Background
Did you know that tracking mental health recovery with patient-completed surveys improves health outcomes and empowers patients to be more active in their treatment? The consistent use of patient-completed surveys increases collaborative discussions between healthcare professionals and their patients, and improves quality of care. Digital technology (e.g. apps) can make it easier to use surveys in care. For example, patients can complete surveys online before their appointment, and even monitor their progress in custom graphs.

Alberta Health Services is implementing the use of patient-completed surveys to improve addiction and mental health outcomes. We are exploring ways to advance the use of patient-completed surveys and Connect Care, Alberta’s electronic medical record system, to support the use of these questionnaires. In addition to integrating survey responses with the patients health record the patient portal, MyAHS Connect, allows for survey completion.

However, we know that Albertans have diverse needs which many not be fully met by MyAHS Connect. We recognize the need to adapt the use of technology to provide all Albertans with equitable access to patient-completed surveys that assess treatment outcomes.

Our primary goal is to collaborate with patient partners; to consult with patients to identify the priorities that influence the use of patient-completed surveys, access and use of MyAHS Connect for survey completion in Addiction and Mental Health services.

Roles and Responsibilities
This opportunity is looking for patient partners to join as active and equal partners of the research team.
We are looking for young adults (18+) who are living with addiction and mental health concerns, as well as parents of young persons 12-17 who are living with addiction and mental health concerns, to join our team.
Through virtual information sessions, our team will consult and collaborate with you to guide the priority setting and planning of this project. You will provide your expertise in the development of the research proposal, and contribute to oversight of research activities such as recruitment of research participants, community engagement and knowledge translation.

Time Commitment
This project aims to start immediately and carry forward for the next 5 months.
There will be 1 online meeting per month over the next 5 months. Total time commitment is 5 hours.

Compensation/Reimbursement
Patient partners will be offered $25/hour compensation as per AbSPORU guidelines.
This will be an online opportunity so there are no expenses anticipated for travel and parking.