Reviewer, Palliative ‘Care at Home’ Binder – Fraser Health

Volunteer Opportunity
Supporting patients in palliative care takes a gentle hand and a kind heart. Fraser Health are seeking a patient partner to provide insight on what’s important to patients, families, and caregivers to include in their ‘Care at Home’ binder to support this important part of the care journey.

RSVP Now

Lead Organization/Department
Professional Practice – Fraser Health

Aim
• To review and update the ‘care at home’ binder resource for Palliative patients and families in the community by the end of April.
• The patient partner will share thoughts as to what they feel would be/has been useful and helpful content to be included that supports them through this journey.

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 Fraser Health communities who:
• Have experience with palliative care in the home with supports by the Home Health Nurses and potentially the Palliative Consult team (Palliative Care Social Work, Palliative Nurse Clinicians)
• A remote Meet and Greet will be done with potential patient partners to determine if this is a good fit for you and the health care partner team prior to placement.

Logistics
• Number of vacancies: 1
• Date/Time: April, to be determined with patient partner
• Commitment: One month
• Location: virtual, via skype

Reimbursement
No expenses are anticipated. However, we are always seeking to understand and reduce barriers to participation. If you meet the eligibility and would like to be considered for this opportunity, but have concerns about your ability to participate, please contact Jami Brown – jbrown@bcpsqc.ca to see if there are support options possible.

Background
Palliative care improves the quality of a patient’s life by offering comfort and dignity during their last months of life. The palliative care (PC) teams reduce the burden on family caregivers by identifying and providing for patient and family needs.

Fraser Health’s palliative care service is delivered by an interdisciplinary team that offers care to meet the physical, psycho-social, and spiritual needs of the patient and family. Palliative care services for the seriously ill, their caregivers, families and loved ones include:
• Attention to emotional, cultural, and spiritual needs
• Highly skilled symptom management for:
– Pain
– Anxiety
– Constipation
– Weakness
– Discomfort

• Referral pathways
• Support for the bereaved family

The ‘Care at Home’ binder has been a standardized resource/information tool provided to home health patients/families on admission to the Palliative Care program. The Community Health Nurses provide this tool and provide education to patients/families on the contents and contact information inside the binder. The Home health and Palliative Consult team (Palliative Nurse clinicians, Social Worker) refer patients back to the resource and may add to it as needed to provide more information and resources. The ‘Care at Home’ binder can be brought with patients to appointments and into hospital/hospice.

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