Patient Partner, Wishing Well – End of Life Project – St. Paul’s Hospital

There is no RSVP for this opportunity. Please email Jami at jbrown@bcpsqc.ca if interested.

Volunteer Opportunity
The wishing well project provides a chance to provide something of comfort to patients and families that are facing end of life in critical care. A team at St. Paul’s Hospital are seeking two patient partners to share their experience with end of life and/or critical care with the hopes of adapting this project into St. Paul’s Hospital and making it culturally sensitive and inclusive.

Lead Organization/Department
Critical Care – Providence Health Care (St. Paul’s Hospital)

Aim
• To gain an understanding of how culture influences patients and families experience of participating in the wishing well project during end-of-life in the critical care setting.
• Patient partners provide insight into patient and families experience of the end of their time in a critical care setting, provide feedback on our approach to reaching out to participants and the questions we will ask in interviews.

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
Open to volunteers from across the province who:
• Have experience with end-of-life care or critical care
• Are comfortable telling their story
• Can meet using Zoom

There will be an informal conversation about the opportunity and determination of the best fit for both patient and health care partners prior to placement.

Logistics
• Number of vacancies: 2
• Date/Time: To be determined with the patient partner.
• Commitment: This is approximately a 2-year time frame. Date, time, and frequency is flexible to the patient partners. Minimum contact is once every 2-3 months for approximately one hour each meeting.
• Location: Virtual, via zoom

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 Jami Brown- jbrown@bcpsqc.ca to see if support options are available. We are always seeking to better understand and reduce barriers to participation. An honorarium gift card will be given as a thank you for their time.

Background
The wishing well project has been implemented in other hospitals throughout Canada and we would like to bring it into St. Paul’s Hospital critical care. The wishing well project provides an opportunity for the patient and patients family to ask for a few small wishes during their end-of-life experience in the critical care setting. The aim is that these wishes provide a space for patients and families to celebrate their lives and to recognize dignity in such a dehumanizing environment like the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) during end of life. The team consists of bedside nurses and Clinical Nurse Specialists from the ICU and Cardiac Surgery ICU at St. Paul’s Hospital.

The team understands the importance of connecting as human beings, before getting into the content of our opportunity. With respect to the patient partners who are willing to share their experience, and the sensitive nature of the content that will be discussed, there will be resources provided to help with any emotions that may arise. The team understands that you will only share what you are comfortable with throughout this opportunity.

In this study we are interested in how culture influences the experience of participating in this project to provide a culturally sensitive and inclusive experience.

Health Care Partner Contact Information

Jami Brown | BA, MAPC (she/her/hers)
Engagement Leader
BC Patient Safety & Quality Council
604.510.0449
jbrown@bcpsqc.ca