All PFAC members—PFAs and staff—benefit from training and ongoing support to impart core advisory skills, promote belonging, and align PFA work with core organizational values. Ongoing training and education is particularly important for individuals who are responsible for or oversee the PFAC (e.g., PFAC coordinator, staff liaison).

In addition to building knowledge, training can help people understand how their behaviors contribute to the group environment and experience. Encourage PFAs and staff to engage in self-reflection and examine their personal experiences, values, interests, beliefs, and assumptions. Think about what PFAC members need to understand about topics such as health inequities, social determinants of health, cultural humility, welcoming practices, unconscious bias, stereotypes, and social justice. In addition to providing dedicated time for learning, build education opportunities into PFAC meetings whenever possible.

Ideas for providing education and training include:

• Provide PFAs with access to relevant trainings and workshops offered for staff, if available.
• If education or training is provided to staff during onboarding, ask PFAs to complete the same training as part of their orientation and onboarding process.
• Invite PFAs to educational events held by the hospital, such as health equity summits and grand rounds.
• Invite health equity leaders and staff to PFAC meetings for an interactive discussion with advisors about hospital goals and strategies to reduce inequities in care delivery and outcomes.
• Invite guest speakers to PFAC meetings to share information and answer PFAs’ questions about equity-related topics and initiatives.
• Ask PFAs to explore topics independently (e.g., complete a self-paced online training, listen to a podcast, or view a webinar) and share insights and learnings with other PFAC members.
• Take time during a PFAC meeting to learn about a topic related to representation and belonging and discuss it in a facilitated group conversation.

Example: Providing Access to Staff Trainings and Resources

A PFAC coordinator at an academic medical center advocated for PFAs to have access to the same online trainings available to staff. As a result, PFAs were given access to educational events that focused on issues related to health equity as part of their onboarding process. Topics included cultural humility, how the history of medicine affects trust in certain communities, and population health inequities.

Example: Staff Education to Welcome PFAs

A Canadian children’s hospital rolled out training for staff to ensure they were able to appropriately and proactively support PFAs. Staff members who work with PFAs received training to help them understand how best to support PFAs from different backgrounds and communities. Training topics included empathic listening, emotional intelligence, de-escalation, and trauma-informed approaches.

Example: Dedicated PFAC Meetings for Education

At one children's hospital, one PFAC meeting per quarter is dedicated to providing education and training centered around representation and belonging. For example, PFAC members completed training about communication that included information about why words matter and respectful language related to race, socioeconomic status, gender, and sexual orientation. PFAC members who interact with families completed additional training about social determinants of health, unconscious bias, and health inequities. As the PFAC coordinator explained, this training was implemented in recognition that "there is a harm that can happen when you get to remain blissfully unaware of the fact that people don't experience life the way you experience life."

Example: PFAC Workshops

An urban children’s hospital developed an interactive workshop for their Family Advisory Council (FAC) that covered topics related to unconscious bias, cultural competency, aspects of identity, equity and justice, and allyship. The intent was to increase awareness and knowledge of issues related to representation and belonging and promote authenticity, trust, respect, and collaboration among FAC members. The hospital has committed to providing the workshop on an annual basis.

Example: Authentic Advocacy Training

A children’s hospital developed an hour-long training for PFAs focused on helping advisors contribute to a welcoming environment by recognizing and addressing potential bias in their interactions. The training, which is conducted by a learning specialist at the hospital, is offered both virtually and in-person and at different times to accommodate schedules. PFAs are asked to complete the training within their first six months of PFAC membership. The training includes scenarios and activities designed to help participants recognize and address patterns of bias, including systemic, institutional, affinity, and confirmation bias. The training also encourages PFAs to be proactive and bring concerns to trusted staff.