Skip to main content

Get Involved as a Patient or Family Partner


Do you want to become a patient or family partner?
Sign up here

A patient or family partner is someone who has experience with cancer care as a patient, caregiver, family member or supporter. Our patient and family partners contribute to people-centred care by sharing their experiences in projects and on committees. 

Helpful Handouts

Sign up for an engagement here 




Background & Purpose:


In 2024, BC Cancer Nutrition piloted virtual nutrition classes, and about 30% of participants who attended had experiences of breast cancer. To better support this group, the team—including a Provincial Professional Practice Leader in Nutrition and a student learner—is seeking patient and family partner feedback to better understand the food and nutrition-related learning needs of people with lived experiences of breast cancer. Their goal is to utilize partner feedback to inform what information is most relevant to include in a breast cancer–focused virtual nutrition class.

The team is inviting 2-3 partners to:

  • Share their top nutrition-related learning needs using an online tool (or email).
  • Join a focus group to discuss the collected priorities and help decide which ones should guide the content of the future class.
Afterward, the team will summarize all input and share it back with partners in a reflection meeting scheduled for early November.

Level of influence:
Involve: Engaging in dialogue with patients and families to understand and consider their insights and perspectives.

Eligibility Criteria:
  • You are a patient or a family partner.
  • You or someone you have supported has breast cancer experience.
Location: Virtual meeting(s)

Tentative Date: 22nd September – 22nd November, 2025

Time Commitment: 3-4 hours total

Honorarium: $30/hour

Closing date: 16th September 



‎Background & Purpose:


When a patient moves from a hospital inpatient unit (where patients stay overnight or longer to receive care) to BC Cancer for an outpatient appointment (where patients receive care and return home the same day), staff use a procedural checklist to make sure the transfer is safe and supportive. This checklist is completed by a BC Cancer nurse, who calls the inpatient unit to gather information from the patient’s nurse. This checklist helps the staff in determining if the patient is well enough to travel and has the right supports in place, such as an escort or a connection with an Indigenous Patient Navigator. 

The checklist is now being refreshed, and staff would like input from 2 patients and/or family partners to ensure that it reflects what matters most to them.

Partners are invited to:

  • Share their own experience of being transferred, or of supporting someone who was transferred, from inpatient care to BC Cancer outpatient care, and how the safety of their transfer was addressed.
  • Identify any gaps by highlighting if something important to patients or families is missing—particularly anything that could support patient safety during transfers.
Level of influence:
Involve: Engaging in dialogue with patients and families to understand and consider their insights and perspectives.

Eligibility Criteria:
  • You are a patient or a family partner.
  • You have experience with being transferred from an inpatient setting to BC Cancer outpatient areas.  
Location: Virtual meeting(s)

Tentative Date: 22nd September – 22nd October 2025

Time Commitment: 2 hours total

Honorarium: $30/hour

Closing date: 16th September 

Sign up for an engagement here

Sign up for an engagement here Cont

Background & Purpose: 

In British Columbia, there is currently no formal process to help patients receiving palliative radiation therapy get connected to the right clinic or know what to expect before their first appointment. In other places, a trained radiation therapist contacts patients ahead of time to understand their needs, guide them to the right care, and answer questions early on. This type of early contact—called a triage call—has been shown to improve the overall experience for patients. 


A radiation therapist at BC Cancer is exploring how a similar triage process could support people who are receiving radiation to help relieve pain from cancer that has spread to the bones. The goal is to improve communication, reduce confusion, and better meet patient expectations before treatment begins.


They are looking for two patient or family partners to learn more about what information would have been helpful before their first radiation department appointment, what was surprising, and how a triage call might have improved their experience if it had been available.

Level of influence:

Involve: Partners are involved throughout the engagement to provide feedback.

Eligibility:
  • You are a patient or a family partner, 
  • You have received radiation therapy treatment for bone metastasis.
    • A bone metastasis is when cancer has spread to a person’s bones.  
  • Optional: You have received treatment at the Vancouver Rapid Access Clinic (VARA).
Location: Virtual meetings

Date: July 21, 2025

Time Commitment: 1-2 hours total 

Honorarium: $30/hour

Closing date: July 16, 2025
















Tab Heading
Tab Heading
Tab Heading
Tab Heading
SOURCE: Get Involved as a Patient or Family Partner ( )
Page printed: . Unofficial document if printed. Please refer to SOURCE for latest information.

Copyright © BC Cancer. All Rights Reserved.

    Copyright © 2025 Provincial Health Services Authority