“We can do better”: preferred practices and areas for improvement while working with patient advisors in professional organization committees

Abstract Background: As the best practices for working with patient advisors in organizational committees are still under development, we sought to identify our own experience as the Canadian Association of Psychosocial Oncology—Advocacy Committee. Methods: Committee communications including meeting minutes, email correspondences, and transcript of a webinar delivered by the authors were reviewed to identify the key patient advisor experiences and preferences. Results: We identified practices in good standing and areas to improve. The main areas to improve were related to circumstances or preferences of patient advisors; financial compensation; access and health issues; and the nature of partnerships. The preferred and recommended practices included providing safe spaces; empowering, respecting, and valuing patient advisors; providing resources, guidelines, and remuneration to patient advisors; increasing advisor diversity through more extensive recruitment; and removing the barriers. Conclusions: There is a need for improving patient advisors' experiences for equity and optimum committee work.