Health and Social Services

Health and Social Services

The right to participatein the decisions whichaffect me

Health andSocial ServicesNetworkUsers’RightsWeek

2013 Annual Event

Your committee can provide you withthe information you need

A word from Lise Denis

Spokesperson and HonoraryChairperson for the Healthand Social Services NetworkUsers’ Rights Week

The right to participate in thedecision-making process

The raison d’être or fondamentalpurpose behind the Health and Socialservices is the person who requires these services, in otherwords, the user. For the professional and the serviceprovider, the user is undoubtedly the most importantpartner. As the user requests information and asksquestions, he or she is actively contributing to theirown health care and its improvement. At the same time,they are exercising one of their most important rightsunder the law which is the right to participate in thedecision-making process concerning their own health.

By virtue of their presence and their action throughoutQuebec, the Users and In-Patients’ Committees are keyplayers in the defense of the users’ rights and in thecontinuous improvement of the quality of services.Theyare a vital force and are the key to the success for makingusers leading partners.

As spokesperson for the 2013 edition of the Health andSocial Services Network Users’ Rights Week, I would liketo invite all the Quebecers to take this opportunityto get information on their Users’ rights. This week isan opportunity to reflect on our personal responsibilityregarding our health and on our proactive participation indecisions which have an impact on our well-being as wellas that of our loved ones.

Lise Denis

Lise Denis has had an extensive career in public administration. More particularly, she has been Ombudsman for Health and Social Services and CEO of the Association québécoise d’établissements de santé et de services sociaux (AQESSS). Lise Denis received the Ordre national du Québec (National Order of Quebec) in June 2013.

My health is important

Health promotionand individual responsibility

Each one of us, whether youth, adult or senior mustensure to take the right decision concerning our healthand the health of our loved ones. It is an importantresponsibility Healthy lifestyles and wise food choicesmake it possible to improve the conditions necessary tostaying healthy. Numerous tools can help us do that. Forexample, Canada’s Food Guide recommends eating fruitsand vegetables, lowering calorie intake, controling ourbody weight, participating in regular exercise, gettingsufficient sleep, and more1.

In varying degrees, our family history, our habits, ourbehaviour, our living environment as well as our natural,social, economic and cultural environments have aneffect on our health2. Governements have an obligationto promote health through the implementation ofpolicies that take into account all of these determinantsfor promoting the health of the general population.These policies aim to address the risks related to obesity,cancer, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, perinatalproblems and chronic diseases3.

Beyond personal efforts, the services of a Health care orsocial services professional is necessary when one’s healthrequires it. Henceforth, the responsibility of a person inregards to their health may be exercised by participatingin decisions that affect them. In Quebec, participation indecisions that affect one’s health is a right recognizedby law.

The right to participatein the decision-making process

The Loi sur les services de santé et les services sociauxAct entitles the User to participate in decisions that affecthim. Indeed, “every User has the right to participatein decisions affecting their health or well-being.”4 Thisright also includes the right to participate in the implementationof the contingency plan (care) or personalizedservices as well as any amendments to the plan.

Specifically, this right is exercised by the questions we askthe care professionals and by the information that isavailable (or to which we would like to have access) about our physical or mental health diagnosis, prognosis,treatments to be considered along with the risks andconsequences associated with these treatments and theanalysis or examination results.

As Users of the Health and Social Services system, youare being proactive regarding your health when youparticipate in decisions that affect you. This involvesworking with professionals in your facility where youreceive services as well as respect for the InterventionPlan or Personalized Service Plan which have beenimplemented. You also have the obligation to usethe services wisely.

1Health Canada: Eating Well with Canada’s Food Guide, 2011.

2Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux, Directorate of Public Health: Better understanding for more effective action, 2012.

3World Health Organization: The World health report 2002: Reducing Risks, Promoting Healthy Life, Geneva, 2002.

4Quebec Government: An Act respecting health services and social services (Article 10), Chapter S-4.2.

Concrete examples

A young cancer victim asks his doctor, a specialist, whatthe treatment options are for beating the type of cancerfrom which he suffers, what the signs of effectiveness oftreatment are, and why the proposed treatment ormedication is the most appropriate.

An expectant mother checks with her doctor theaccuracy of the information which she read on theinternet regarding the problems of pre-natal depressionfrom which she seems to be suffering.

A father attends meetings on the development of anAction Plan for his younster at youth center.

A senior woman at home wants to know what arethe eventual side effects of a new drug which has beenprescribed to her.

A senior man living in nursing homes (CHSLD) asksquestions about the procedures of a medical examinationwhich he must undergo as well as the pain associatedwith these procedures.

The legal representative of a man who is not capable ofmaking decisions about his own health asks about whatmedical risks could be incurred should she refuse that theman in question undergo an examination.

A disabled personwants to know what are thehome-care costs covered by the Ministère de la Santéet des Services sociaux (Ministry of Health and SocialServices).

Users’ Rights Week

What is Users’ Rights Week?

The Health and Social Services Network Users’ RightsWeek is a promotional event to raise awareness on therights of users of the health and social services network.The goal of this week is to inform users of their rightsand to present the work that goes on inside institutionsof the health and social services network in Quebec.

How to Participate

For User and In-patient Committees

Inform the public of their role by organizing anopen house in their institutions
Distribute promotional material to users
Organize the General Assembly during the weekand invite users to attend
Organize a conference for the general public
Host a play by Le Mimésis theatre troupe aboutuser rights
Meet with the institution’s administration and staffto raise awareness on user rights
Collaborate in organizing activities that feature therole and work of the User Committee along withthe Quality and Complaints Commissioner and thevolunteer foundation or service at the institution
Invite the RPCU to offer training or host aconference for the committee members
Set up new initiatives
Use the opportunity to recruit new members
Send out a press release on the work of UserCommittees.

Users can become informed of their rights and getinvolved in a committee
Staff in the health and social services network can getthe latest updates on their practices regarding userrights and information on the User or In-PatientCommittee at their institution
Health institutions and the AQESSS can present theaccomplishments of institutions with regard to userneeds
Professional associations can promote their linkswith User Committees
Unions can organize activities to raise awareness inthe workplace relating to user rights
Community groups can raise awareness onuser rights in their community and on the workaccomplished by User and In-patient Committees
The Ministry of Health and Social Services can provideupdates on improvements to the quality of health careand social services
Local and regional Quality and ComplaintsCommissioners can get information on Userand In-patient Committees.

Let us know
Let the RPCU know about the initiatives and activities you are planning: .
It’s important to participate!
The Health and Social Services Network Users’ Rights Week is being held during the last week of September. This may not be convenient for everyone who would be called upon to participate, so it’s important to remember that activities can be organized at any time during the year. What’s important is to participate! The promotional materials for Users’ Rights Week are available at all times.
Posters, pamphlets, bookmarks
The RPCU provides posters, pamphlets and bookmarks that you can order using the order form on the website.
Email:
Telephone: 514 436-3744
Fax: 514 439-1658

Who is a user?

Users of the health and social services network are notonly those people who are ill. In fact, each of us was bornas a user, and we will all die as users. Users include everyonewho, at any moment in their lives, use the servicesof the network. This includes pregnant women, newbornbabies, teenagers in youth centres, people who want toquit smoking, people who are disabled, the elderly wholive at home and who receive support services from theirCLSC or from close relatives. Users include people whohave stopped working for health reasons. In other words,all Quebecers are users.

What are the rights of users?

“The raison d’être for services is the person who needsthem.” This is one of the guidelines on which the ActRespecting Health Services and Social Services is based.User rights are:

The right to information
The right to services
The right to choose one’s professionaland institution
The right to receive the care required byone’s condition
The right to refuse or consent to care
The right to participate in decisions
The right to be accompanied, assisted andrepresented
The right to be lodged
The right to receive services in English
The right to access one’s user file
The right to confidentiality for one’s user file
The right to lodge a complaint.

The charters of rights and freedoms and the Civil Codealso provide protections for individuals.

What are User and In-PatientCommittees?

User and In-Patient Committees were instituted by theAct Respecting Health Services and Social Services. Madeup of volunteers, these committees are present in allhealth institutions. They are the citizen’s voice in thenetwork and the guardians of your rights as a user ofthe network.

More specifically, the In-Patient Committee is attachedto a centre that offers services to users who are lodgingthere, and one of the In-patient Committee membersis also a member of the User Committee in the healthinstitution that manages the centre.

User and In-Patient Committees inform users of theirrights and defend those rights.

Find your Committee

Your User Committee is the one at the health institutionyou go to for services, or the one you would go to ifyou or one of your close relatives had a health problem.Generally, it’s the institution located closest to you, inparticular the CSSS (health and social services centres).The CSSS work in partnership with health and socialservices agencies (one agency per region) which offer lotsof information for anything relating to health or socialservices. To find a User or In-patient Committee, a healthor social services institution, a service, a physician orpersonalized assistance, you can find much of thisinformation on the agencies’ websites.

On the site of your agency you will discover otherresources that can provide you with more information onyour rights:

Local or Regional Quality and ComplaintsCommissioner
Complaint Assistance and Support Centre (CAAP)
Quebec Ombudsman
Commission of Human Rights and Youth Rights.

______

The Regroupement provincial des comités des usagers (RPCU) promotes health, defends the rights of users and represents the 600 User and In-Patient Committees in health and social services institutions throughout Quebec. The mission of User and In-Patient Committees is to defend the rights of users and to work at improving the quality of services offered to users in the health and social services network. The RPCU also advocates for the elderly.

C.P. 60563, succursale Sainte-Catherine Est

Montréal (Québec) H1V 3T8

Telephone: 514 436-3744

Fax: 514 439-1658

–