Patients interested in changing the face of health care in B.C. are invited to take part in an initiative coming to Nelson for the first time on July 20.
The Patient Voices Network is an initiative of ImpactBC, which looks to patients for ideas on how to improve the health-care experience within the province.
“If there are health care changes that are occurring that are affecting patients, patients should be at the table providing feedback,” Carol Stathers, interior liaison said.
The program is offered in collaboration with the Ministry of Health’s ‘Patients as Partners’ initiative. Started a year and a half ago, Stathers said the program has already placed 450 patients within the program, and have had a demand for a Kootenay chapter.
“Our program then, identifies and invites patients to come into our network and there we provide an orientation session for them so they learn a little bit about the health care system and they learn about opportunities they could get involved with,” Stathers said. “It may be that they’re just learning about health care changes… and it may be across the continuum where they might be sitting on a committee made up of [health care professionals] and patients.”
Stathers stressed the group isn’t about lobbying and they aren’t angry about the health care system.
“We really want to make sure that it’s the right time and they’re in the right place to participate with an open mind,” she explained. “How to best communicate in these situations, and if someone is very angry about a situation that has happened to them, we work with them to get them to a point where they can really participate and engage.”
For more information, visit impactbc.ca or call 1-888-742-1772.
