Patient Advisor, Vancouver Island Eating Disorder Client and Family Advisory Committee

Do you have an eye for quality improvement, an empathetic ear and experience accessing care for the treatment of an eating disorder? Your voice is needed! We are looking for patient partners to join our Client and Family Advisory Committee, which meets quarterly to discuss the development and provision of eating disorder services provided by Island Health and the Ministry of Children and Family Development.

Open to: Patient partners in the Island Health region

Lead Organization or Department

Island Health, Mental Health & Substance Use

Aim

The Vancouver Island Eating Disorder Client and Family Advisory Committee provides a venue for the voices of clients and families with lived experience with eating disorders to be heard. It provides the opportunity for staff to better understand and learn from patient experiences, in the context of improving the eating disorder services provided by the Ministry of Child and Family Development (MCFD) and Island Health (IH) on Vancouver Island. The role of the advisor will include contributing to positive, open discussion with fellow Advisory Committee members, reflecting on insights from personal experience with a focus on how these may inform positive change for clients and families in the future.

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

• Open to patient partners from across the Island Health region. Preference may be given to patient partners who live in areas that are not currently represented.
• This invitation is being extended to patient and family members with an interest in this topic, who are willing to volunteer their time, and who:
  • Have personal or family experience accessing eating disorders services across Vancouver Island, throughout the continuum of care
  • Are comfortable sharing their story
  • Are comfortable working and speaking up in large groups
  • Are at a point of personal recovery where the individual is distanced enough from the disorder that engagement would not cause instability, pain/hardship, or trigger relapse

• Please note:
  • This opportunity is not open to patient partners who are currently employed by the Ministry of Child and Family Development or Island Health
  • The placement process for this opportunity may include an informal interview between the volunteer and the health care partner.
  • Applicants must have previously attended a PVN orientation session and completed the Volunteer Agreement. If you have not attended an orientation session but you are interested in this opportunity, please contact Ashley Clark directly to see if accommodations may be possible.

Logistics

• Vacancies: 4
• Date/time: Meetings occur quarterly, on the second Tuesday of every third month or as determined by members. The meetings are usually from 3:00pm to 4:30pm.
• Location: In-person at the Royal Jubilee Hospital or Comox Valley Hospital (sites linked via video conference) or by teleconference. One meeting per year will be arranged for everyone to attend in Nanaimo.
• Commitment: Two-year term with the option to renew for 1 additional year when invited by the Ministry of Children and Family Development and Island Health

Reimbursement

Pre-approved transportation & parking costs to attend meetings will be reimbursed by Island Health.

Background

This committee came about as part of a Joint Regional Plan for eating disorder services on Vancouver Island between Island Health and the Ministry of Children and Family Development (MCFD). It was developed in an effort to help address the gaps in under-serviced areas of the island to respond to service fragmentations. The committee includes family and client stakeholders along with representation from the joint Island Health/Ministry of Children and Family Development Eating Disorder Steering Committee and other leadership staff. It is also linked to the regional Steering Committee and local Working Groups. Two members from the Advisory Committee are invited to join the Steering Committee Meetings and their local Working Group meetings on a quarterly basis or as invited and able. As a patient advisor, your role will be to:

• Provide advice on strategies and planning iniatives from personal or professional experience
• Contribute ideas and suggestions on initiatves, through meetings, teleconferences or written input
• Review information circulated on the committee and provide timely response to all correspondence
• Strive to understand the goals, objectives and desired outcomes of projects or initiatives under discussion
• Disseminate information about Vancouver Island eating disorder services and/or community engagement activities through community networks and contacts

Learn more about the committee in their Terms of Reference.

Health Care Partner Contact Information

Ashley Clark
Engagement Leader, Patient & Public Engagement | Vancouver Island
250.812.8908
aclark@bcpsqc.ca