Blog

On June 6, PVN teamed up with organizations and individuals across the province to ask a simple question: “What Matters to You?” As we mentioned here, the goal of the day was to encourage meaningful conversations between patients, families and caregivers, and their health care providers. Our engagement leader Leah Smith joined “What Matters to You?” Day activities in the Island Health region, so we asked her to tell us more about her amazing experience:

No one can say that our patient partner Bob Strain doesn’t put his heart into spreading the importance of patients expressing what matters to them and taking the lead in their health care. This year, Bob is so dedicated to promoting the message far and wide in preparation for “What Matters to You?” Day tomorrow that he has a full schedule ahead and even enlisted his wife to join him!

As you’ve probably seen in our newsletters and social media feeds, we’ve been deeply involved with “What Matters to You?” Day  the last few months. Since the campaign aligns with PVN’s work and a number of our Oversight & Advisory Committee members have been involved in the planning, we wanted to know what matters to them when it comes to health care. Here’s what they said.

Everyone becomes a patient eventually. A month ago, it was our engagement leader Cathy Almost’s turn, when an accident made her seek care at the emergency department. Now she describes her experience and her findings about what matters to her as a patient:

In early 2016, Okanagan College contacted us in search of an experienced caregiver who would like to speak to a health promotion and gerontology class. The idea was to discuss family members who care for older adults needing assistance, and to identify health promotion strategies and community support for family caregivers.

Our fourth guest post for Patient Experience Week is from Danica Longair, a PVN Patient Partner who experienced exceptional care through two pregnancies.

Our third guest blog post for Patient Experience Week is from Colleen Kennedy, who interviewed  social worker Brenda Goossen. Brenda shared her reasons for joining "What Matters to You?" Day and her perspective as a provider on the patient experience.

Our second guest blog post for Patient Experience Week is from Beth Campbell Duke, a PVN Patient Partner with a caregiver's perspective on "wrap around" health care.

Our first guest blog post for Patient Experience Week is from PVN Patient Partner Jean Shepherd, whose story shows the importance of compassion and listening.

April 24-28 is Patient Experience Week, an annual week of recognition to celebrate the impact of health care staff on the patient experience. To mark the occasion, we'll be sharing guest blog posts from patients, a caregiver, and a health care provider that illustrate the value of person-centred, compassionate care.