Member, Client Advisory Committee – Addiction Outpatient Treatment (AOT) Clinic

Volunteer Opportunity
Addiction outpatient treatment clinics want to stay in touch with the changing needs of service users. Help Island Health’s Victoria addiction counselling service maintain meaningful services by lending your voices on what works well, what needs to change and what ideas you have for improvement.

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Lead Organization/Department
Island Health, Mental Health and Substances Use, Addiction Outpatient Treatment

Aim
The aim of our committee is to ensure our health care services meet the evolving needs of the public we serve. Patient partners who join our Client Advisory Committee – Addiction Outpatient Treatment (AOT) Clinic, will impact and inform how we improve the quality of our group and 1:1 counselling programs. Patient partners will be part of a committee which will focus on three important questions:
• What has worked or not worked well in your experience?
• How can we make our programs welcoming and inclusive for all people including Indigenous patient partners (First Nations, Métis and Inuit)?
• How can these services improve to meet a wide range of substance use treatment goals?

Level of Engagement
This opportunity is at the level of involve on the spectrum of engagement. 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
• Open to patient partners from: Vancouver Island region, in the Victoria area
• Experience with receiving services from a community outpatient addictions clinic in the Victoria area, or are a friend or family member of someone who has received community outpatient addictions services
• Interested in quality improvement projects
• Comfortable sharing your personal health care stories and experiences in a group setting (please note a potential risk is client discomfort hearing other stories from other patient partners that may have disturbing content).
• Please note:
– This opportunity, as with all Island Health patient engagement opportunities, is not open to Island Health staff members or patient partners who are currently employed by Island Health. If you have questions regarding this, please email patient.experience@islandhealth.ca 
– The placement process for this opportunity may include an informal interview between the volunteer and the health care partner.
– Applicants must have previously attended a PVN orientation session and completed the Patient Partner Commitments form. 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.
– As required by the October 14, 2021 Public Health Order released by the Provincial Health Officer, proof of vaccination is required to access any in-person meetings at an Island Health site. Proof of vaccination can be provided by way of a Vaccination Passport or Vaccination card, along with government issued photo ID. For patient partnership activities that are virtual only (via Zoom, video conference, phone, etc.), proof of vaccination is not required.

Logistics
• Number of vacancies: 2-4
• Date/Time:
-2 per month
– 2 hour meeting
– First meeting Tuesday, February 1^st, 1pm – 3pm
– Future meeting days and times to be determined
• Location: Virtually over Zoom, with potential option for hybrid meetings or in person if appropriate and safe to do so
• Commitment: February 2021 – December 2021 (11 months)

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
This committee is committed to ensuring that addiction outpatient treatment services are relevant. We want to know from patient partners, including our service recipients, and service recipient friends and family members, what they think and feel about our services. This committee’s goal is to deliver addiction services that meet the needs of the public. We want to be connected to what’s important to client’s seeking our support. The committee will included the team Coordinator, Manager, and patient partners. Some possible risks for patient partners on this committee include discomfort hearing other stories from other patient partners that may have disturbing content. The committee will make every effort to provide trauma-informed approaches to this work.

This committee is also committed to providing a culturally safe experience. We want to reach all voices in the care we provide in our addiction outpatient treatment services. We realize that we lack knowledge of the lived experience of First Nations, Inuit and Métis patients and that this can act as a barrier to promoting cultural safety for our service recipients. We would like to welcome the voices of First Nations, Inuit and Métis patient partners to help us be more sensitive and respectful in guiding our work to support better client services.

For more information on Addiction Outpatient Treatment Clinic’s Vision and Service Description please see this document.

Health Care Partner Contact Information

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