Patient Advisor, Seniors Active Lifestyle Survey Design

Maintaining an active lifestyle is a vital part of any seniors’ health and well-being and their desire for continued independence. To understand how technology could be used to support what movements would help seniors accomplish this goal is the purpose of a comprehensive survey currently being designed by a team of researchers at Simon Fraser University. They are looking to team up with seniors, or those that care for seniors, to assist with the design of this survey.

Open to: Patient partners in Surrey, Delta, Burnaby, White Rock and/or Abbotsford

Lead Organization or Department

Simon Fraser University, School of Engineering Sciences

Aim

Patients will provide their perspective for the design of the survey questionnaire focused on understanding the preferences and needs of seniors to maintain an active lifestyle.

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 involve patients in planning and design phases to ensure ideas or concerns are considered and reflected in alternatives and recommendations.  

Eligibility

• For patient partners in Surrey, Delta, Burnaby, White Rock and/or Abbotsford
• Active seniors between the ages over 65;
• A varied mix of educational/professional backgrounds;
• Comfortable telling their story and working within a team environment.

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

• Open to meeting in person and then via teleconference/email
• Vacancies: 2-3
• Date/Time: 1^st meeting will be in person, date and time to be determined with patient partner, followed up by teleconference/email consultations
• Commitment: the patients being first involved in a face to face meeting to discuss study design followed by teleconference/e-mail communication to finalize the first set of survey questions beginning at the end of May, with research design completed by June. The initial meeting would likely be 1 ½ hours and thereafter approximately 1 hour per week on an as needed basis.

Reimbursement

Parking, toll bridges, transit fares and mileage within the Fraser Health region will be reimbursed.

Background

Statistics Canada has predicted that the percentage of seniors (aged 65 +) will surpass the percentage of population aged 50 years or younger.  Many surveys have shown that a large percentage of active seniors have indicated that they would prefer to continue their independent life style, as long as they can, by living in their own home. To support their personal preferences, which also has the potential be a cost saving option for health care services, this research will explore and survey various approaches where the current technology can be utilized in order to support and maintain an independent living life-style. To start, designing a survey which can ask the right questions of seniors, and/or those that support seniors, on how the current technology can be utilized to better monitor movements and activities of our seniors while preserving their privacy will give us an indication of where to start. The results of long-term monitoring data, in future, could be used by physicians, care givers and family members in order to define a timely intervention in case of presence of any anomalies in the movements and activities patterns of seniors.

Health Care Partner Contact Information

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