Member, Providence Health Care Ethics Advisory Group

If you have an interest in discussing complex ethical issues and feel that “what is the right action” is a question that should be asked when facing ethical dilemmas, the Ethics Advisory Group wants you!

Open to: Patient partners in the Lower Mainland & Fraser Valley

Lead Organization or Department

Providence Health Care, Ethics Services

Aim

The Ethics Advisory Group (EAG) activities include developing a working knowledge of the foundations and principles of health ethics; developing familiarity with health ethics resources and information available to the public, provincially, nationally, and internationally; and contributing practical strategies for ethics resources and strategies to guide ethical practice at Providence Health Care (PHC). This group aims to ensure that the voices of PHC’s patients, residents, clients, and their families are represented in the work of PHC’s Ethics Service.

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

• Preference is for patients and family partners who have experienced care at a PHC site. See the list of sites.
• Patient partners who have received care at other facilities will also be considered.
• Training in ethics would be an asset, but is not required.
• You should feel comfortable sharing your experiences and opinions, and participating in discussions.

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 the engagement leader directly.

Logistics

• Vacancies: 4
• The Ethics Advisory Group comes together every three months for a 90 minute meeting generally from 5:00 to 6:30 pm. The next meeting will be scheduled for March 2018.
• Patient partners will be invited for a six-month term with an opportunity for renewal.
• The meeting is in downtown Vancouver. The date and time of the meeting are set several months ahead of time.
• Members are provided with information about free ethics education events, and are encourage to attend.

Reimbursement

A light dinner is provided at the meeting. Expenses related to travel (i.e. transit, parking up to $18/day, and approved mileage up to a limit of $30 total per meeting) will be reimbursed by the health care partner. Please note that it may take 4-6 weeks to process expenses.

Background

The Ethics Advisory Group (EAG) is a working group of the Ethics Resource Forum (ERF). Two members of the EAG sit on the ERF  which is a multi-disciplinary and cross-PHC-site team that provides broad interdisciplinary perspectives to handle ethics issues and concerns that affect clinical units, teams, programs, services and the organization as a whole for a one year term. The EAG was started in the fall of 2016. It is an energetic group that has already made significant contributions to Ethics at PHC.  Some of our patient partners have left Vancouver and we are hoping to fill these vacancies. There is a potential risk to the patient and family partners that some of the discussions, if they resemble past experiences of the patient and family partners, could trigger past memories or trauma. As well, even though the patient and family partners may have no past experience resembling the themes/situations discussed, they may be distressed as some are complex and troublesome. If you would like to review the current Terms of Reference (will be revised with addition of patient partners) please send a request to Karen Estrin kestrin@bcpsqc.ca.

Health Care Partner Contact Information

Karen Estrin
Engagement Leader, Patient and Public Engagement | Lower Mainland & Sunshine Coast
604.668.8245
kestrin@bcpsqc.ca