Member, Specialized Community Services Programs Patient Advisory Committee

Have you ever had multiple medical issues as a patient or caregiver? Have you found it difficult to know where to find the right help for your situation? Interior Health in the South Okanagan area is addressing the needs of patients with complex health problems and needs your help, perspectives and ideas about what would work better for patients.

Open to: Patient partners in the South Okanagan area

Lead Organization or Department

Interior Health, Primary and Community Care

Aim

The goal is to improve how we bring the health care clinicians together to assist patients in simple, more convenient interactions and provide better treatment of complex conditions while reducing inconvenient multiple visits.

Level of Engagement

This opportunity is at the level of collaborate on the spectrum of engagement. The promise to you is that the health care partner will work together with you to formulate solutions and incorporate your advice and recommendations into the decisions to the maximum extent possible.

Eligibility

• Experience navigating the health care system as a patient, family member or caregiver.
• For this work, the hope is to engage patients (or family and caregivers of those patients) with complex health conditions who may be medically frail.
• Patient partners should feel comfortable sharing their experience and able to contribute ideas for change.
• Ability/interest in reading documents and staying on top of information/requests for input through email
• A willingness to contribute but also be able to reflect on contribution of others
• Patient partners must reside within South Okanagan

Logistics

• Vacancies: 8
• Location, date, time and frequency: Regular monthly meetings about 1-1.5 hours long will occur through teleconference or in person.
• The monthly meetings will be to touch base, receive updates, as well as, give feedback on design work taking place within the Specialized Community Service Programs (SCSP). A portion of the work will come through email requests for input. There is no expectation that a patient partner will need to give feedback on all requests.
• Commitment: This work may continue up to one year

Reimbursement

Patient partner reimbursement follows the Interior Health Staff travel policy. Patients will receive out of pocket expenses for travel, parking or local public transport. If meetings take place over a meal time, the meal will be provided. Out-of-pocket expenses take up to six weeks for reimbursement to occur, once the form has been completed and receipts received.

Background

This initiative is occurring as direction from the Ministry of Health to provide wrap around care for our patient population. The SCSP Patient Advisory Committee will give information back to the SCSP Steering Committee, in which Health Authority clinicians, managers, and patient partners are a part. All personal information shared within the Patient Advisory Committee will remain confidential and will not be shared outside the meeting itself. Terms of Reference, Ministry Policies and any other background information will be shared with those who express interest in the opportunity. Patient partners new to Interior Health initiatives will be required to sign a confidentiality agreement.

Health Care Partner Contact Information

Carol Stathers
Engagement Leader, Patient and Public Engagement | Okanagan, Interior Region
778.516.3308
cstathers@bcpsqc.ca