We want to hear from you!
CHEO's Oncology Patient and Family Advisory Council is looking for your ideas and experiences to help them prioritize projects and better advise our Oncology Program.
Please take 1-2 minutes to share your feedback.
Please note this form is not meant for specific concerns or feedback related to your own/your child’s care. We encourage you to connect directly with your case manager or our Patient Experience team to share that type of feedback.
Join CHEO’s Oncology Patient and Family Advisory Council
We’re looking for current and past patients and their families to join CHEO’s Oncology Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC). This is a unique volunteer opportunity for you to provide ongoing advice and guidance to inform our program, policies and future innovations. We want to learn from you and partner together to enhance the patient and family experience.
We heard you
We heard directly from you, our families, that you are keen to partner with CHEO to help guide the future of our Oncology department. In response, we’ve made it a priority to create a new opportunity to include your voice and lived experience in decisions affecting CHEO’s Oncology department. Modeled after oncology programs across the country and CHEO’s corporate Family Advisory Council, we are excited to launch our Oncology Patient and Family Advisory Council.
What is a Patient and Family Advisory Council?
At CHEO, we have a corporate Family Advisory Council (FAC) and several sub-chapters that are unique to specific programs. The role of a FAC is to provide advice and input from the family perspective to the Board of Directors, administration, staff and physicians. The Oncology PFAC is a sub-chapter of the corporate FAC and is supported by dedicated staff from our Oncology department. All of our FACs have the same goal of advancing CHEO’s Partners in Health Declaration of Values.
The Oncology PFAC will meet approximately once every two months and we are seeking a minimum commitment of one year from its members.
| Our vision |
| Foster, promote and support the highest quality of patient/family-centered care for children, youth and families who receive care through CHEO’s Oncology department. |
| Our mission |
| Promote and support CHEO’s philosophy of patient/family-centered care by advising the Oncology leadership team, staff and physicians on the needs and priorities from a family perspective. |
Examples of what we will do
- Create novel ways to increase communication between staff and families, and between families themselves
- Look for ways to streamline processes so families get faster access to what they need, when they need it
- Improve the ways to navigate CHEO’s MyChart for oncology families
- Include the voice of families in the hiring of new oncology staff
- Create training materials for staff on inclusivity, diversity, and other important topics identified by families
- And whatever else the PFAC decides is important to focus on!
What’s in it for you
You will be registered as a formal CHEO volunteer, which means you’ll be included in recognition events to thank you for your time. You will expand your network to include other families and health-care professionals while at the same time gaining invaluable team-building skills. And finally, you will be compensated for any expenses!
As the Oncology PFAC identifies opportunities to learn more about a specific topic, our team will also facilitate education sessions, workshops or even guest speakers to meet the group’s needs.
How to apply to be a PFAC member
In order to become a member, you must be a current or past patient/family member of CHEO’s Oncology department and are willing to:
- Embrace the PFAC’s vision and mission.
- Prepare for, attend and actively participate in meetings every two months.
- Meetings will be held via Zoom for the foreseeable future.
- Flexibility in meeting times with adjustments made as needed, or according to the seasons.
- Meetings will be scheduled well in advance, with occasional ad-hoc meetings if necessary.
- Agenda items and meeting notes will be provided in advance for your review.
- Listen to and share different points of view.
- Reflect on issues and priorities that may be different from your own.
- Participate in evaluation processes for the PFAC.
- Follow CHEO’s guidelines for volunteers (e.g. police record check, submission of volunteer hours, signing of the confidentiality agreement, etc.).
CHEO will follow up with interested applicants to discuss next steps, which typically includes a simple phone call to discuss your application and availability. We also do our best to make accommodations for any accessibility needs.
For more information, or to arrange a time to discuss this role, please email Teri Stewart at tstewart@cheo.on.ca.
Becoming a youth advisor on the Oncology Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC) is a great opportunity to share your personal experiences, thoughts and ideas to help other kids, youth and families who use CHEO’s Oncology services. Here are some of the ways you can help us by sharing your story and your voice:
- Providing suggestions and advice around CHEO’s Oncology services and helping to make important decisions.
- Coming up with new age-appropriate activities and programs for patients, like peer-to-peer support, teen nights, music therapy, etc.
- Brainstorming new and creative ways to help medical teams and youth communicate with each other.
- And so much more!
Joining the Oncology PFAC as a youth advisor is a great opportunity for you to gain high school volunteer hours.
If you are a current or former patient who has experience with CHEO’s Oncology services, we’d love to hear from you!
Share your voice
CHEO has many other ways to get involved, including our: