Engagement

Meaningful engagement requires effective planning. Make sure you have a clear purpose and scope for what you want your Patient and Family Advisors (PFAs) to do before you start recruiting them. Here are some guides that can help you plan your PFA engagement:

Here are some resources and templates that will help you recruit, onboard and orientate PFAs to your team or project:

Now that you have PFAs on your team or project, here are some guides that can help you engage meaningfully with them:

Your PFAs need to feel supported on your team or project. Make sure you routinely reach out to your PFAs to see how they are feeling in their role, and if they need any supports.

Here are some resources that can help support your PFAs in their role:

Build a sense of community, belonging and support among patient family advisors and patient partners, and provide an opportunity for them to build skills. These were the primary goals of Nova Scotia Health’s Building Connections Patient Family Advisor (PFA) Conference, held virtually June 2nd and 3rd. The conference brought together PFAs from across Nova Scotia Health, as well as patient partners from the Maritime SPOR Support Unit (MSSU) and from Newfoundland.

Nova Scotia Health has more than 200 volunteer patient family advisors. These individuals bring the voice of the patient and family member to quality teams, departments and projects across Nova Scotia Health. The work of most PFAs is independent of other PFAs, so it can be isolating. Judy Porter, PFA and member of the conference planning committee, explained, “We are really isolated from our ‘co-workers’ (fellow PFAs) because we aren’t in the same room at the same time. There is strength in having a connection with other people who are doing the same thing as you. To build a stronger PFA community we need to make that connection.”

Read more about how the conference helped build that sense of connection:

Building Connections is a national webinar series made by PFAs for all PFAs and Patient Partners across Nova Scotia. These interactive sessions feature guest speakers, as well as opportunities to listen, learn and act together.