where the best bang for your buck lies, and where to focus your efforts as you look to expand your reach