HUS is recruiting new members to customer panels and research panel for adolescents, as well as new experts by experience and peer supporters
Keywords:We already have nearly 400 people providing insight in various customer panels, in research panels for adults and adolescents, as experts by experience, and peer supporters. They all work together with professionals to evaluate and develop our services and to support our customers.
You can now apply to participate in these activities in fall 2023! We offer participants orientation, additional training, support, and recreation. We require that the participants commit to confidentiality, follow hospital hygiene, and that they do not smoke during their tasks. We are now recruiting participants to tasks that begin in fall 2023. The next recruitment will be launched in late 2023. That recruitment is for tasks that begin in early 2024.
Customer panels
Customer panels evaluate and develop services as a group with a HUS employee. The panels meet 4–6 times a year and the membership lasts for two years. Customer panel members receive an attendance compensation for each meeting. Customer panels accepting applications in fall 2023:
- Comprehensive Cancer Center / rare cancers is recruiting adult members with a rare cancer (solid tumors).
- Comprehensive Cancer Center / young adults is recruiting young adults, especially men. Medical history: sarcoma, brain tumor, lymphoma, melanoma. We welcome people from different language and cultural backgrounds.
- Heart and Lung Center is recruiting young or middle-aged people with a heart condition treated in specialised healthcare (arrhythmia, cardiac insufficiency, myocardial infarction) and people with a pulmonary disease treated in specialised healthcare (sleep apnea, people who have undergone cardiac, lung, or esophageal surgery).
- Lohja hospital is recruiting Swedish-speaking people for their customer panel.
- Porvoo Hospital is recruiting Finnish- and Swedish-speaking people of working age or younger for their customer panel. We also welcome people from different language and cultural backgrounds.
Research panels
All people who are interested in research are welcome to apply to become members of a research panel. Research panel members receive training, which is organized together with the University of Helsinki. The panel members will be able to give input at the different stages of medical, health and nursing science studies from planning to presenting the results. The research panel for adolescents is recruiting young people aged 15 to 17.
Experts by experience
An expert by experience is a patient or a patient’s loved-one with personal experience of an illness, disability, or specific life situation, and who has received training for their task as an expert by experience. At HUS, experts by experience work as a pair with a professional, or in a working group. They participate in service development, staff training, or group instruction, and they offer peer appointments. Experts by experience receive compensation for their work. HUS does not organize expert by experience training in 2023, but you may apply even if you have not completed the training. Open positions for experts by experience:
- Emergency Medicine and Services is looking for an expert by experience who is from a cultural background other than Finnish. The person should have experience from emergency department and hospital care. Limited Finnish skills suffice.
- Neurocenter is looking for an expert by experience with multiple sclerosis (MS), who has adjusted to the illness and can provide peer support.
- Gynecology and Obstetrics is looking for experts by experience with experience of infertility, endometriosis, gynecological cancer, childbirth, or people who have been victims of sexual assault. We welcome people from different language and cultural backgrounds.
Peer supporter
A peer supporter has survived an illness/injury/life situation or has adjusted to living with the issue and wishes to support others in their illness. Peer supporters are needed for a wide range of patients and their loved ones in different hospitals. Peer support work is voluntary and therefore peer supporters do not receive compensation. Peer support work at HUS is coordinated by OLKA. Open peer support tasks are available all the time.
We welcome you to join!
Send a short application by email to anu.toija@hus.fi by July 15, 2023. Please state in your application
- Your name, age, language skills
- Phone number, email address, and hometown
- Which open task you are applying for (in peer support tasks, also state in which issues you can provide peer support)
- Why you would be a suitable person for the task
Please also state if you have training for expert by experience or peer support. If you have such training, please also state who organized the training and when you completed it. You may apply even if you do not have this specific training.
Further information
Anu Toija, development manager, customer involvement, HUS anu.toija@hus.fi tel. 050 466 5152. During summer holidays, I may not be able to reply immediately, so please leave a call-back request or send me your question by email. I will answer any questions after June 15.
Read more about HUS’s panels and experts by experience via this link.