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Because your voice matters.

Williams Lake Working Group: Improving Mental Health and Substance Use Transitions from Emergency to Community Services

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Open to Interior Region, Patient partners in and around Williams Lake

Last updated

Transitioning from the emergency department to community mental health and substance use services can be challenging. Interior Health invites you to take part in a working group aimed at improving the patient experience throughout this transition.

Open to: Patient partners in and around Williams Lake

Lead Organization or Department

Interior Health - Mental Health and Substance Use

Aim

Interior Health's Mental Health Substance Use (MHSU) department is working hard to improve quality of care for patients as they transition through care, from emergency to ongoing community care. It is important that patients have a voice in this work to ensure the processes and supports we are planning are effective and valuable. Patient partners will be an active part of the working group, and will be encouraged to participate in the creation and planning on a local level that has a regional reach.  

Level of Engagement

This opportunity is at the level of involve on the spectrum of engagement (www.iap2.org). 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

This engagement is ideal for patient partners who:
  • have experience with the emergency department from a mental health and/or substance use perspective, either personally or with a family member/friend.
  • are willing to participate in monthly meetings.
  • are comfortable providing input and feedback, either in real time or later on a more individual basis.
NOTE: 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: 2
  • Format: Can be in person at the hospital or linked in by WebEx/Teleconference.
  • Frequency: Monthly 2 hour meetings, every 4 weeks on Thurdays at 1030.
  • Commitment: One week up to 6 months
 

Reimbursement

All pre-approved travel expenses will be reimbursed.

Background

This working group is currently running with members from the hospital, Aboriginal Services, MHSU community and inpatient units, psychiatry, allied health and leadership. We are tasked with coming up with processes and tools to ensure improved quality of care for patients, support decreasing emergency department congestion, decrease avoidable re-hospitalizations and providing appropriate support and follow up for MHSU patients. The project focuses on the patient journey through the emergency department (ED) and considers 4 phases of the care: 1. How patients come into ED, 2. Patient care within ED, 3. How the community reaches in to support patients while they are in ED and 4. How the community MHSU services follow up after discharge from ED. It is important to have patient voices at the table to ensure the processes and supports we are planning are effective and valuable. The patient partner would be an active part of the working group, encouraged to participate in the creation and planning on a local level that has regional reach.

Health Care Partner Contact Information

Jacquelyne Foidart
Engagement Leader, Patient and Public Engagement | Thompson Cariboo
250.879.1077
jfoidart@bcpsqc.ca

 

From Our Community

Laura Parmar

Physician Quality Improvement Coach — Northern Health

Laura Palmer

It has been so rewarding to go from an idea to working with such a great group of dedicated people from so many different organizations towards a very fun and rewarding project. Several extremely engaged PVN members expressed interest in being part of piloting a patient virtual care peer support system. I am confident that this is the beginning of many more exciting collaborations!