Patient and Family Education Specialist

Patient and Family Education program plays an integral role in supporting and promoting a culture of Health Literacy at Unity Health. This is achieved through the development of programming, evaluation, reporting and continuous improvement relating to best practice in patient/family education. The program includes a number of designated network wide functions including but not limited to: increasing access to health information/programs; overseeing new educational tool development, staff/student training and continuing professional development.

The primary roles of the Patient Education Specialist-Consumer Health Information include but are not limited to:

- Partnership and collaboration with the Patient and Family Education team and stakeholders to build patient/family/resident knowledge/teaching capacity across Unity Health Toronto to ensure they are active and empowered participants in their care & healthcare workers have the skills & confidence to engage and provide education to patients & families.
- Collaborates with internal & external stakeholders i.e. health agencies, academic affiliates etc. to plan/execute new models for patient/family/resident education.
- Manages novel programs/services and the day to day operations of the Robert Howard & Brenda McDowell Patient and Family Learning Centre (PFLC) and the on-line health library to support improved health education that is also responsive to the effects of low health literacy/numeracy.
- Maintain responsibility for providing strategic expertise program development and evaluation;
- Leads policy/process development and recommendations as required;
- Design/implement services related to patient/family education program;
- Identifying comprehensive performance measures/indicators to assess and continually monitor the effectiveness of targeted initiatives/programs;
- Active participation in Unity Health Toronto wide councils and committees.

**Qualifications**
- Undergraduate university degree or diploma in adult education, library science, community development, health promotion or related field;
- Master’s degree in adult education and/or information science or health promotion, or equivalent combination of education and experience preferred;
- Five (5) years of progressive experience in the following, e.g., demonstrated experience directing, leading and coaching a diverse team in order to meet business priorities and operational needs in a high volume environment OR an equivalent combination of education and experience;
- Familiarity with health care, patient care and consumer health information;
- Strong understanding of health literacy & plain language principles and practices;
- Knowledge and demonstrated experience in engagement and consensus building strategies with diverse stakeholders, including clinicians, community agencies;
- Demonstrated stakeholder management skills with the ability to build collaborative relationships in order to develop and maintain internal and external relationships and use effective communication, negotiation and conflict management skills to build credibility with colleagues, stakeholders and senior leaders;
- Strong interpersonal, communication skills; demonstrated ability to create engaging promotional materials and campaigns;
- Substantial customer service orientation and experience coordinating or supervising volunteers or staff;
- Experience developing and providing customized training;
- Excellent analytical skills and proficiency in computer databases, spreadsheets and software packages to generate reports with the ability to manipulate, analyze and interpret data and findings required;
- Proficiency in the use of computers with proven experience in making effective use of technological resources including the Internet, bibliographic databases, Microsoft Office products, desktop publishing software, etc;
- Project management skills to plan, organize and coordinate various activities;
- Ability to manage competing priorities and balance multiple, disparate tasks.
- Note:_