Christa Haanstra

Christa is a trailblazer in family caregiver, patient and resident engagement and thrives when bringing together groups of people with a shared purpose to achieve a common goal. Her deep knowledge of co-design and engagement means that the voice of people with lived experience is embedded in everything she does.

As a senior leader and strategic advisor, Christa’s experience spans the health care, academic, consumer and community sectors. More recently, she’s been working on a variety of healthy aging initiatives with organizations such as the Aging and Seniors Unit at the Public Health Agency of Canada, the Ontario Association of Residents Councils and a long-term care company.

Christa has been a public voice in creating awareness of the role of family caregivers in our society. She is a passionate spokesperson for better identifying, recognizing, supporting and ultimately integrating caregivers as true partners with health and social care teams.

Christa also led the development of a made-in-Ontario Caregiver Identification initiative with caregivers and providers from across Ontario. The Caregiver ID is being used as a key tool to support and reintegrate caregivers into healthcare organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic. More than 30 hospitals, healthcare organizations, Ontario Health Teams and long-term care facilities have adapted this tool with more and more organizations adapting it each month.

Christa holds a Bachelor of Social Science from the University of Ottawa, a postgraduate Diploma in Corporate Communications from Seneca College and recently received her designation as an Executive Scholar in Non-Profit Management at the Kellogg School of Business at Northwestern University in Chicago, Illinois. Christa has won numerous awards and recognition for her strategic communication, branding, social media and patient and caregiver engagement work.