Edwina Nearhood, a PVN Patient Partner, is part of the Fort St. John Community Action Team (pictured above with city councillors) which discusses substance use issues in the town and comes up with ways to take action. We asked Edwina what it means to her to be involved with the Community Action Team on this issue that is close to her heart, and what Fort St. John has been planning for Overdose Awareness Week.

Read the blog post.

Minutes from the Latest PVN Oversight & Advisory
Committee Meeting

For those of you new to PVN, an Oversight & Advisory Committee plans the strategic direction of the Network and is made up of an equal number of patient partners and health care partners. The Committee meets on a regular basis to talk about PVN activities. 

At their latest meeting in June, the Committee began to discuss patient partner compensation, how to build further capacity in the network, and updates to important PVN processes. They also said "goodbye for now" to some committee members whose two-year terms are up (keep an eye out for a call for both patient and health care partners to join the committee in the coming weeks!).

Read the minutes.

Here's a great upcoming learning opportunity: the next "What Matters to You?" webinar will take place on September 26 at 1230. This webinar will be a how-to guide on preparing patients and family members for "What matters to you?" conversations, encouraging health care providers to ask the question, and rallying community members to lead the initiative. 

Speakers include Maggie Breslin from The Patient Revolution, Lara Gurney from Vancouver General Hospital, and Santana Hernandez, a "What Matters to You?" Ambassador. As a bonus, there will be an update on the upcoming release of "What Matters to You?" materials in additional languages!  

Find out more and add it to your calendar.

Share your Big Ideas at the Quality Forum!

There’s just over a week left to submit abstracts to present at Quality Forum 2019, the BC Patient Safety & Quality Council’s annual conference! This is a Patients Included conference, and the Council is looking for both patient and health care partners to speak to the participants about their work and experiences. 

People from across the continuum of care are invited to present about any topic related to providing better care for patients. Presentations can be about projects that are well underway or complete with outcomes and lessons to share, but they can also be about ideas for improving care that are too new to have results.

If you’ve been involved in an engagement opportunity, this could be a great chance for you to share the progress you've made!

Submit your abstract by September 7.