Ontario health leader study invitation: A study focusing on employee engagement to combat attrition and burn-out of health care employees

(Cettte étude se déroule en anglais.)

Dear Ontario Health Leaders,

I am inviting you to take part in a study I am conducting on the effectiveness of employee engagement as a tool to address the retention and attrition challenges faced in the Ontario health care system. This study which is being conducted as part of my final research project in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Masters degree of Communication Management.

The purpose of this study is to understand the benefits of employee engagement and relationship management in reducing the attrition and burnout rates of health care employees, how that intersects with patient outcomes, safety and satisfaction, and the role of the communications professional in this process.

The research involves three parts; a survey of human resources leaders, a survey of health care employees, and in-depth interviews with corporate communications and hospital leaders familiar with employee engagement and the return on investment which translates into better patient care.

I am inviting you to participate in a one-to-one interview [telephone or face-to-face} that will take no more than an hour of your time. I will ask you questions about employee engagement in health care as it relates to better employee relations and patient care, outcomes and satisfaction.

Questions will include, for example:

1. What channels of communication do you use to respond to your internal audience?
2. How do you know that your employee engagement is effective?
3. What do you currently use your communications team for?

For more information about this study and instructions on how you can participate please read the full Letter of Information / Consent for Interviews document.

I am available for questions by telephone (416-993-4983) or e-mail (strachga@mcmaster.ca).

Gail Strachan
Masters of Communications Management (MCM)
McMaster University


The College and McMaster University have a partnership through the CHE program and the Master of Health Management (MHA), as well as the DeGroote School of Business – Masters of Business Administration (MBA) with Health Services Management Specialization program.