Patient Advisor, Managing Chronic Pain for Long-Term Care Residents Working Group

Chronic pain interferes with a good quality of life for those living in long-term care and their caregivers. Fraser Health is seeking two patient partners to join their team as they revise the persistent pain clinical practice guideline so that support staff can better identify and manage pain for residents in long-term care.

Open to: Patient partners Fraser Health communities

Lead Organization or Department

Fraser Health Residential Care

Aim

The aim of this opportunity is to provide health care providers with tools to identify and assess persistent pain in adults and to implement appropriate treatment strategies. Patient partners will provide input from their lived experience into the development of the new clinical practice guidelines.

Level of Engagement

This opportunity is at the level of involve on the spectrum of engagement. The promise to you is that the health care partner will involve patients in planning and design phases to ensure ideas or concerns are considered and reflected in alternatives and recommendations.

Eligibility

Open to patient partners from Fraser Health Communities who are:

• caregivers of residents in long-term care;
• willing to share their story in a team environment; and
• able to meet in person in Surrey, with some telephone calls and emails.

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: Two Date/Time: To be determined. The meetings will take place monthly for up to two hours starting in January 2019 Commitment: The patient partner will be expected to commit to a six-month term. Location: Combination of in-person and some telephone/emails.  Meetings will be held at Central City, Surrey

Reimbursement

Pre-approved expenses related to travel to in-person meetings will be reimbursed according to the Fraser Health Travel policy (including mileage, parking, tolls and/or public transit).

Background

Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPG) are a systematically-developed statement to assist practitioners and patients/residents make decisions about appropriate health care in specific clinical circumstances. The Residential Care Network, chaired by the Residential Care Program Executive Director and Medical Director, have identified the need (prompted by licensing requirements, Accreditation Canada, and point of care feedback) to revise the Persistent Pain CPG to ensure it aligns with current evidence, the Palliative Care Approach, Responsive Behavior Management in Dementia, Polypharmacy Reduction, and Person-Centred Care. The Shared Work Team is a multidisciplinary team that will include Clinical Nurse Specialists, managers, point-of-care staff, clinical coordinators, directors, licensing members, and allied health professionals. Our goal is to enhance the functional abilities and quality of life of adults experiencing persistent pain.

Health Care Partner Contact Information

Jami Brown
Engagement Leader, Patient and Public Engagement | Fraser Valley
604.510.0449
jbrown@bcpsqc.ca