West Coast news: BC Patient Voices Network's new Resources Portal

[Carolyn Canfield]

The BC Patient Voices Network (PVN) began as a provincially funded initiative in 2009 as part of the Patients As Partners program at the Ministry of Health. Since then, its volunteer numbers have grown along with the expansion of partnership interest and opportunities across the province. I joined in 2011 when I really knew very little about healthcare, but absolutely wanted to help the system improve. The Patient Voices Network was a great way to learn and gain experience in a wide variety of projects.

Two years ago the PVN program was taken on by the BC Patient Safety and Quality Council who created a shiny new website. You can read about the program and take a look at the current engagement opportunities that are recruiting patients and family carers for very different roles in various parts of British Columbia. These listings are constantly updated, so you may wish to check back from time to time, just to see what my province is up to.

The latest addition to the website is a Resources Portal where you might find some helpful reading, especially for those just starting out and getting a feel for the new role as patient advisor. Side by side are resources aimed at the provider half of the partnership where managers and line workers are also learning new ways of interacting with patients and their family members. PVN serves as a starting point for providers as well as for community volunteers who want to join together to transform the system for better care.

Much of the Resource Portal postings look a little patched-in to me. But it's long overdue. Some uploads are PVN orientation materials and some are slide decks first presented at the annual provincial Quality Forum. That's an event held every February that attracts attendance from across the country. Sadly, the only provision for patient advisors is free entry for 20 chosen PVN patient volunteers, so just 2% of participants. This year the pre-conference day costs $125 and the out-of-province registration is $425 for the main two-day program. Whew! And that's on top of transportation and accommodation in Vancouver. Not suited to a volunteer's budget!

So meanwhile, back to "free" internet-based knowledge exchange. I know that this PVN Resource Portal will grow and improve, offering more tools to support patient advisors across BC. But say! What's happening in your province? Patient involvement seems to taken off at warp speed everywhere. PAN is a place to collect the very best proven collaboration practices from every province and territory, from sea to sea to sea.

Can you offer your fellow PAN members tips and valuable thinking from your experience in healthcare partnering? Are there websites or publications from your jurisdiction that we should post on the PAN webpage? How might PAN spread the best knowledge, skills and tools from all this patient partnering activity? All of us can benefit from every efficiency as we are pushed to take on more. This work so heavily taps our scarce resources of energy and time, emotion and dedication. Reaching out to each other supports our feeling of common cause. We are truly all in this together!

PAN is our community of practice to build cross-Canada capacity for outstanding patient partnership in every healthcare domain! Let's hear what's on your mind!

Best wishes for the year ahead. It's a huge privilege to share this space with all of you! Warm regards, Carolyn