Kelsey Stefanik-Guizlo is passionate about engaging patients, family members, and health care teams in accelerating the timeline of putting research into practice. She has deep experience in patient and community engagement, practice facilitation, quality improvement, and program design, implementation, and evaluation.
Kelsey joined Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI) in 2020 as an implementation and evaluation associate and became part of KPWHRI’s faculty as a collaborative scientist in 2022. She has worked on a number of projects in KPWHRI’s Center for Accelerating Care Transformation (ACT Center), including:
Kelsey earned a Master of Public Health at the University of Washington in the Community-Oriented Public Health Practice program. She completed her master’s capstone project with Seattle Children’s Hospital, where she worked on a PCORI (Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute)-funded project to improve support for children with type 1 diabetes in the Everett School District through the creation of a community leadership council on diabetes management. During her practicum at Public Health — Seattle & King County, Kelsey interviewed community leaders and stakeholders to understand needs related to training community health workers to support patients with chronic conditions and developed several training outlines.
Prior to joining KPWHRI, Kelsey worked as a program director for the Arthritis Foundation, Lupus Foundation of America, American Diabetes Association, and American Lung Association. In these roles she managed patient education programs including summer camps and educational events, as well as accredited continuing medical education trainings for health care providers. She started her career working in federal advocacy at the American Heart Association in Washington, D.C.
Outside of work Kelsey enjoys exploring new places both near and far, being near the water, and spending time with her husband, son, and 2 dogs.
Diabetes, patient and community engagement, primary care-based chronic illness management, whole-person, integrated care
Practice facilitation, implementation science
Patient engagement and partnership
Stefanik-Sidener K. Nature, nurture, or that fast food hamburger: Media framing of diabetes in the New York Times from 2000 to 2010. Health Commun. 2013;28(4):351-8. doi: 10.1080/10410236.2012.688187. Epub 2012 Jul 2. PubMed
A Kaiser Permanente member shares her experience as a patient partner with the Integrated Pain Management Program.
An ACT Center partnership is helping a nonprofit engage patients and provide comprehensive care.
Starette Canada, a patient partner, shares her experience at a recent conference and highlights gaps in patient engagement.
The division contributes to research across the institute with methodological and subject matter expertise.