By engaging patients, health care partners can ensure their work reflects the needs and experiences of the people it impacts.
There isn’t a “one-size-fits-all” approach to engaging patient partners, so we work with health care partners to ensure each engagement opportunity is meaningful for everyone involved.
Who are Health Care Partners?
Our health care partners represent organizations that provide health care services in BC. They’re often teams interested in engaging patient partners so that their work is done in partnership with those who it will affect. See below for examples of common projects.
The Process
Health care partners create engagement opportunities so that patient partners can be involved in their activities such as committees and working groups.
This process begins by clarifying the patient partner’s role and their level of participation, as well as the aim of your engagement opportunity and your team’s understanding of how to work authentically with patient partners. These are the most important first steps prior to creating the opportunity.
We work with each health care partner to create a process that meets the unique needs of its engagement opportunity. Our process ensures everyone begins on the same page, the agenda stays on track and the objectives of the opportunity are achieved.
The Health Care Partner Commitments outlines the supports you’ll receive from our team, as well as your responsibilities as a health care partner, and was created with input from patient and health care partners that work through PVN.
Types of Opportunities
Each engagement opportunity is unique and depends on the needs of a particular project led by a health care partner. Some examples of opportunities include:
- Advisory committees and working groups
- Developing programs and resources
- Teaching care providers about the patient experience
- Speaking opportunities at workshops, conferences and other events
- Surveys, focus groups and other ways to get feedback from patients
- Patient journey mapping
Contact Us!
The BC Patient Safety & Quality Council, which administers PVN, supports you in developing partnerships with patients, families and caregivers.
We can help you get started by providing you with coaching, mentoring and training for:
- Engaging patient partners
- Developing your skills
- Increasing patient involvement
- Providing on-going support
- Sharing and learning from your efforts
If you have an opportunity to engage patients in your work, please contact an engagement leader in your region.
If you have questions about becoming a health care partner that weren’t answered here, please contact us!
