Wednesday, November 5th
Dr. Alika Lafontaine
How to Change a Social Contract: Lessons from Reconciliation in an Age of Health System Upheaval
At the end of this activity, participants will be able to:
- Recognize the emotional and systemic factors driving disengagement among physicians and other stakeholders during health system transformation.
- Describe how personal and collective narratives, especially those rooted in reconciliation, can reshape identity, rebuild trust, and enable system change for both providers and patients.
- Identify opportunities for individuals and groups—including physicians, patients, and advocates—to contribute to meaningful transformation within complex health systems.
Description: As Canada’s healthcare system undergoes profound disruption, physicians and patients alike are navigating a landscape marked by broken promises, shifting roles, and increasing disconnection. In this keynote, Dr. Alika Lafontaine explores how emotional responses such as anger, outrage, and indifference often point to deeper structural breakdowns, particularly the erosion of the social contract between people and the systems meant to serve them. Drawing on national reconciliation efforts, including the Indigenous Health Alliance and the Canadian Medical Association’s apology to Indigenous Peoples, Dr. Lafontaine offers a practical framework for understanding system upheaval, reconnecting with purpose, and finding agency through storytelling, collaboration, and action. Attendees will leave with new language to describe what they are experiencing and renewed insight into how individual and collective efforts can meaningfully reshape the future of healthcare.