Last week, we detailed the findings of virtual convenings we held in North Carolina to improve care for children with complex health needs (CCHN). Here, we share our takeaways about the process of planning, holding and following-up on the convenings. We also outline the specific steps other leaders, innovators, and advocates can take to engage virtually with local and regional community partners.
Three needs motivated our coalition’s efforts
In 2021, we formed the Children’s Complex Care Coalition of North Carolina 
(nicknamed Path-4CNC) to improve care for CCHN in our state. We planned to hold in-person convenings to figure out where to start. Given COVID-19, we switched to virtual convenings with community partners. We knew this is something many other coalitions are surely experiencing, but we weren’t quite sure whether they would be effective.
Three needs motivated our efforts:
- Better information from families with CCHN on which problems to prioritize in our improvement efforts
- Understand the challenges and successes of existing CCHN initiatives in North Carolina
- Understand how North Carolina’s present transition to Medicaid managed care might affect systems of care for CCHN.
Planning and delivering the virtual convenings
To address these goals, we formed a coalition of partners from across the state with diverse experiences and interests in the system of care. To start, our Path-4CNC team convened a 16-member advisory panel. It was made up of 3 parents of CCHN, 3 state public health officials, 6 pediatricians from diverse practice settings, and 1 state Medicaid official. The panel also included 3 representatives of child service and advocacy agencies who were critical to recruiting community partners from around the state to participate in the convenings.
The convenings were held in January-March, 2021. We invited 90 partners representing state and local agencies, health professionals, community organizations, and families of CCHN from across the state. Each 2 ½ hour virtual convening consisted of several parts. At each convening we started with a keynote presentation. Then we held a brief didactic session focused on practical topics relevant to families of CCHN. Finally, we held a small group exercise to foster discussion and elevate recommendations.
Takeaway 1: Virtual convenings can be successful and engaging
We learned that participant engagement is definitely possible using a virtual format. For example, in our small groups, participants were excited to engage with one another in discussion and through the chat function. They also actively used our shared online workspace and presented small group discussion results with the full group.
We opened each convening with an interactive welcome activity, one where participants identified their role and location using the chat function. This strategy helped to emphasize the collaborative nature of the virtual sessions. It also helped to set the tone for participant engagement in this work.
Rich participant engagement is important for the convenings themselves. Engagement is also essential for sustaining momentum after the virtual series. Our participants have remained engaged in the work of the Path-4CNC team. We continue to update convening participants with deliverables, upcoming opportunities, and proposals for shared improvement work.
Takeaway 2: Involving student volunteers is helpful and rewarding
We also learned that involving undergraduate and graduate student volunteers in the convening process can be mutually rewarding. Path-4CNC recruited both undergraduate and graduate students to support pre-convening planning, the conduct of the virtual convenings, and analysis of information gathered during the convenings. Afterwards, past Path-4CNC student volunteers have remained up-to-date with Path-4CNC’s work.
Involving students was fruitful for both the Path-4CNC team and the students themselves. Students brought diverse perspectives to the Path-4CNC team by sharing their knowledge about their own fields of study. The student volunteers had a wide array of academic interests, ranging from global health to neuroscience to business. By participating in the Path-4CNC virtual convenings as scribes and discussion group facilitators, the students were able to learn from individuals with lived experience. They also connected with pediatricians, policymakers, nurses, and other professionals from across the state in a small group setting.
Takeaway 3: Use the participant network to sustain momentum
After the third and final virtual convening, we shared our hopes and goals for the future with the participants. We continue to keep our participants and student volunteers up to date with the work of the Path-4CNC team. We have recently used several connections from the virtual convenings to start a new project.
This new project aims to better map the landscape of complex care resources in North Carolina. By distributing an online survey to pediatric complex care providers across the state, we hope to collect the information necessary to start developing linkages between the various complex care providers and their healthcare clinics, hospital departments, and research teams.
Steps and tips for hosting virtual convenings
Here are the steps we took to plan, convene, and follow-up on our virtual convenings. The approaches can be modified to suit the needs of other coalitions.
Step 1: Develop agendas that reflect the priorities of community partners
- Conduct an open-ended survey of community partners to determine their priorities.
- Prioritize topics based on importance and urgency.
- Integrate prioritized topics into the virtual convening agendas.
Step 2: Plan the convenings
- Structure the agenda events for each convening
- Path-4CNC incorporated a keynote presentation (20 minutes), a brief didactic session (10 minutes) focused on practical topics of relevance to families of CCHN (i.e., “bite-size talks”), and a small group exercise (90 minutes) to foster discussion (i.e., “gallery walk”).
- Path-4CNC incorporated a keynote presentation (20 minutes), a brief didactic session (10 minutes) focused on practical topics of relevance to families of CCHN (i.e., “bite-size talks”), and a small group exercise (90 minutes) to foster discussion (i.e., “gallery walk”).
- Connect with and invite presenters who have lived experience.
- Distribute pre-convening materials to attendees.
- Distribute convening registration forms [pdf].
- Create attendee spreadsheets [.xlsx] to organize breakout rooms.
- Distribute background materials [.docx] to attendees ahead of time.
Step 3: Host the convenings
- Facilitate accessibility and inclusion for attendees (e.g., ASL/Spanish interpretation)
- Record and transcribe didactic sessions and small group exercises.
- Promote attendee engagement in a virtual environment with an interactive welcome activity.
Step 4: Obtain participant feedback and conduct your analyses
- Provide a post-convening feedback form [.docx] after each convening in the series.
- Create a post-convening networking form [.docx] to share with attendees to help the Path-4CNC team keep in touch.
- Conduct your thematic analysis.
- Path-4CNC team members worked in pairs to review verbatim transcriptions to identify common discussion themes and generate final recommendations.
Step 5: Sustain momentum after the convenings
- Maintain communication and connection with attendees.
- Find areas for continued collaboration (projects, grants, etc).
- Partner with other groups and organizations with shared goals.
Find additional information about replicating and adapting the Path-4CNC virtual convening format here. And read our first blog post detailing findings and recommendations from the virtual convenings.
Sophie Hurewitz
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