Patient Experience Advisors

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“Driven by the needs of our community, we collaborate with our patients, their families and our partners to deliver the best health care experience.”

The needs and wants of patients, their family members, and caregivers are a top priority in every step of a patient’s journey. Patient and Family Advisors provide an important perspective and have a direct impact across a wide range of hospital initiatives, programs, services, and policies to improve the experience of care.

What is a Patient and/or Family Advisor?

A Patient and/or Family Advisor is someone who ensures the voice of the patient and family is heard and influences planning and decision making on issues affecting patient care.

Patient and/or Family Advisor is a person who:

Has had a recent experience (generally within 3 years) of being a patient, or is the family member of a patient.
Works with the hospital for either short or long term commitments in program councils, or projects.
Provides valuable feedback to the hospital based on their own experiences as a patient, or their experiences as a family member of a patient.
Volunteers their time for 1 to 4 hours per month.

Patient and Family Advisors work in partnership with the hospital to create a truly patient and family-centered care environment and practice.

We are currently recruiting advisors to participate in our Critical Care, Internal Medicine, Mental Health, and Women & Children's Program Councils. If you have had recent experience in these areas, we want to hear from you!

Become a Patient Experience Advisor!

For more information about becoming a patient/family experience advisor:

Call the Patient Engagement Specialist at (613) 345-5649 ext. 51287.
Email: BGHPatientExperience@brockvillegeneralhospital.ca

Is being a patient and family advisor right for you?

Although you do not require any specific qualifications to be an advisor, this role may be a good match with your skills and experiences if you can:

Speak up to share suggestions and potential solutions to help improve hospital care for others.
Talk about your experiences as a patient or family member, but also think beyond your own personal experiences.
Talk about both positive and negative care experiences and share your thoughts on what went well and how things could have been done differently.
Work with people who may be different than you.
Listen to and think about what others say, even when you disagree.
Bring a positive attitude to discussions.
Keep any information you may hear as an advisor private and confidential.

How can I make an impact?

In addition to our Patient and Family Advisory Council, we are committed to growing our team of Patient Experience Advisors to ensure the patient and family’s voice is heard throughout the organization in a variety of ways. Some examples of how Patient Experience Advisors help us to enhance care include:

Sharing your story with us: help staff and physicians understand your hospital experience.
Review or help create educational materials: help to create patient education material, forms, and handouts in a way that is easier for patients and families to understand.
Participating in discussion groups: tell us what it’s like to be a patient at our hospital and how we can improve our services.
Partnering with staff on a variety of projects to help improve hospital services: participate in projects that impact patient's hospital experience.
Serving on the hospital's Patient Family Advisory Council.

Frequently asked questions

Q: What would be the time commitment if I became a patient experience advisor?

A: As an advisor, you decide how much time you would like to participate. It may be a one-time activity, such as a material overview or storytelling. It may involve on-going participation in a committee, working group or team.

Some examples include:

One-time Activity – 1+ months of service.
Ongoing Participation – 1–2-year length of service (or longer).
Document review – a few hours of service.

Additional information about patient and family-centred care

Please note, the role of a Patient & Family Advisor is to constructively partner with the hospital on programs, policies, and projects that strive to work towards a better experience for all patients, caregivers and families. During this experience, we encourage you to share your ideas and experiences, but it is not intended to address individual complaints or concerns.

Do you have an individual complaint or concern?

Complaints and concerns can be shared by contacting our Patient Engagement Specialist.