Patient Experience Story: Culturally Safe Access to Primary Care

Interior Health’s Medical Office staff have a strong interest in learning about cultural safety and ensuring a positive experience for all patients and family members who access primary care. This is an opportunity for two Indigenous patient partners to anonymously share their experience in accessing care to highlight what felt safe, and what could be done better in the future. The patient stories will be gathered privately and shared anonymously during a Medical Office Assistant workshop in November.

Open to: Patient partners across the Interior region

Lead Organization or Department

Interior Health, Aboriginal Health

Aim

Interior Health Medical Office Assistants (MOAs) are attending a two-day professional development workshop to build knowledge and skills. The purpose of engaging Indigenous patient partners is to provide real patient and family experiences of accessing primary care to enhance cultural safety knowledge for MOAs. The role of the patient partners will be to share their story in a private setting with the Aboriginal Cultural Safety Educator. The stories will be anonymously included in a one-hour cultural safety session during the two -day workshop.

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

This opportunity is open to Indigenous patients and family members who have accessed primary care and have a desire to share cultural safety knowledge with medical office staff. Patient partners should be comfortable telling their story to a group.

Logistics

Number of vacancies: 2 Date and Time: A convenient time and format for sharing the patient story will be arranged with interested participants during the month of September or early October. Initiative Format: Individual discussion with the Aboriginal Cultural Safety Educator Connection Method: In-Person / Teleconference  

Reimbursement

No expenses are anticipated for this opportunity.

Background

Interior Health provides an annual professional development workshop for Medical Office Assistants. This year, the Medical Office Assistants specifically asked for more knowledge and skills around cultural safety and ensuring a positive experience for all patients and family members accessing primary care. In order to do this well, Interior Health is requesting stories of accessing care from Indigenous patients and family members to enhance a cultural safety education session during the workshop.

Health Care Partner Contact Information

Jacquelyne Foidart
Engagement Leader, Patient and Public Engagement | Thompson Cariboo Kootenays
250.879.1077
jfoidart@bcpsqc.ca