Regional Round-Up – June 9

This week, we’re focusing on regional examples of “What Matters to You?” Please contact your Engagement Leader if you have any stories to share!

Fraser – Vancouver Coastal

The best in health care uphold values like respect, caring, and trust, which align with international “What Matters to You?” Day. This commitment to learning from partners was recently demonstrated through a survey that was conducted to understand COVID-19’s impact on patient experience. The survey spoke to the Ministry of Health’s Essential Visitor Guideline and the use of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).

The results clearly demonstrated the importance of asking about the perspectives, needs and ideas of those with lived experience. Professional Practice Consultant Laura Klein said, “We learned that most advisors and providers appreciated the importance of keeping everyone safe while emphasizing the benefits of being flexible, consistent and innovative. Many offered ideas about how to help patients feel more connected to their health care providers and that the use of PPE has both a positive and negative impact on the patient and provider experience.” Seeking the perspective of others doesn’t have to be complicated; it simply entails a commitment to asking and listening.

Interior 

Derek Koch and the team at Kelowna General Hospital (KGH) saw a need to incorporate a “What Matters to You?” spirit into their culture. As part of his duel role for spiritual health and patient- and family-centred care, Derek and his team sought ways to get in touch with what truly matters to patients.

Derek believes, “What Matters to You?’ is important because, “while we do our best to give top-quality care to our patients, keeping the question front and centre can help keep us in tune to the specific needs of patents and to the nuanced care that they deserve.”

One great example was how a patient shared his personal goals for health just by being asked, “What matters to you?” This information helped prioritize the health care teams’ support to get him back home. The KGH team has even used “What Matters to You?” as the basis for talking with patients to help focus their priorities. Truly an example of walking the talk.

Northern

On December 4, 2019, PVN and Northern Health physicians set up a table at Mills Memorial Hospital in Terrace asking the public, “What matters to you ?”

In the end, 45 people provided 73 comments. Resident Physician Jennifer Vandenberg said, “I think patients were pleased to know that people were listening and that their voices would be heard.”

The comments were broken down into themes: mental health & addictions, quality of care, blood lab access and person- and family-centred care items like dignity and respect. Answers are being reviewed by the Terrace Physician Improvement Group and Mills Memorial Hospital Administration.