| Authors: |
Chang M; Melissa Changsenior director, connected care and naturally occurring retirement communities (NORC) Innovation Centre, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, has over 20 years in healthcare leadership. Melissa brings people and ideas together to deliver new ways to approach health and well-being. Her track record spans work across sectors (acute, mental health, primary care, home and community), addressing scale and sustainability for some of healthcare's most pressing challenges. Her expertise in change management, implementation science and digital health is currently focused on delivering integrated models of care working with communities and individuals most in need. Melissa has helped lead pivotal initiatives across the province, from improving wait times to advancing integrated care programs that connect services and create much-needed capacity. She also serves as board chair at Unison Community Health Centre, Toronto, ON, advocating for equitable access to care., Recknagel J; Jen Recknagel, director, NORC Innovation Centre, University Health Network (UHN), Toronto, ON, is a human-centred designer focused on improving health and social care systems. For more than a decade, she has designed and advanced a community-led model of integrated care in naturally occurring retirement communities and developed the UHN NORC Program. She directs the Centre's design and innovation strategy, guiding the growth and evolution of this model. Under her leadership, the program has expanded to more than 30 NORC buildings across Toronto, reaching over 4,500 older adults. She also developed the NORC Ambassadors program, which supports older adults to lead peer support and local engagement for aging in place initiatives. With a background in systems thinking and social innovation, Jen brings over 15 years of experience in design research and strategy. Her work applies a human-centred lens to complex systems and now focuses on issues of scale and fidelity, implementation support and embedding community-led approaches in integrated care. Her work is grounded in participatory and relational ways of working. |
