Reflecting on the inspiring International Conference on Integrated Care 2025 in Lisboa! The energy, learning, and sense of community at this year’s event were truly inspiring. From thought-provoking plenaries to engaging workshops to informal conversations, the conference reinforced my WHY to keep advancing integrated care and convening, coaching and building capability for collective impact with clients, partners and people from around the world!

Before moving on to #ICIC26 in Birmingham 🇬🇧 next April, here are my top 3 takeways from #ICIC25:

💡 Connection is the Correction

Relationships are at the heart of #integratedcare. Every meaningful change starts with authentic connection between people – no matter your ‘role’ - provider, researcher, person with lived experience, patient partner, caregiver, policy maker, convenor ... The buzz at the NACIC - The North American Centre for Integrated Care #IFICCanada Reception, attended by >150 people, was a testament to the power of gathering and building a relational foundation for transformation.

💡 Community-Driven, System-Enabled

I was pleased to see the growing recognition that truly effective integrated care must be person and community-driven, system-enabled. This shift in language helps bring clarity to our role as people working in the system - that of enablers. The most impactful innovations placed people and communities at the forefront, as the drivers and actively co-designing, co-producing, planning, and evaluating—while leveraging the health system, digital tools, and cross-sector partnerships to support what matters to them. This approach ensures that care is not only responsive to individual and local needs, but also sustainably supported by robust, flexible and enabling systems.

💡 We are the Movement for Change

Integrated care is a journey—one that requires all of us. Be it by staying involved with International Foundation for Integrated Care (IFIC), with NACIC - The North American Centre for Integrated Care / #IFICCanada, or joining one of the many special interest groups (SIGs) - such as the new Community-Enabled Integrated Care Special Interest Group - there are so many ways to stay connected. These networks are vital for learning, collaboration, and keeping the momentum going between conferences. Don’t know where to start? Send me a message!

Don't forget to join the next IFIC Canada Virtual Community Session: Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Being: Foundations for Integrated Care and Population Health taking place on June 10th (4 PM EDT). Register here.

⚡️  I’m Looking forward to applying all the lessons learnt - both in my own learning journey and as part of the work I get to do in partnership with Jodeme Goldhar at 4C Impact.

Eager to learn more about our work in system orchestration? At 4C Impact , we convene, coach and build capability to transform leadership for Integrated Health and Social Care. Learn more at www.4CImpact.org or send me a message!  #ConnectionIsTheCorrection

You can see all my LinkedIn posts from throughout the conference here with summaries and key takeaways from various sessions and interactions:

Day 1 - Wednesday May 13th

• Conference Opening
• Plenary: Healthy All Around: Integrated Care Strategies for Universal Health Coverage
• Site Visit to the MAAT : Open Therapy
• Caregiver Rx Workshop hosted by Family Caregivers of BC
• Canadian Reception hosted by NACIC - The North American Centre for Integrated Care #IFIC Canada Jodeme Goldhar Sylvia Urbanik
• Day 1 Connections

Day 2 - Thursday May 14th

• Plenary (AM) - Collaborative Approaches to Integrated Care: Leveraging Partnerships for Health and Development
• Adaptive Leadership Workshop, led by the #ALIGN team: Ross Baker, alongside Patrick Feng, Michelle Nelson, Angela Freeman; with additional insights from Professor Robin Miller
• Sub-plenary “The Next Frontier of People-Centred Care: Advancing Integrated Care Through Social Participation, Six Types of Patient Knowledge, and Engaging Capable Environments” - Samantha Laxton , Kerry Kuluski, Ross Baker
• Day 2 Connections

Day 3 - Friday May 15th

• Workshop on the Nuka System of Care’s Integrated Care Teams Playbook
• Plenary: Healthy and Sustainable Habitats : Integrated Care Against Climate Change
• Community-Enabled Integrated Care Special Interest Group
• Making Standards Work for You: Achieving Our Standard Purpose for Integrated Care - Workshop led by Samantha Laxton and Jodeme Goldhar
• Day 3 Connections

You can stream all the plenary and sub-plenary sessions you missed here: https://integratedcarefoundation.org/conference-pages/icic25-live-stream

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Meghan Perrin
Associate | Strategic Translation and Engagement Lead, 4C Impact