The Essential Care Partner program has benefits for many patient populations, with additional benefits to vulnerable patients, including those from equity-deserving groups. Essential care partners can help by advocating for the patient, providing information in the patient's language of choice, and assisting with any hearing, visual, speech, cognitive, intellectual or memory impairments that may exist.
While family support has always been important in providing patient care, the Essential Care Partner program further demonstrates St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton (St. Joe's) commitment to partnering with patients and families to improve the quality of care, as outlined in St. Joe's Strategic Plan. A working group was formed in January 2022, with the support and collaboration of St. Joe's patient and family advisors, to determine how the role of essential care partners could be put into action.
One of the first units to launch the Essential Care Partner program at St. Joe's was General Internal Medicine on 4 Bishop Dowling, a clinical teaching unit focused on acute medical care and geriatric assessment. Since the program started, more than 50 essential care partners have participated on the unit.
“As a hospital, we recognize how important the inclusion of essential care partners is, as they provide numerous benefits to patients, families, care providers and to the system as a whole," says 4 Bishop Dowling clinical manager, Alana Tymchuk.
“It is so fulfilling to hear all the positive feedback from patients, care partners and healthcare workers about the impact essential care partners have by providing their support, feedback and collaboration as a vital part of the care team."
Alana and the 4 Bishop Dowling team were recently honoured with an Award of Excellence as recognition of their dedication to advancing the level of patient and family engagement as part of the Essential Care Partner program.
Following the initial success of the Essential Care Partner program, the program is now available in 16 units across the hospital, while gathering feedback from patients, partners and healthcare workers to continually strengthen the program.
For more information and details on how to get involved, visit stjoes.ca/ECP.
St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton (St. Joe's) is a leading research and academic health science centre located in the heart of Hamilton, Ontario. The Hospital is particularly well known for excellence in virtual care, mental health and addictions, respiratory care, kidney and urinary care, robotic surgical services, cancer surgery and women's and infants' care. The hospital's threefold mission is to provide dynamic research, revolutionary methods in health sciences education, and the highest standard of clinical care in a spirit of compassion and innovation. St. Joe's is a member of the St. Joseph's Health System, working in close partnership with St. Joseph's Villa Dundas for long-term care, and St. Joseph's Home Care. You can connect with St. Joe's on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, or Instagram.