Patient Advisory Member, TEC4Home Research Project

Use your experience with heart failure to guide researchers testing the use of in-home technology to monitor patients and provide timely interventions by health care professionals.

Open to: Patient partners across the province

Lead Organization or Department

Department of Digital Emergency Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, UBC

Aim

The TEC4Home research project examines whether home health sensors monitored remotely by  health professionals can reduce the need for hospital visits and help heart failure patients to self-manage their condition. A small number of patients and informal caregivers have been involved with the project since the beginning and it is felt that a larger, more diverse patient advisory group would be beneficial. As a member of the advisory, you will provide input to the project’s steering committee. For example, you may be asked for input on the wording of promotional and other written materials, advice on how to improve enrollment of study participants, and/or ideas on how best to spread the knowledge gained through the study.

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

• We are looking for people with heart failure or their informal caregivers, such as family and friends who are able to commit up to three hours per month over approximately two years
• We are seeking diversity in terms of geographic region (e.g. urban, rural/remote) and a range of personal experience with heart failure and the health system
• The ability to read and understand English is required
• Comfort sharing opinions and ideas based on personal experience is important
• People should have access to a telephone and a computer with word processing and presentation software (e.g. PowerPoint) and internet access
• 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: 8-10
• Commitment: Approximately two years
• Participation will involve 4-6 meetings over the two years, with regular ongoing communication via email.
• One face-to-face orientation meeting will be held in Vancouver in early March, followed by 3-5 meetings by teleconference spaced out over the duration of the project.
• The first face-to-face meeting will be an opportunity to meet the other advisors and members of the research team and to learn more about the TEC4Home project and your role.

Reimbursement

All out-of-pocket expenses such as travel expenses (e.g., flights, hotels, transit, mileage and parking) to attend in-person meetings – will be reimbursed according to University of British Columbia policies.

Background

TEC4Home is a 4-year research project, co-funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSFHR). The purpose of the study is to test whether home health monitoring for patients with chronic heart failure will improve patient outcomes, improve patient and provider experience and lower health care costs by avoiding unnecessary hospitalization. Home health monitoring allows the patient to take measurements such as weight, blood pressure and oxygen saturation using sensors at home. The measurements are sent electronically to a monitoring nurse who can intervene when necessary. The project received funding in 2015 and a pilot was conducted in the Lower Mainland. The research team will now apply what was learned from the pilot during the full clinical trial, set to begin in early 2018 in 24 BC communities. Watch a video on YouTube about this study, including interviews with the principle investigator, a monitoring nurse and a study participant.  

Health Care Partner Contact Information

Colleen McGavin
Patient Engagement Lead, BC SUPPORT Unit
250.889.2691
cmcgavin@bcsupportunit.ca