Member, Infection Prevention and Control Regional Working Group

Island Health’s Infection Prevention and Control Program would like to include patients as active members of their team working to improve the health and safety of patients, families and staff. If you are naturally curious, and have ideas to share about how to partner with patients and the public to reduce infections, this opportunity could be a great fit for you!

Open to: Patient partners in the Island Health region

Lead Organization or Department

Infection Prevention and Control, Island Health

Aim

Patient partners will be invited to:

• Participate as a member of the Working Group and contribute to development of a terms of reference;
• Have input on future initiatives and strategies; and,
• Review and develop program materials and resources to ensure a patient-centred focus.

Level of Engagement

This opportunity is at the level of collaborate on the spectrum of engagement (www.iap2.org). The promise to you is that the research partner will work together with you to formulate solutions and incorporate your advice and recommendations into the decisions to the maximum extent possible.

Eligibility

• Curious and interested in preventing infections in health care.
• Enjoys participating in committee and working group settings.
• Comfortable sharing lived health care experiences.
• Comfortable communicating by email and providing feedback on documents intended for a public audience.
• 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 Leah Smith directly.
• The placement process for this opportunity may include an informal interview between the patient partner and the health care partner.

Logistics

• Vacancies: 2-3
• Date and time: To be determined with the patient partner; meetings are expected to be held within regular business hours.
• Term: One year with the option of renewal.
• Location: Teleconference or video conference; patient partners living in Greater Victoria may attend meetings in-person.
• Term: 1 year with the possibility of extension.
• Time Commitment: It is expected that meetings will be held on a more frequent basis while the work of the group is being established and the bulk of program materials are being reviewed (likely less than 2 meetings per month are expected, then transitioning to a monthly meeting schedule). Patient partners will be asked to review and provide feedback on documents between meetings.

Reimbursement

Pre-approved mileage and parking will be reimbursed, as well as pre-approved transit expenses such as bus fare.

Background

The Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) Program offers expert guidance to help all Island Health programs to consistently meet requirements and provide safe care. In addition to protecting patients, this work also focuses on protecting health care providers. Click here to learn more about IPAC at Island Health. To improve the patient- and family-centredness of their program, as well as the overall quality of care, the Infection Prevention and Control team would like to build an ongoing partnership with patients, families, and the public. A Working Group will come together to review and redevelop the Infection Prevention and Control Program’s resources and material. The Working Group will begin by developing a Terms of Reference; however, patient partner participation in this process has already been identified as a priority.  Participation in this working group may be particularly interesting for individuals who have experience with infection prevention and control processes, but this is not a necessity.  What is Infection Prevention and Control? Infection Prevention & Control is dedicated to preventing infections that can be acquired, transmitted or picked up within health care facilities, like hospitals and residential care homes. You may have noticed signs requesting that patients, families and staff wash their hands when entering a hospital; this is an infection prevention and control practice.

Health Care Partner Contact Information

Leah Smith
Engagement Leader, Patient and Public Engagement | Southern Vancouver Island
778.678.3977
lsmith@bcpsqc.ca