In a project funded by the Ontario Trillium Foundation, a patient collaborative visited several health care organizations this year to conclude their efforts to gain a better understanding of how patients and those close to them could participate in the health care system. A group of nine experienced patients visited hospitals and healthcare facilities in Ottawa, Kingston, Toronto and Thunder Bay to see how patients participated. We found that there were three kinds of active patient and family participation in decision making:
1. As Patient and Family Advisers, they serve as committee members on decision making bodies that deal with everything from strategic planning to way finding in the hospital. A major breakthrough is about to happen at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, where two patient members of the Patient and Family Advisory Council are about to join the hospital’s executive team.
2. As Patient and Family Mentors, former patients and their families support current patient and families as they are experiencing particularly difficult healthcare experiences. At Baycrest Geriatric Centre, family members of current and former residents serve as mentors to new arrivals in a program that offers support through the initial period after moving in.
3. As Patient and Family Educators, former patients are helping the Patients’ Association spread the word about the benefits of patient participation. We have set up a Speakers Bureau and several of our members have already participated in conferences, Patients’ Choice Award ceremonies, and are booked for more activity in the New Year. We need volunteers who want to become more active and engage in these and other activities to support the Patients’ Association.
If you’re interested, please submit a Volunteer Form or email us at communications@patientsassociation.ca.