Patient & Public Partnership Program

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Patient and Family Voices - Opportunities for Patient Partnership

Are you passionate about improving the quality of health and care services in your community? Consider becoming a patient partner with Island Health and help make a meaningful impact.

WHAT IS THE PATIENT & PUBLIC PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM?

Island Health’s Patient & Public Partnership Program creates meaningful opportunities to engage with Island Health initiatives. It offers both virtual and in-person opportunities for connection as well as one-on-one support for partners collaborating on health initiatives.

Upon registration, participants can gain access to a wide array of engagement opportunities within Island Health and express interest directly through their personal profile.

Patient partners work with health care leaders, staff and medical staff to contribute to quality improvement, innovation and research. Throughout this work, we collaboratively aim to improve care and services for patients, clients and families. Read below to find out if patient partnership is a good fit for you.

If you are already familiar with patient partnership and want to sign up with our Patient & Public Partnership Program, please register with us today. 

What is patient partnership?

Patient partnership means patients, clients, families, caregivers, communities, and health care providers working together to improve care and service in the health system. Island Health has been partnering with patients in decision making, quality improvement, research, and innovation since 2008. Some benefits of patient partnership include: 

  • Providing important insights for quality improvement
  • Sharing patient partner perspectives with health care providers
  • Ensuring the patient voice is in decisions that affect them
  • Improving communication between patients and health care providers
  • Creating meaningful changes to health care services

Partnership between patients and healthcare teams results in:

  • Better experiences for patients, families and care providers
  • Improved patient safety
  • Better health outcomes
  • Reduce health care costs
What is the role of a patient partner? 

The role of a patient partner is to work with Island Health leaders, staff and medical staff toward a common goal of improving health and care. Patient partners:

  • Share knowledge from lived and living experience
  • Constructively partner to improve the health care system
  • Provide a patient and family member viewpoint in decision-making
  • Build partnerships based on mutual respect and communication
  • Actively participate by sharing feedback, experiences and opinions

Learn more about the roles and responsibilities of patient partners.

Is patient partnership a good fit for me?

Patient partnership can be a rewarding experience and within Island Health, it aims to create meaningful change within the health system through mutually respectful relationships. Patient partnership means working together to find solutions. We find strengths in each other’s opinions and learning from each other.  

We encourage you to complete this short self-assessment to help you understand your readiness for partnership.

Where are patient partners participating across Island Health?

Some examples of patient partner opportunities include:

  • Councils & Committees
    • Patient partners take part as full voting members on councils and committees that work on improving quality, setting clinical standards, and driving new ideas.  
  • Focus Groups
    • Patient partners share their lived and living healthcare experience to provide guidance and input on ongoing improvement projects.
  • Research
    • Patient partners can join research teams, help set priorities for future research, and contribute to research events and education.
  • Hiring Panels
    • Patient partners participate in hiring panels for director level and above positions to help select new leaders who have a focus on people-centred care.
  • Rapid Response Groups
    • Patient partners participate within programs to provide feedback on public facing communications and quick input on emerging issues.
How do I become a patient partner?

Step 1: To get involved, register with My Impact. 
Step 2: Attend a welcome meeting
Step 3: Attend an orientation session and complete the online learning modules
Step 4: Become part of our community!

If you are interested in related/additional patient partner opportunities outside of Island Health, please visit Health Quality BC's Patient Voices Network.

Meet the Team!

Download this infographic to learn more about the Patient & Public Partnership Team.

Questions?

To ask questions or learn more, please email us at patient.experience@islandhealth.ca