Question bank

Think of a time you supported someone younger or newer than you who felt they did not belong in a group, team or institution.

1. What did you notice about their experience, and how did you respond?
2. What did the experience teach you about belonging and representation?
3. How might these lessons apply to patients who feel unwelcome in healthcare settings?

Describe a fundraising, advocacy or community project you were involved in that did not achieve everything you hoped.

1. What were the goals, and what got in the way?
2. What would you do differently, and why?
3. How did the experience change your understanding of advocacy or leadership?

Reflect on an experience communicating with an older adult, whether a relative, neighbour, volunteer client or patient. Do not include identifying details about any patient.

1. What made communication easy or difficult?
2. What did you adjust to show respect and support understanding?
3. What would you want to keep learning about caring for older adults?

You are working on a student project to support newcomer health. Community leaders explain that they were not consulted before the project was designed and are concerned about its relevance.

1. How would you respond?
2. What would meaningful community engagement look like?
3. How would you avoid repeating the same mistake?

A student group wants to organize a health fair on a nearby First Nation. Some members are enthusiastic, but nobody has a relationship with the community and no one has been invited.

1. What concerns should the group consider before proceeding?
2. How might the group appropriately offer support, if at all?
3. What role should humility play in this situation?

During a placement, you hear several staff members describe a Black patient as 'aggressive' after the patient firmly asked why their pain was not being treated. You did not see anything you would describe as aggressive.

1. What concerns does this raise about the patient's care?
2. How might you respond in your role as a learner?
3. What longer-term changes could help address bias in this setting?

A patient who uses a wheelchair tells you that getting to and through a community clinic is so difficult they have stopped attending follow-up appointments.

1. What barriers might they be experiencing beyond physical access?
2. What short-term steps could help this patient?
3. How could the clinic involve people with disabilities in redesigning services?

A medical school must choose between funding an expensive new simulation centre or expanding a program that places students in under-resourced community clinics.

1. Which of the school's values and responsibilities are in tension?
2. What information would you want before deciding?
3. How would you explain the decision to the group that does not receive funding?

A community clinic has limited appointment availability. Some patients can book quickly online, while others face language barriers, poor internet access or unpredictable employment schedules.

1. What ethical and practical considerations should guide allocation of appointments?
2. What changes might improve equity?
3. How would you assess whether those changes were effective?

A patient with chronic illness declines a proposed treatment because it conflicts with an important personal belief.

1. How would you approach the conversation?
2. What information would you seek?
3. How would you balance respect, autonomy, communication and safety within your role?

A free community diabetes program has one remaining place. Two people apply: one has severe disease but missed earlier sessions; the other is at earlier risk and very motivated.

1. What factors would you consider in deciding who receives the place?
2. What are the risks of each choice?
3. What could be done for the person who is not selected?

On a research project, you notice a team member is entering data from participant surveys without checking for missing consent forms, to save time before a deadline.

1. Why does this matter?
2. How would you raise it?
3. What would you do if the problem continued?

A patient's teenage child offers to interpret during a visit about a sensitive diagnosis. A professional interpreter would take 40 minutes to arrange, and the clinic is behind schedule.

1. What are the concerns with using the teenager as an interpreter?
2. What would you recommend, and why?
3. How would you communicate your recommendation to the family?

A younger student you mentor tells you they have been skipping meals to afford rent, and asks you not to tell anyone.

1. How would you respond in the conversation?
2. What are your responsibilities to them?
3. What resources or supports might you help them access?

As a volunteer in a hospital, you notice a nurse skip hand hygiene before entering an isolation room. Other staff see it but say nothing.

1. What factors might make speaking up difficult?
2. What would you do, and why?
3. How could teams make it easier for anyone to raise safety concerns?

You volunteer at a community event in Brampton. Another volunteer makes a disrespectful comment about a participant's accent. The participant appears uncomfortable.

1. How would you respond in the moment?
2. How would you address the volunteer afterward?
3. What broader actions could create a more inclusive environment?

A local health team wants to launch a diabetes prevention program for working adults in Peel. Early sign-ups are low, and evening workers say sessions are scheduled at impossible times.

1. What might be contributing to low participation?
2. How would you redesign the program with community input?
3. How would you know whether the redesign worked?

A patient with asthma keeps returning to the emergency department. You learn they live in an overcrowded apartment with mould and cannot afford to move.

1. How do housing conditions influence this patient's health?
2. What could the healthcare team realistically do?
3. What role, if any, should physicians play in advocating for housing improvements?

After a negative experience at a local clinic spreads through social media, some residents say they no longer trust the clinic.

1. What might residents need in order to rebuild trust?
2. What should the clinic do in the first month?
3. How could the clinic stay accountable over time?

A health planner suggests one outreach model for all of Peel. A resident from rural Caledon says transportation and distance create very different challenges there.

1. How might needs differ across urban, suburban and rural communities?
2. How would you gather input fairly?
3. What might a flexible approach look like?

A senior team member asks you to omit an error from a project report because it may affect funding.

1. How would you approach the situation?
2. What competing obligations would you consider?
3. What would you do if the team member refused to correct the report?

On a student interprofessional project, a pharmacy student and a social work student disagree strongly about the priority for a simulated older patient: medication safety or social isolation.

1. How would you help the team move forward?
2. What can each perspective contribute?
3. How should the patient's own priorities be included?

Halfway through a semester-long community project, your group stops communicating after a heated argument. The community partner is expecting an update next week.

1. What would you do first?
2. How would you rebuild working relationships?
3. What do you owe the community partner?

A peer confides that they have been using a stimulant without a prescription to keep up with studying. They will soon be working with children at a summer program.

1. What concerns does this raise?
2. How would you speak to your peer?
3. Under what circumstances would you involve someone else?

A community health centre proposes an AI-powered translation and intake system. The technology could reduce delays but may misunderstand patients who speak less commonly supported languages.

1. What benefits and risks should be considered?
2. How would you protect equity and patient safety?
3. Who should be involved in deciding whether to use it?

An 84-year-old patient is ready to be discharged after a fall. She lives alone, wants to return home, and her children want her to move into long-term care.

1. What perspectives should be considered?
2. How would you support a decision that respects her autonomy?
3. What supports might make returning home safer?

Staff at a busy community clinic report high burnout. Wait times are increasing, and some staff are considering leaving.

1. How might burnout affect patients and staff?
2. What changes could the clinic consider?
3. How would you balance staff well-being with patient demand?

A man in his sixties with diabetes and depression says he cannot follow his care plan because he works two jobs and has no time to cook.

1. How might his social circumstances affect his health?
2. What would a holistic care plan include?
3. Which team members and community resources could help?