Fifth International Conference on Practice Facilitation (ICPF) Focuses on Building Resilience and Promoting Professional Wellness

With continued support from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and NAPCRG, the 5th International Conference on Practice Facilitation (ICPF) convened September 8-9, 2022 in Savannah, Georgia. The ICPF aims to build community while advancing the science and best practices of facilitation.

The 66 registrants and 62 attendees included practice facilitators (PFs), clinicians, program managers, project managers, directors, and researchers from the United States and Canada. The primary area of interest was the delivery of practice facilitation. ICPF 2022 built on the success of the 2017,¹ 2018,² and 2019³ in-person conferences and virtual conference in 2021.⁴ In alignment with the return to an in-person event, the conference theme was “Building Resilience and Promoting Professional Wellness for Practices, Facilitators, and Research Teams.” The program included peer-reviewed abstracts for oral presentations, skill laboratories, workshops and posters, and 2 plenaries, 3 invited sessions, 2 large group sessions and multiple structured and unstructured social networking events. Presentations were clustered around 4 themes (1) Wellness, Resiliency, and the Pandemic; (2) Practice Facilitation Learning and Professional Development; (3) Facilitating Practice and Organizational Improvement; and (4) Science, Methodology and Good Practices of Practice Facilitation.

The opening plenary “Helping the Healers While Helping Ourselves,” was led by E. Dawn Creach, MS, President and CEO of Creach Consulting Group, and set a welcoming and healing tone for the meeting. Ms Creach offered reflections on how the pandemic has affected quality improvement (QI), practice facilitation, and research teams in primary care. Other sessions addressed tools and resources available for facilitators, skills and strategies for emerging and advanced facilitators, ongoing adaptations to facilitation due to continued external disruptors, and a poster walk. The poster winner was, “Expanding Recruitment Reach – Revamping the Recruitment Process for Remote Relationship-Building,” co-authored by Jacquelyn Hoffman, MPH; Tiff Weekley, MA; Mary Patzel, MBA; Kati Sanchez, MS; Martha Snow, MPH; Melinda Davis, PhD. The first day closed with a large group session, “Reflecting on Our Growth During the Pandemic: Personally, Professionally, Societally” led by Melinda Davis, PhD and Alison Huffstetler, MD with design support by Sarah Hunter, PhD.

On the second day, Therese Miller, DrPH, Deputy Director for the Center for Evidence and Practice Improvement at AHRQ, delivered a plenary describing the agency’s perspective on funding research and QI initiatives during a pandemic. Dr Miller shared insights into the factors that impact funder priorities and processes, and highlighted AHRQ-developed tools to support the PF community. Other sessions addressed diversity, equity, and inclusion in facilitation; perspectives on adapting facilitation strategies; and technology in facilitation. The second day closed with a large group session, “Silver Linings and Clouds Breaking – Lessons Learned and Goals Moving Forward,” led by Brittany Badicke, MPH; Stephanie Kirchner, MSPH, RD; and Melinda Davis, PhD.

Over one-half of conference attendees (53%) completed the post-conference evaluations, with 85% expressing satisfaction with conference content. Attendees most valued networking opportunities and the ability to connect with others in person, learning processes and strategies that helped PFs throughout the pandemic, and many opportunities for questions and discussions. Respondents emphasized the importance of “sharing experiences and best practices,” “sharing practice facilitator perspectives and struggles,” and “connecting with others in the field.”

The ICPF will continue to curate opportunities to network, share ideas and solutions, ask questions, disseminate resources, and build skills and knowledge relevant in the application, management, and science of practice facilitation. On behalf of the ICPF Steering Committee, we encourage you to attend ICPF 2023 and get involved in our ICPF Learning Community.

• © 2023 Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.