The following action points emerged from activities around the theme of community engagement undertaken by the MUHC-ISAI and the HIF in 2013.
10 ACTION POINTS TO SUPPORT COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
- Identify new sources of funding for volunteer education and training. Discuss student volunteering with university, CEGEP and high school administrators as well as Ministries of Education and Labour to highlight complimentary goals and pursue co-financing possibilities.
- Anticipate what role volunteers will play within the MUHC’s tertiary-quaternary mandate. Many of the volunteer roles appear to be in less acute settings within the hospital today.
- Examine the make-up of the volunteer corps with a view to fulfilling a social embeddedness mandate along with meeting hospital needs. Develop creative ways of reaching out to potential volunteers.
- Explore best practices in coordination to improve information-sharing between nursing and volunteers and make best use of volunteer time. Follow up with training sessions.
- Provide a conduit from volunteers to Quality and Safety departments and anticipate a regular review of volunteer recommendations for improving the patient experience in hospital.
- Pursue a policy of involving patient representatives in decision-making at all levels and ensure that the item “Do we/should we have patient representation?” is included on the agenda at planning and committee meetings.
- Draw up and publicize a clear statement of hospital priorities that will help donors direct their contributions.
- Find innovative means of acknowledging donations and describing their impact to hospital staff and the community.
- Emphasize to physicians and nurses the vital role they play in encouraging patients to become volunteers and donors; increase their awareness of the need for patient representation; provide training in how to mention opportunities to appropriate patients and direct them towards relevant resources. Encourage physicians and nurses with experience in these areas to share their stories and the approaches they use.
- Use the opening of the Glen site to bring new community members into the hospital as early as possible, potentially creating volunteer opportunities well ahead of opening, especially with Auxiliaries and Friends in order to recreate their “insider” knowledge and expand their membership.