Patient Advisor, Examining Home Health Services Economic Research Project

Developing a patient-centred economic model to support funding decisions for seniors’ home health services requires input from those that are impacted by the decisions made. A team of researchers at the University of British Columbia and Vancouver Coastal Health is interested in talking with three patient partners who have experience with home health as they design their project.

Open to: Patient partners across the province

Lead Organization or Department

University of British Columbia

Aim

• To develop an economic model to help decision-makers make funding decisions about types of home health services available to British Columbians
• The patient partner will provide feedback during the development phase of the model, sharing their insight on their home health experiences and what they think would be important to patients and families

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

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: 3
• Date/time: To be determined in consultation with patient partners
• Location: Vancouver General Hospital and teleconference
• Commitment: One time, between March-April 2020.

Reimbursement

Preapproved expenses will be reimbursed according to the University of British Columbia policy. Details of this process, and the length of time for reimbursement will be shared directly with the patient partner.

Background

Concerns related to caring for Canada’s elderly remain top of mind for health care leaders, decision makers, and the general public. In an environment of financial scarcity and growing demand, providing high quality home health services in a cost-effective manner presents an ongoing challenge for our health system. For frail seniors, this challenge is critical. Given their complex care needs, elderly patients are particularly vulnerable to rapid decline resulting in significant hospital use if they are not well supported at home. The ‘Home Health Investigation Project’ was launched as a collaboration between decision makers in Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH), the Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation (C2E2), and the Institute for Health System Transformation and Sustainability (IHSTS). The aim was to explore trends in home health service delivery, and to create tools to better support evaluation and investment in home health services. One of the final deliverables for this research is a Markov Model of the home health system that will enable simulation of new home health programs, and inform decision makers in making funding decisions. While the current version of the model incorporates cost avoidance due to reduced hospital use as per the request of decision makers, the potential exists to incorporate other Markov Rewards to reflect extra-financial benefits as well. In Health Technology Assessment (HTA), patient engagement has become a larger focus for bodies making resource allocation decisions. Indeed, recent research has provided guides to inform the incorporation of patient voice and values into the stages of the HTA process. However, less attention has been paid to the incorporation of patients into the economic modeling that often informs these funding decisions. In partnership with patients and decision makers at VCH, we hope to pilot a novel modeling approach that will involve patients directly in model development.

Health Care Partner Contact Information

Jami Brown
Engagement Leader, Patient and Public Engagement
604.510.0449
jbrown@bcpsqc.ca