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Patient Partners, COPD – Home Health Monitoring Research Team

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Open to Fraser – Vancouver Coastal, Patient partners in Vancouver and Richmond

Last updated

Use your personal experience with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) as a member of a University of British Columbia research team working to understand how home health monitoring can be effectively used to improve care for people with COPD.

Open to: Patient partners in Vancouver and Richmond

Lead Organization or Department

University of British Columbia, Department of Emergency Medicine

Aim

  • The aim of this research project is to evaluate whether the use of home health monitoring is effective in helping patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) to manage their condition after they have been in hospital, and in avoiding hospital re-admission.
  • Home health monitoring allows patients to use equipment to measure their own weight, oxygen saturation, blood pressure, activity level (using a pedometer) and peak air flows daily and to have those data sent to a monitoring nurse electronically, so these patients will have timely support from health professionals.
  • As full members of the research team, patient partners will have an equal voice on the project planning committee. They may also choose to be on one or more subcommittees. Patient partners will provide guidance on issues such as how participants in the study (patients with COPD) should be cared for, jointly look at the study results, and help share the findings with different groups of people such as other patients, health care providers, hospital administrators, and government planners.
 

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 team will work with you in each aspect of decision-making, including the development of alternatives and the identification of preferred solutions. Your advice and recommendations will be incorporated into the decisions to the maximum extent possible.

Eligibility

  • People with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), family members, or informal caregivers of people with COPD
  • An interest in using technologies to support care for patients with COPD
  • Comfort with using mobile phones, computers or tablets is preferred but not required
  • Open to volunteers in the Lower Mainland region
  • Previously attended a PVN orientation session and completed the Volunteer Agreement. If you have not attended an orientation session but you are interested in this opportunity, please contact Leah directly to see if accommodations may be possible

Logistics

  • Vacancies: 4
  • Date and Time: Meetings will be held between January 2017 and May 2018.
  • Location: Meetings will be held face-to-face, at or near Vancouver General Hospital and via telephone.
  • Commitment: This project is expected to be ongoing for 18 months. The time commitment is approximately 2-4 hours per month. Committee members will also communicate using email.
  • A website and newsletters will be used to keep committee members up-to-date on the project.

Reimbursement

Patient partners will be reimbursed for out-of-pocket expenses such as parking and mileage.

Background

This project is part of a larger ongoing four-year program of research called TEC4Home. TEC4Home was initially designed to evaluate the use of home health monitoring for patients with congestive heart failure. It has now been expanded to evaluate the use of technology to support patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The existing TEC4Home project team has members who are patients, caregivers, health care providers (family medicine and emergency room physicians), health authority decision-makers and TELUS Health, the industry partner. For more information about TEC4Home, please see the website.

Health Care Partner Contact Information

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

 

From Our Community

Lucie Neliba

Patient Partner, Surrey

Lucie Neliba

The Patient Voices Network has connected me to a community with the same drive to bring person- and family-centred care to the forefront. I am grateful for all opportunities I have been a part of thanks to PVN, which positively impacts patients like my sister and their caregivers. No matter how small, all patient engagement will help shape the future of health care and that I can stand behind