Who are we?

Our Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC) is a volunteer group of patients, family members and caregivers who work in partnership with Catholic Medical Center colleagues in a wide range of areas to make sure that patients’ and family members’ perspectives are part of the decision-making process. Our goal is to help promote a more patient-centered and family-centered environment at all of our facilities.

What do we do?

Our patient & family advisors (PFAs) are active in several areas:

  • Hospital committees — Most of our PFAs serve on hospital committees. They provide input into the topics for which a committee is responsible. Examples include Infection Prevention Committee, Patient Education Committee, Telemedicine Steering Committee, Quality and Patient Safety Committee and Palliative Care Committee.
  • Performance improvement projects — As we identify the need for new projects, PFAs offer insight from the patient and family perspective. This ensures that programs and processes are patient-centered, contributing to the high-quality care CMC provides.
  • Patient rounding — Some of our PFAs visit with in-patients to make sure the patients’ needs are being met and to help relay any unmet needs to unit managers.
  • Staff orientation — Some of our PFAs assist with leading staff orientation. We were instrumental in introducing two communication tools to CMC.
    • Language of Caring©
    • AIDET© (acknowledge, introduce, duration, explanation and thank you)

These communication tools are an integral part of staff orientation and help establish communication standards throughout our hospital for both colleague-to-patient communication and colleague-to-colleague communication. These tools also help our colleagues communicate better in their personal lives.

  • State of New Hampshire — Some of our PFAs participate in the State of New Hampshire PFA group to share ideas and best practices with PFAs from hospitals throughout the state.

Patient and family advisor qualifications

  • Sees beyond personal healthcare experiences
    • This is not a forum to air personal grievances.
  • Works collaboratively with other PFAs and colleagues from different backgrounds and perspectives
  • Listens well and is comfortable voicing opinions
  • Has a passion for improving the experience for patients and families at CMC

Interested in joining us?

All PFAs are registered as hospital volunteers. PFAs should have experience as a patient or as a family member or a caregiver of a former CMC patient.

If you’d like more information about becoming a patient and family advisor, please contact Pam Kanavos, volunteer services and community engagement manager: (603) 314-4758