David Wiljer

David has been exploring the notion of digital compassion, an emerging field of study that investigates the intersection of building digital ecosystems for health and the delivery of compassionate care. Through the COVID-19 pandemic, this has become a central issue in health care and health innovation as we rethink how best to care for our patients, our staff and our community. Digital compassion utilizes a functional definition of compassion to explore the ways technology can mediate or regulate/dysregulate compassion and compassionate care. To advance digital health ecosystems, he has developed and researched systems that enable patients to be active members of their health care community and foster productive interactions between providers and patients. He has also worked extensively in the areas of patient education, patients as partners and patients as teachers for health care professionals. His work with health care professionals has focused on continuing professional development, lifelong learning, health professions leadership, and accelerating the adoption of digital innovations, big data and new technologies and systems such as AI that have the potential to improve the quality of care for patients in their communities.

Affiliations

• Executive Director, Education, Technology & Innovation, University Health Network
• Collaborator Scientist, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
• Director of Curriculum, Medical Psychiatry Collaborative Care Certificate (MP3C Program), Trillium Health Partners, Ontario, Canada
• Professor, Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto
• Professor, Radiation Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto