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Member, Co-design of Cultural Safety and Humility Health Standard

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Open to Provincial Region, Patient partners across the province

Last updated

Health standards need to be developed with and by the people who are most impacted by the standard. We are looking for Indigenous people from across BC with significant and recent experience accessing health services and care (for yourself or as a carer) to develop a standard with other stakeholders that will increase the cultural safety and humility of our caring environments.

Open to: Patient partners across the province

Lead Organization or Department

Health Standards Organization (HSO) in partnership with First Nations Health Authority

Aim

The goal for this committee is to develop standards to improve cultural safety and humility throughout the province for First Nations and Indigenous peoples using the health and social system. The four patient partners on the committee will participate as full members of the committee, participating in discussions and decision-making at meetings and through online voting.  With their lived experience, they will help ensure that criteria are grounded in reality and that recommendations brought forth by the committee resonate with what matters most to patients, clients and family members.

Level of Engagement

This opportunity is at the level of collaborate on the spectrum of engagement. The promise to you is that the health care partner will work together with you to formulate solutions and incorporate your advice and recommendations into the decisions to the maximum extent possible.

Eligibility

We are looking for patient partners, caregivers and family members who self-identify as Indigenous and who have extensive experience accessing any or various sectors of the health system, including hospitals, clinics, mental health services, etc. Ideally, we are hoping to recruit diverse committee members and are looking for at least one youth representative (19-24 years old), and representation from across the province. The selected patient partners must be able to travel to Vancouver for scheduled meetings and have regular access to a computer and internet. If you have a strong interest in this work but have not yet completed a PVN orientation and volunteer agreement, are unsure if your experience is a good fit or feel another format of engagement would work better with your availability, please contact the engagement leader directly.

Logistics

Vacancies: 4 Commitment: This project is planned to occur from January 2019 to May 2020 (some months may require very little activity and others more). Anticipated project timeline (subject to change):
  • Patient partner selection - January 2019
  • Orientation web-cast, and one teleconference - February 2019
  • Two in-person meetings in Vancouver for 1 to 2 days each - Spring 2019 and Winter 2020. A third one may be scheduled depending on the need.
  • Voting on standards throughout the project - May 2019 to April 2020
In addition to the full day meetings, you will be asked to review standard or respond to emails, with an estimated average of 8-12 hours per month of work.

Reimbursement

All travel costs incurred to attend these events will be covered or reimbursed in accordance with the First Nations Health Authority (FNHA) Travel Policy guidelines. As much as possible, we will pre-pay travel expenses directly (e.g., booking flights and accommodation). For those expenses we cannot pay in advance (e.g., transit tickets, meals), we are able to provide expedited payment within a maximum of 4 weeks via cheque mailed to the address provided once an expense reimbursement form is received to our Vancouver office. If required, assistance may be provided upon request to ensure hotel deposits and incidental expenses are looked after in advance to reduce or eliminate the need for post-event reimbursement. This can be discussed at the time you are confirmed as a participant on the Technical Committee.

Background

Embedded within FNHA’s mission to improve the health and well-being for Indigenous peoples is the importance placed on including cultural safety and humility in all aspects of health service planning and delivery. To this end, FNHA has recently partnered with Health Standards Organization (HSO) to develop a Cultural Safety and Humility standard, specifically for British Columbia. This standard will be designed to apply to all types of health organizations throughout the health system across the province. Patients/clients and caregivers (family members or friends) make up one of the four categories in all of HSO's Technical Committees as co-designers of standards and co-producers of health. The four patient partners will work along with 12 other individuals from BC representing health care organizations, health services stakeholders and individuals who demonstrate interest and knowledge on the topic of Cultural Safety and Humility. FNHA, with its partners, is committed to better serving members of BC First Nations and Aboriginal populations by improving the cultural safety of health and social service systems. Health and social service systems encompass all ages and all levels, including Community Care, Mental Health and Acute Care. HSO will be taking the lead to develop the Cultural Safety and Humility Standard. The standard will touch upon all the important aspects to create cultural safety and humility, such as training and cultural competency. The vision of a culturally safe health system for First Nations in BC will be achieved when accessing the health care system is free of racism and discrimination, and people feel safe. This means individuals, families and communities are able to voice their perspectives, ask questions and be respected by health care professionals on their beliefs, behaviours and values. For more information please email Hélène.Campbell@healthstandards.org

Health Care Partner Contact Information

Karen Estrin
Engagement Leader, Patient and Public Engagement | Lower Mainland & Sunshine Coast
604.668.8245
kestrin@bcpsqc.ca

 

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