Because your voice matters.

Mount Saint Joseph Hospital 4East Falls Working Group

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Open to Fraser – Vancouver Coastal, Volunteers in the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley region

Last updated

Are you concerned about reducing falls and injuries related to falls in care settings? Have you or a family member had a fall?
Open to: Volunteers in the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley region

Lead Organization or Department

Providence Health Care, Mount Saint Joseph Hospital (MSJ)

Aim

The Falls Working Group aims to understand the falls experience from the patient and family perspective and apply those learnings to strategies focused on reducing falls and injuries related to falls. Currently the Falls Working Group is exploring ideas around engaging patients/families in post fall safety huddles and how to improve communication with patients/families regarding risk factors for falls and injuries in addition to strategies for prevention.

Level of Engagement

This opportunity is at the level of involve on the spectrum of engagement (www.iap2.org). The promise to you is that the health care partner will work with you to ensure that your ideas and concerns are reflected in recommendations and provide feedback on how your input affected the decision.

Eligibility

  • Open to volunteers from the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley region
  • The working group is seeking patient partners who are themselves older adults, or family members of older adults, who have experience receiving care in hospital. Additional experiences with dementia, cognitive impairment and falls would be considered valuable by this group.

Logistics

  • Vacancies: 2
  • Commitment: 1 year
  • Meetings are held monthly in person at Mount Saint Joseph Hospital. They are typically 2 hours in length on Wednesday or Thursday afternoons.
  • The first meeting with patient partners will be scheduled for December.

Reimbursement

Providence Health Care will reimburse preapproved mileage and transit. Street Parking is available around Mount Saint Joseph for free. If the patient partner is unable to find a parking spot nearby, MSJ will reimburse the cost of parking.

Background

The group was formed in November 2015, following a review of Patient Safety Learning System (PSLS) events and discussions with the 4EAST team recognizing the complexity of patients in their care. Although falls rates are not startling, there was recognition that that there is opportunity for improvement. The working group is led by the Educator and Clinical Nurse Specialist with representation from Clinical Nurse Lead, nursing, Physical Therapist, Occupational Therapist, PSLS coordinator and Performance Improvement Consultant. Following preliminary discussion with team members and a small number of interviews with patients and families, communication within the team and with patients and families, post fall interdisciplinary huddles, creative strategies for falls and injury prevention and environmental improvements were identified as areas of opportunity.

Health Care Partner Contact Information

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

 

From Our Community

Karla Warkotsch

Patient Experience Consultant – Interior Health

Karla Warkotsch

The question I like to ask health care employees is ‘Who is this for?’ and ‘Do we have the right people at the table?’ As a health care employee, I see how easy it is to fall into doing for, rather than doing with patients. The voices of the patient, family and caregiver are essential to ensure the patient is central to the direction and focus of the work being done.

Members of the BCPSQC pose for a team photo at the Quality Forum 2019.

Health Quality BC administers the Patient Voices Network. Using evidence-informed strategies, the Council shifts culture, improves clinical practice and advances person- and family-centred care to support high-quality care for every person in our province.