The SPHERE/SNAP Workshop was initially designed as an intensive two day in-person workshop that explored a systemic nonlinear approach to analyse and understand adverse events in healthcare. As a result of Covid, the workshop was transitioned to an on-line eight week workshop that combines brief presentations, case studies, exercises and active dialogue between participants and the faculty.
SPHERE refers to Shifting the Paradigm in Healthcare Event Review and Evaluation and reflects a different way of thinking about events in complex adaptive systems (CAS) – healthcare being a prime example of a CAS. The approach can be effectively applied retrospectively to better understand healthcare harm events that have occurred as well as prospectively to assess projects and processes under consideration.
SNAP refers to the Systemic Nonlinear Analysis Protocol that is at the core of this approach. Faculty include a certified patient safety investigator with years of experience and a healthcare safety scientist.
The Workshops have been received enthusiastically and the on-line version of the SPHERE/SNAP Workshop led to this comments:
“We reached out to Dr. Robson to provide a SPHERE workshop for our team of patient safety investigators. Originally planned as an in-person workshop, they were able to rapidly redesign this as a virtual training series for us so that we could continue learning during the pandemic. The virtual sessions were extremely interactive with small-group breakout sessions that lent themselves to engaging dialogue. The facilitators were experienced and incredibly knowledgeable, and we appreciated having a patient voice perspective in our discussions. Our team has gained a better understanding of systemic non-linear perspectives, along with some methods and tools, for the review of adverse events. Highly recommended.” Shari McKeown, Director Patient Safety, Interior Health Authority, British Columbia.”
The manual for the course is available on-line at no cost.
For details about either in-person or online versions of the SPHERE/SNAP workshop, including costs, scheduling, and preferred number of participants please send a description of your situation to info@robrobson.ca. We can tailor the course to your specific needs.
SPHERE/SNAP Workshop Videos (YouTube)
SPHERE WORKSHOP: Welcome, Introduction and Overview of SPHERE Workshop
Welcome, definitions of SPHERE and SNAP, overview of the workshop session flow and materials to follow, invitation to read the Overview section of the SPHERE manual.
Homework: who you are and why you are doing this work, what are your values, and why they are important to you.
SPHERE WORKSHOP: Module 1 – The Context for Patient Safety Efforts in Canada
The Context for patient safety efforts in Canada. Why its important?
Invitation to review the questions for open discussion at the beginning of Module 1.
Think again why you are interested in promoting patient safety.
Homework research question: How many acute care beds there are in the entire interior health region? What would you expect to be the number of preventable, adverse events that reach patients that cause harm including death? How many actually are being reported? Why is there a difference between those two?
The SPHERE WORKSHOP: Module 2 – Healthcare, Complex Systems and Complexity Science
This module is a workshop that explores the application of complexity science in healthcare systems. The workshop focuses on the understanding of healthcare as a complex system, which consists of multiple interconnected elements that interact in a non-linear way.
SPHERE WORKSHOP: Module 3 – Approaches to Investigations. Making the “Form Fit the Fuss”
The workshop aims to introduce participants to complexity science concepts and methodologies, such as network science, agent-based modeling, and system dynamics. It also highlights the potential of these approaches in addressing complex problems in healthcare systems, such as reducing hospital readmissions, improving patient safety, and optimizing resource allocation.
