Patient and Family Engagement

The Patient and Family Engagement team partners with patients and families to improve the quality, safety, and experience of care for all children.  As parents of current and former patients, we collaborate with the health care team to help drive changes in the hospital and clinics incorporating our lived experiences and passion for quality improvement.

The Patient and Family Engagement team oversees the following areas:

• Patient Family Advisory Councils (PFACs): We serve as a liaison for over 20 PFACs across the hospital and clinics. PFAC members include parents and patients along with members of the healthcare team who collaborate to incorporate the patient and family perspective and improve care. 

• Patient Family Advisors (PFAs): We serve as a liaison for the over 200 Patient Family Advisors. PFAs are parents and caregivers who share and utilize their family’s experiences to participate in various improvement opportunities throughout the year.  Examples include participating in parent panels, reviewing documents, and joining workgroups and committees for specific projects.

• POPS Program (Parents Offering Parent Support): We train parents and former patients who volunteer to serve as peer mentors and connect them with parents requesting support.  Mentors offer non-medical guidance and encouragement through one-on-one conversations via phone calls, text messages, and emails. 

• Parent-to-Parent Orientation: We manage parent volunteers who round on inpatient units to share information about family resources to recently admitted families.

• Family Experience Tracers: We talk with patients and families during their experience, to gather feedback and gain insights that can be utilized to inform hospital wide initiatives.

• Family as Faculty Program: We train parents and caregivers to serve as Family Educators in the Graduate Medical Education (GME) and Graduate Nurse Residency (GNR) programs on how to integrate patient- and family- centered care into their daily practice by sharing real-life experiences.

• Hospital Integration: We participate in committees and workgroups throughout the hospital to ensure that the patient and family voice is integrated in hospital decisions and changes.