Interviewee, Coordinating Care for Older Adults with Complex Medical Conditions

Participate in this opportunity to share your journey through the health care system as you are challenged with complex medical conditions. Seeking patient partners who would like to share in hopes of improving patient support and outcomes.

Open to: Patient partners in Terrace, Prince Rupert, Smithers and surrounding areas

Lead Organization or Department

Pacific Northwest Division of Family Practice

Aim

The Pacific Northwest Division of Family Practice hopes to assess how the coordination of care for older adults with complex medical conditions can be bettered through the focus on patient and family support. We would like to engage patients to hear their stories and journeys and the current state of how they receive health care in their communities and perhaps beyond. This will allow us to develop a proposal that identifies the needs for improvement in care. The patient partner will speak with the project manager and participate in a short interview. The project manager will capture the detailed journey and this will be documented in the project proposal. The patient story is the most crucial part of any health care initiative since in it lies the needs and gaps of the systems.

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

• Looking for patient partners who are 65 years old and older
• Ideally patient partners who are living with two or more medical conditions and receiving care
• Comfortable telling your story
• 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 Cathy Almost

Logistics

• Vacancies: 2-3
• Date and time: Two-hour meetings every three months
• Location: TBA
• Commitment: One week to six months

Reimbursement

Any pre-approved expenses (mileage, etc.) as per Pacific Northwest Division of Family Practice policy would be covered to attend the meeting.

Background

The Pacific Northwest Division of Family Practice is submitting a proposal to support the development of Coordinating Care for Older Adults with Complex Medical Conditions. This proposal will include input from primary care providers, specialists who support our Northern communities, the First Nations Health Authority, Northern Health, and other partners/stakeholders. The goal is to develop a comprehensive proposal that supports localized projects and work plans that: • Are reflective of each community’s unique issues, needs and approach to making improvements. • Support collaboration between primary care providers, specialists, allied health, community organizations and other partner organizations. • Moves forward the “idealized model of care” for specialized services. • The PNW Division of Family Practice will address the coordination of care plans and responsibilities for this region Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative data, and a process built upon collaboration and engagement, we will develop a proposal that reflects the issues identified and the ideas and solutions brought forward by local stakeholders and partners. We will be meeting with patients, physicians and Northern Health staff to gather the information needed to identify a project scope and develop the proposal.

Health Care Partner Contact Information

Cathy Almost
Engagement Leader, Patient and Public Engagement | Northern BC
250.615.9932
calmost@bcpsqc.ca