Browsing Category: Blog

Effective Healthcare Communication 101: The power of staying logical in doctor’s appointments

by Connie Jorsvikon 2018-08-21

Staying calm cool and collected during doctor’s appointments and healthcare meetings can be an incredible challenge but allowing yourself to be overly emotional can shut down doctor-patient communication in its tracks. Being overly emotional during health care appointments will reduce doctor interaction and the level of care you receive. Emotions such as being anxious or […]

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Blog / Hospital Discharge Planning / Hospital Readmission / Kerry Phillips

Re-admissions to hospital from the perspective of pre-hospital specialists – Paramedics

by Connie Jorsvikon 2018-07-20

The BC Medical Journal recently published a study showing that the rate of BC patients readmitted to hospitals within a short time after they had been discharged is well above the national average, and that Vancouver Coastal Health’s readmission rate is the second highest for health regions in the province. As a 30-year paramedic, this […]

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Blog / Connie Jorsvik / Empowered Patients & Empowered Caregivers / Hospital Discharge Planning

Patients and family members have a role in preventing hospital readmission

by Connie Jorsvikon 2018-07-20

Recent reports that BC has the second highest re-admission rate after hospitalization of any province in the country comes as no surprise. Patient Pathways, an independent patient navigation and advocacy company, are often called in when crises related to hospital readmissions occur. Discharge Planning is the most important part of hospitalization. Patients and loved ones […]

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Blog / Connie Jorsvik / Empowered Patients

Who is an Empowered Patient?

by Connie Jorsvikon 2018-07-18

Empowered patients know that they are responsible for their own health, health decisions, and will assertively demand the health care they deserve. I am an Empowered Patient – and I am at Stage 4 (see below) – but I don’t expect I will remain there at all times. It is virtually impossible to remain an […]

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Blog / Connie Jorsvik / Empowered Patients & Empowered Caregivers

Why we need to be Empowered Patients and Caregivers

by Connie Jorsvikon 2018-07-18

When we are accessing medical care, we are doing so because something is wrong. Our bodies, and often our heads, aren’t operating with their usual sharp and intelligent approach to problems because we are sick and hurt. The very definition of needing healthcare is to seek treatment because something is wrong, and when we are […]

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Blog / Hospital Discharge Planning

Discharge Planning from Acute Care to Home or Residential Care

by Connie Jorsvikon 2018-07-18

Discharge planning is the number one reason Patient Pathways is called by families and loved ones. We are asked to intervene when the hospital staff say that loved ones will be discharged today or tomorrow – and families know that the situation is just not safe or suitable. Often discharge planning (or lack of) becomes a […]

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Blog / Caregivers & Caregiving / In the News

Dementia caregivers suffering in silence, feeling isolated: study

by Connie Jorsvikon 2018-06-29

It’s time to have our eyes wide open for all of those who are aging and all who will care for them. There is a tremendous cost to families as aging parents move down the path of illness, dementia, and end-of-life. Education is paramount. Patient Pathways is ramping up our Empowered Patient & Caregiver: Advance […]

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Blog / End of Life / Paige Lennox

Green Burial 101

by RudyKehler_admin_on 2018-06-07

Did you know… The amount of energy used to cremate one body is equivalent to driving 4800 miles The average funeral costs are between $7,000-$15,000 In 1 year, this is what went into the ground via traditional burials (in the US): -5 million gallons of embalming fluid (formaldehyde) -30 million board feet of hardwood -90,000 […]

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Blog / End of Life / Paige Lennox

Death Doulas – what is all the talk about?

by RudyKehler_admin_on 2018-06-07

What is a Death Doula? Death Doulas provide resources and information, options and alternatives to bring death back home…back into the hands of the family and community. Paige’s perspective on what it means to be a Death Doula… I have been nursing 25 years and started questioning the way we do death. I believe death […]

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Blog / Empowered Patients / Vicki Lee

Are you an Empowered Patient?

by Connie Jorsvikon 2018-06-07

The World Health Organization defines patient empowerment as “a process in which patients understand their role, are given the knowledge and skills by their health care providers to perform a task in an environment that recognizes community and cultural differences and encourages patient participation.” What does that really mean? You are and empowered patient if: […]

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Craig & Lissa McCulloch
This very crucial form would not have been completed correctly...

We hired Kerry and Patient Pathways to advise us both on how to navigate the medical administration as well as to obtain the best care for our mother.

Kerry advised us on the information that should have been given to us by the hospital emergency team upon admittance to emergency, subsequently at hospice care as well as the palliative care wards that she was on. This information was never provided at any of these crucial steps along the path through the medical system. The MOST form was never discussed with us to determine the patient’s wishes even though she signed a Do Not Resuscitate Order in emergency. This very crucial form would not have been completed correctly without Kerry’s active intervention with the hospital administration and medical practitioner.

Kerry’s presence at our meeting with the hospital team was invaluable at showing that they had not done their due diligence and that they were totally unprepared to handle the ongoing care of our mother to the level to which she required or to meet her wishes.

Kerry educated us on the system, our options within the long term care field and has assisted in the ongoing navigation of the nursing home care services. She has acted as our representative during a period when we were out of the country. We have felt total trust in the care that Kerry has provided to our mother.

We have referred other friends to Kerry and Patient Pathways that are facing challenges with the medical/health care system for their family members.

Gina
I want to thank Connie Jorsvik for all of her...

I want to thank Connie Jorsvik for all of her thoughts, insight, and empathy she put into my healthcare. I am… grateful to have had her as the foundation of my journey. The medical system has been increasingly difficult for me to navigate and tolerate as I faced complex and long-term illness. I came to Connie with a very complicated health history and crisis situation that needed to be approached with discretion. I was looking for a medical professional who I could trust implicitly, who would listen to me and thoroughly evaluate my circumstance, and someone who could guide and support me in getting the healthcare I needed. Connie has demonstrated professionalism, integrity, and credibility in our one-to-one dealings as well as appointments she has attended with me. She has been steadfast in taking on the complexity and challenge of putting together the puzzles pieces of my case. She has not only guided and assisted me in managing the many overwhelming aspects of living with illness, from dealing with doctors and appointments to coping with confusing and frustrating symptoms to sorting out paperwork for insurance and medical records but she has also genuinely cared for me and my well-being, encouraged me to keep going when I felt like giving up, coached me through barriers and self-realizations that were holding me back, and most importantly she has inspired and empowered me to be my own best advocate. Finding Connie was an absolute turning point on a path that was feeling hopeless and impossible.

Ben
I am located in Arizona but have a dear friend...

I am located in Arizona but have a dear friend in Vancouver B.C. who suffered a stroke in February 2014. After several months in ICU and acute care she was transferred to a long term care facility where she lives with residents decades older than herself. A mutual friend in Vancouver went to visit her and contacted me with her concerns. She felt my friend was not receiving all the potential therapy she should have and explained to me how an Advocate could help. Enter Connie. Connie visited my friend and in a short time was able to make arrangements for her to receive therapy at GF Strong Rehabilitation Center in Vancouver – one of Canada’s best public care rehab facilities. The change has been nothing short of miraculous. For eight months my friend had been confined to the hospital where her surgery took place and where she suffered the stroke that left her partially paralyzed. But after two short months of therapy at GF Strong thanks to Advocate Connie her prognosis is such that within a short while she will regain the use of the paralyzed portions of her body and eventually have her independence back rather than spending her life in a hospital ward. Without an advocate this would never have been possible. And one day soon I will take my friend to dinner and afterwards dancing… Thanks to Connie.

Sean
My wife died suddenly while in hospital almost...

My wife died suddenly while in hospital almost two years ago. I was not happy with the explanations I received from the doctors. On advice from a lawyer, I contacted Connie Jorsvik, a private patient advocate and she did a very detailed, thorough review of my wife’s hospital records and found several major gaps in her care. She produced a lengthy and through Letter of Complaint for the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC (CPSBC). I want to thank Ms. Jorsvik for the vast amount of work she did in preparing the letter of complaint. I was able to get the justice I wanted and maybe, it is my greatest hope, that others’ deaths will be prevented. Ms. Jorsvik was frequently my ear during that horrible time. Her professionalism and compassion were lights pulling me out of the tunnel. I can’t recommend her patient advocacy services highly enough.

Janice
I have been using the services of Patient...

I have been using the services of Patient Pathways for about a year. Connie provides a tremendous service for families in health crisis who are finding it difficult to navigate the health care system. She is readily available to talk to on a one on one basis and offers support to the individual and the family. I am extremely grateful for the service she has provided to me and my family.

Susan
Thank you for your help and your support. We...

Thank you for your help and your support. We found you when I was starting to feel hopeless. You have given me back some hope.

David S.
I live many provinces away and there is no local support for...

Over the last year, Patient Pathways has provided invaluable support to my 75-year-old stepfather, who is physically fit but suffering from Alzheimer’s. Our goal is to have him live at home, as independently as possible, for as long as possible. His navigator, Kerry Phillips, has drawn together many imaginative and effective resources—arranging in-home care; arranging and attending medical appointments; and arranging social activities—to help him not just survive but actually enjoy his daily life, all while keeping him safe. I live many provinces away and there is no local support for my step-father, so Patient Pathways has been a godsend.