Gillian Gillies - Accent for Horizon

Speakers: Gillian Gillies, Clinical Program Director of Ambulatory Care and Oncology

Gillian Gillies: My name is Gillian Gillies. I am the Clinical Program Director of Ambulatory Care and Oncology for Area 3. So that's the Fredericton and Upper River Valley area.

Gillian Gillies: Recognising health equity, diversity and inclusion is paramount when working in the health care system. Throughout my career, I have recognised how to deal with patients and families and staff in a courteous, compassionate and respectful manner. And this also includes providing patients with their language of choice to create a foundation of compassion, safety and quality care. Patients and families often present to the hospital and other health care facilities when it's their worst day, and they're often scared and anxious, and it's really our role as health care providers to minimize these stresses. We can provide comfort when providing Every Person, Every Day by respecting their language of choice and meeting those needs. So when providing patients and families with their language of choice, they most importantly feel understood and heard. And we must meet these requests in the corridor and throughout all Horizon facilities.

Gillian Gillies: I'm truly reassured that the staff have the tools to support patients in every aspect of their care now. With the Accent Program being mandatory at Horizon, there has really been a lot of improvement plans now put in place across all departments and facilities. These tools really allow everyone to deliver quality, supportive and safe health care to all. Within the focus, one of Horizon's values is to show Empathy, Compassion and Respect, and the Accent training really does embody this by providing patients with their language of choice. So it allows all staff to really do just that. I'm confident that the Accent Program has provided me, other Directors, Managers, Nurses, Allied Health Professionals, Physicians and really all the health care team with the essential tools that will allow us to succeed in meeting the patient's needs and treating them with autonomy. The program was collaborative during the training sessions. And we had a lot of really fruitful discussions as well, that were shared within the group during the training sessions.

Gillian Gillies: The Accent Program has provided the Ambulatory Care and Oncology team here in Area 3, with educational tools and resources now at their fingertips. So we now have a plan in place and also a backup plan in place to support the patients and their families in every moment when they present and want to be served in their language of choice.