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Because your voice matters.

Patient Partner, Postpartum Heart Health Clinic Project

Posted • Last updated

Closed

Commitment: Long-term

Connection method: Virtual

Open to Vancouver Island Region

Last updated

Volunteer Opportunity
Understanding heart complications during pregnancy is important to help develop services that meet the needs of patients in Island Health. We are seeking patient partners who can share their experience with our team for a future postpartum heart health clinic!

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Lead Organization/Department
Island Health, maternity care providers

Aim
Drawing on existing models for clinics, we plan to pilot a clinic to support postpartum women with heart health risks. Patient partners will share their thoughts and insights on barriers to access, education sessions, resources and clinic operations to ensure a more person-and-family-centred approach.

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: Vancouver Island region
• Have had a pregnancy complicated by at least one of: gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, HELLP syndrome, gestational diabetes, intrauterine growth restriction or placental abruption
• Pregnancy complications were in the last 10 years.
• Please note:
– This opportunity is not open to physicians or midwives, as they are already represented on our team.
– This opportunity, as with all Island Health patient engagement opportunities, is not open to Island Health staff members or patient partners who are currently employed by Island Health. If you have questions regarding this, please email patient.experience@islandhealth.ca
– 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 Patient Partner Commitments form. If you have not attended an orientation session but you are interested in this opportunity, please contact Charmaine Niebergall directly to see if accommodations may be possible.
– As required by the October 14, 2021 Public Health Order released by the Provincial Health Officer, proof of vaccination is required to access any in-person meetings at an Island Health site. Proof of vaccination can be provided by way of a Vaccination Passport or Vaccination card, along with government issued photo ID. For patient partnership activities that are virtual only (via Zoom, video conference, phone, etc.), proof of vaccination is not required.

Logistics
• Number of vacancies: 2-3
• Date/Time:
– Starting February 2022
– 1x per months for 1-2 hour long meetings
– days and times to be determined
• Location: virtually using Zoom
• Commitment: 12 months

Reimbursement
No out-of-pocket expenses are anticipated for this engagement opportunity. However, if you meet the eligibility criteria but have concerns about your ability to participate, please contact Charmaine Niebergall cniebergall@bcpsqc.ca to see if support options are available. We are always seeking to better understand and reduce barriers to participation.

Background
Several complications of pregnancy (gestational hypertension, preeclampsia, HELLP syndrome, gestational diabetes, intrauterine growth restriction, placental abruption, idiopathic preterm delivery and stillbirth) put women at higher risk of heart disease later in life. The Postpartum Heart Health Clinic team will be coming together to address this need gap in Victoria.

Our team consists of two family physicians (Dr. Alicia Power and Dr. Meagan McKeen), an internal medicine specialist with expertise in this area (Dr. Vanja Petrovic), a cardiologist with a quality improvement background (Dr. Daisy Dulay), a maternal-fetal medicine specialist (Dr. Hayley Bos), a registered midwife (Brandi Wasyluk) a project manager (Clara Rubincam), and two to three patient partners. Drawing on existing models for clinics, we plan to pilot a clinic to support postpartum women with heart health risks.

We hope to recruit diverse patient partners, of various ages, heart health experiences, and cultural backgrounds from across the Vancouver Island region. We are committed to seeking guidance from First Nations, Inuit and Métis partners in this work, and to provide a culturally safe patient engagement.

Health Care Partner Contact Information

Charmaine Niebergall
Engagement Leader, Patient & Public Engagement | Vancouver Island
778.700.2064
cniebergall@bcpsqc.ca

From Our Community

Shana Ooms

Executive Director of Primary Care Strategy, Policy and Quality — BC Ministry of Health

Shana Ooms

Where those of us in the room may have debated policy or wording, patient voices made sure patients were top of mind. And as a result, significant improvements were made to simplify something that was otherwise complex. Patient voices at the table bring us back to reality in terms of what we are trying to achieve.