Patient Partner, Mature Worker in Residential Care Working Group

Residential care is an important part of community support for seniors. Ensuring that the care provided is appropriate, compassionate and person-centred is a priority. A team of researchers are interested in hearing from patient partners who have experience with residential care as they look at the impact mature workers (aged 55 and up) may have on the residents’ care experience.

Open to: Patient partners from Fraser Health Communities

Lead Organization or Department

Simon Fraser University

Aim

The purpose of this project is to understand the impact of mature workers on the satisfaction level of residential care services. Patient partners will provide insight and develop suggestions for study question and interview questions, contribute to preparing survey questionnaires, and share their experience with the working group as a partner in the study.

Level of Engagement

This opportunity is at the level of collaborate on the spectrum of engagement. The promise to you is that the health care partner will work together with you to formulate solutions and incorporate your advice and recommendations into the decisions to the maximum extent possible.

Eligibility

This invitation is being extended to volunteers in Fraser Health communities who are:

• familiar, as a resident and/or caregiver in Residential Care;
• comfortable telling their story and working within a team environment; and
• open to meeting in person and then via teleconference and/or email.

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: 1-2 Date/Time:  To be determined in consultation with the patient partner Location:  Via telephone and in-person, in the North Surrey area Commitment: One week to six months. Participation in research meetings and discussions will take approximately 3 - 4 hours per month, and may include additional ad hoc consultations.

Reimbursement

Pre-approved expenses related to travel to in-person meetings will be reimbursed (including mileage, parking, tolls and/or public transit). Refreshments will be provided at in-person meetings.

Background

Currently, Canada is experiencing the fastest growing rate of people over the age of 60. This growth suggests there may be a need to increase the retirement age to overcome the shortage of labour supply. Since residential care homes rely highly on labour, the growing number of senior populations is likely to increase the number of older workers in residential care. The study intends to uncover the level of satisfaction among residents with the services provided by the older workers. In the end, we expected to provide a strategy that could improve the older workers performance in residential care.

Health Care Partner Contact Information

Rableen Nagra, MA
Patient Engagement Specialist, Fraser Centre – BC SUPPORT Unit
Email: rableen.nagra@fraserhealth.ca