Newsletter

An Update from Patient & Community Partnership for Education (PCPE)

On behalf of PCPE, we hope you are well and finding ways to stay socially connected while physical distancing measures are in place. We are using technology, where we can, to continue to bring patient and community voices into health professional education.

Recently we hosted a planning session with Spinal Cord Injury BC to develop new resources for teaching health advocacy in the physical therapy and occupational therapy curriculum. Workshop facilitators are prepared to move our 'Patient & Community Voices' series online in the Fall, if needed. We are also continuing with our research into the benefits of patient engagement by using online surveys to collect data about the outcomes of being a Health Mentor.

Regrettably, we have had to put some activities on hold. Part of what makes our work unique are the experiential opportunities for students to learn directly from patients and communities who can provide insights into the lived experience of marginalized and vulnerable populations.

For the first time since the 'Community as Teacher' program began in 2006, we are unable to send students to cultural camps put on by Xyolhemeylh. This partnership with Fraser Valley Aboriginal Children & Family Services provides valuable community-based learning that is unlike the classroom or clinical learning environment. We look forward to offering this program again as soon as it safe to do so.

Sincerely,
Angela, Bill, Cathy, Jen, & Kurtis

Health Mentors: Recruitment Underway for Cohort 10!

Do you have a chronic condition/disability or care for someone who does?

The UBC Health Mentors Program needs volunteers to share their expertise with healthcare students. The program is a 9-month commitment in which adult mentors/caregivers meet 6 times over the year with a small team of UBC students.

Health Mentors are experts who want to share their experiences living with a chronic condition. Students are new healthcare professionals who are learning about patient-centered care and how providers can better support people with chronic conditions.  

Health Mentors should live in the Metro Vancouver area and be comfortable talking about their health condition. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, meetings may be held online or by telephone, as well as face to face. The program runs September 2020 to May 2021.
 
For more information and to apply, please visit the website or email jen.macdonald@ubc.ca. 

Apply by August 15, 2020.

Health Mentors Program Featured in UBC's Strategic Plan

The Health Mentors Program is featured in UBC's Strategic Plan as an example of the university's commitment to innovative interdisciplinary education - a key strategy for transformative learning.

The story shows how the Health Mentors Program supports UBC's efforts to teach students how to work together on complex and emergent problems like chronic illness and rare diseases. With the number of people living with chronic diseases on the rise, the program is helping to prepare the next generation of health care providers to meet society's changing health care needs.

Latest Project: Students Learning from Patients - increasing diversity and inclusion

Patient & Community Partnership for Education has been awarded a grant to enhance our ability to fill increasing demand for patient involvement in health professional education at UBC.

As a first step we have hired a summer work learn student, Kurtis So, to build a database of patients / community members with interest and experience in health professional education. Kurtis will be contacting current and past Health Mentors over the summer to begin building the database.

We will also build a network of community organizations to help us involve 'harder to reach' populations and assess supports needed to increase the diversity of patients involved in a variety of educational roles. 

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support for this project is provided by the Equity & Inclusion Office via the UBC Equity Enhancement Fund.