Designing a Stronger Collective Voice for Continuing Care
Member Experience Assessment & Strategy
The Alberta Continuing Care Association represents a diverse and growing membership working across a rapidly changing continuing care system. With a relatively new team in place and significant shifts underway in Alberta’s healthcare and government landscape, ACCA engaged J5 to better understand what its members needed and use those insights to shape its future strategy.
We began by working with ACCA’s staff and board to clarify the organization’s aspirations, values and role within the sector. We then engaged voting, associate and corporate members from rural and urban communities across Alberta. Through interviews, surveys, experience mapping and collaborative workshops, we identified what members valued, where their experiences differed and how ACCA could become a more responsive, trusted and valuable partner.
INDUSTRY
Non-Profit
CLIENT
Alberta Continuing Care Association
WHY IT MATTERS
An association is only as strong as its ability to understand, connect and represent its members. ACCA’s membership includes organizations of different sizes, service models, geographies and levels of influence—all navigating complex policy, workforce, funding and operational pressures.
Our assessment gave ACCA a clearer picture of the people and organizations it serves and the moments that matter most to them. These insights helped move the organization from assumptions about member needs toward a strategy grounded in lived experience. The resulting direction strengthened ACCA’s ability to advocate with one collective voice while delivering more relevant, accessible and personalized value to individual members.
PROCESS HIGHLIGHTS
We engaged voting, associate and corporate members through one-to-one interviews, surveys and direct participation in ACCA’s annual conference. More than 70 members helped validate the findings and prioritize the moments that mattered most.
We translated member insights into four personas, a current-to-future member experience, five experience principles and a set of strategic recommendations that directly informed ACCA’s new organizational strategy.
Impact
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Member Level
Created a more complete understanding of the different needs of large operators, corporate partners, entrepreneurial leaders and rural continuing care providers.
Identified opportunities for more personalized communications, accessible regional and virtual events, peer-to-peer learning and a centralized hub for trusted information and resources.
Gave members a meaningful role in shaping ACCA’s priorities and the future experience of membership.
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Organizational Level
Aligned ACCA’s board and staff around three foundational commitments: advocacy, trust and quality.
Established five experience principles including responsiveness, hosting, transparency, personalization and co-creation to guide how ACCA engages and delivers value to members.
Provided evidence-based recommendations that informed ACCA’s new strategy and helped connect organizational investments to the needs members considered most important.
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Sector Level
Strengthened ACCA’s ability to bring diverse perspectives together and represent continuing care with a clearer, more unified voice.
Elevated the experiences of rural, remote and smaller operators that can otherwise be underrepresented in sector-wide conversations.
Created a foundation for more proactive advocacy, stronger collaboration and better-informed dialogue with government and healthcare decision-makers.