Focus Group Member, Patient Partnership Process Improvement Project

Volunteer Opportunity
Island Health, in collaboration with the Patient Voices Network, is looking to improve and streamline processes for enabling patient partners and health care partners to engage with one another. This is an opportunity to be part of a focus group to share your insights and experiences related to signing up and getting involved in engagements in the Island Health region.

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Lead Organization/Department
Island Health, Patient Experience, in collaboration with the Patient Voices Network

Aim
The purpose of the Patient Partnership Process Improvement Project is to improve the process of engaging patient partners within Island Health. The purpose of engaging patients in this work is to ensure that the improvements made to the patient partnership process is grounded in the experience of those impacted by the process – patients and family members who volunteer through PVN.

The role of the patient partner is to participate as part of a patient partner focus group. This group will meet for one focus group session to provide input and perspectives on the current and future state for the patient partnership engagement process within Island Health.

Level of Engagement
This opportunity is at the level of consult on the spectrum of engagement. The promise to you is that the health care partner will listen to and acknowledge your ideas and concerns, and provide feedback on how your input affected the decision.

Eligibility
• Open to patient partners from the Vancouver Island region who:
• Have recent or extensive experience with patient partnership processes between Island Health and PVN (e.g., have recently been involved in an Island Health patient partnership opportunity through PVN)
• Are comfortable sharing thoughts/experiences in a group setting
• Are able to meet virtually using Zoom
• Please note:
– This opportunity is not open to patient partners who are currently employed by Island Health.
– A Meet and Greet may be a part of determining the best fit for both patient and health care partners prior to placement.
– Applicants must have 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 Charmaine Niebergall directly to see if accommodations may be possible.

Logistics
• Number of vacancies: approximately 6
• Date/Time: Thursday September 16^th, 1:30pm – 3:00pm (1.5 hours)
• Location: Virtually via Zoom
• Commitment: 1 Focus Group session with a possible additional session if required

Reimbursement
|No out of pocket expenses are anticipated for this engagement opportunity. However, if you meet the eligibility criteria but have concerns about your ability to participate, please contact Charmaine Niebergall (cniebergall@bcpsqc.ca) to see if support options are available. We are always seeking to better understand and reduce barriers to participation.

Background
Island Health’s Experience Strategy outlines a focus on expanding approaches that enable people to collaborate in shared decision-making, improvement and co-creation at multiple levels across Island Health, with opportunities for discussion, input, feedback, and enhanced information-sharing.

For this to occur, it is important to have a clear, effective process to enable connection and engagement between patient partners and health care partners within Island Health. The purpose of this improvement project is to improve the process of engaging patient partners through PVN within Island Health.

The focus groups will be made up of approximately six patient partners as well as a few members of the Patient Partnership Process Improvement Project Team.

Health Care Partner Contact Information

Charmaine Niebergall
Engagement Leader, Patient & Public Engagement | Vancouver Island
778.700.2064
cniebergall@bcpsqc.ca