People using health care services, both patients and their families, have an essential role as co-producers of their health and their health care. They uniquely represent the consistent factor throughout the care pathway and benefit from a privileged perspective that can elicit vital information for improving health care. Patient and family engagement is the process of building the capacity of patients, families, carers, as well as health care providers, to facilitate and support the active involvement of patients in their own care, in order to enhance safety, quality and people-centredness of health care service delivery.
Tapping into such a rich resource can significantly improve safety in primary care. In 2017, the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) developed the Guide to Improving Patient Safety in Primary Care Settings by Engaging Patients and Families. This landmark document provides a compilation of evidence-based best practices for improving patient safety through patient, family, and caregiver engagement. The World Health Organization, in particular, has made patient and family engagement a key priority in patient safety through the development of the WHO Technical Report Safer care: Patient Engagement (led by one of the workshop presenters) and by selecting patient and family engagement as the theme for the 2023 WHO Patient Safety Day. The WONCA Working Party in Quality & Safety is contributing to this agenda with a scoping review that will elicit additional updated evidence of relevance for family practice.
In this skills building session we will revisit how patient and family engagement may contribute to patient safety. We complement the reference guidance for family doctors with the perspective of more recent work conducted by the WONCA Working party to consider the role of patients and families and how they may be partners in ensuring the safety of patients.

In this skills-building session, participants will actively participate in discussions on updated research findings on patient and family engagement in safety and share their anecdotal experiences of how these findings may or may not be applied in their specific clinical settings. By the end of this session, participants will be able to
1. Describe the key role of patients and the family in relation to patient safety
2. Identify the different levels of patient and family engagement and when each may be activated for patient safety
3. Be familiar with best evidence on interventions and tools for supporting patient and family engagement in patient safety
4. Identify barriers and facilitators in participants’ own clinic/practice for making it more amenable for patient and family engagement in patient safety and ways in which they may be overcome

Background
Patient and family engagement is a high priority for improving in patient safety in primary care.
Aim
To identify and synthesize the scope of available research about tools, interventions and quality improvement initiatives which aim at improving patient safety in the primary care setting through patient and family engagement.
Methods
This scoping review´s protocol followed Joanna Briggs Institute and PRISMA guidelines. Specifically tailored electronic algorithms with a combination of controlled vocabulary and search terms in MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library were used. Eligible studies were evidence syntheses in English that reported the development, implementation or impact of relevant interventions, tools, or quality improvement initiatives. References were screened with Ryyan. Study data regarding publication, aims, study population, methodology, scope, level of engagement were extracted.
Outcomes
Out of initial 1,115 references, 26 syntheses were included. Most of them (76%) consisted of systematic literature reviews, and 70% were published from 2016 onwards. Five reviews focused on primary care whereas the rest were not setting-specific. Most frequently researched topics included medication management across transitions of care, medication side effects, and detection errors. Only a minority of reviews focused on specific ways of involving patients, such as individual information-sharing sessions for proactively involving patients in symptom monitoring and understanding their medications; or on different approaches to encouraging patients to ask questions.
Discussion and Take Home Message
A body of research supports best evidence for improving patient safety in the primary care setting by supporting patient and family engagement.

1. Patient and family engagement is a high priority for improving in patient safety in primary care.
2. A scoping review was conducted to identify and synthesize the scope of available research about tools, interventions and quality improvement initiatives which aim at improving patient safety in the primary care setting through patient and family engagement.
3. A body of research supports best evidence for improving patient safety in the primary care setting by supporting patient and family engagement.