Partner With Us

Patients and families are experts in their healthcare journeys. We have programs that let you use your experiences to help make a difference in supporting care at Seattle Children’s.

Would you like to learn more about our programs? Please contact us by filling out the form below. We’ll reach out to you and schedule time to learn more about you and your family.

  • Family Advisors

    An advisor uses their family’s experiences to influence decisions and help shape programs and policies at Seattle Children’s. Our goal is to help all families have exceptional experiences. We want to hear from a wide variety of families with diverse backgrounds and experiences.

    What does a Family Advisor do?

    Family Advisors share feedback in a variety of ways. They participate in improvement work and engage with staff to contribute to improving experience. Opportunities include:

    • Focus groups that explore the family experience with specific processes or programs
    • Hospital workgroups or committees as representatives of the patient and family perspective
    • The Family Advisory Council or other family advisory boards that meet regularly to review projects and improvements to patient care practices
    • Reviewing written or web-based educational materials to provide feedback on how understandable and useful they are

    There is no minimum time commitment for a Family Advisor, and advisors receive a small stipend for their time.

    Learn more about Family Advisors' positive impact on Children's health equity and anti-racism efforts. 

  • Families As Teachers

    This program matches new doctors and nurses with families for home life experiences. These visits give families and staff a way of connecting outside of the hospital to share the realities of living with an ongoing health condition.

    What does a Family Teacher do?

    Parents should join this group if you want to share your experiences with new doctors to help them understand more about what life is like outside of the hospital.

    • You will receive support to prepare for the visits.
    • Families generally host 1 to 2 visits a year.
    • Each visit lasts 2 to 3 hours and involve up to two residents.
    • You can host visits in person as well as over the phone or online.

    Shared experiences from the program

    “It was beautiful to see this family’s resilience, to hear stories of how they found their way despite challenges.”
    – Resident

    “We see this as a valuable extension of the training the residents receive while at Children's. Giving them insight into what families go through and have to deal with will help equip them to see their patients as whole people with lives outside the hospital.”
    – Family

  • Families Providing Support

    The Parent and Caregiver Support Program connects families who are just learning about their child’s health care needs with a Support Caregiver who has experienced similar care needs with their own child.

    What does a Family Providing Support do?

    Join this group if you would like to provide one-on-one support to parents whose child’s health condition is similar to your own. You will be able to share your experiences as your match starts on their caregiver journey.

    These connections provide:

    • Emotional and non-judgmental support
    • Practical information and community resources
    • A sense of community

    Our Support Caregiver volunteers commit to 1 or 2 matches a year and spend 2 to 4 hours connecting with their match. These connections usually take place over the phone, or through text and email.

  • Family and Teen Health Education Reviewers

    We value your feedback. As a Health Education Reviewer, you help shape the care instructions and hospital information we provide to our patients and families.

    What does a Health Education Reviewer do?

    We have two groups that review our health education materials: Family Reviewers and Teen Reviewers. Both groups share their feedback to improve the way we communicate with our patients and families. Unlike Family Advisors who may participate in meetings, focus groups or regular committees, Health Education Reviewers are primarily focused on review of materials and resources like handouts, videos and posters. Your involvement includes:

    • Providing your thoughts on hospital education resources including handouts, videos, posters and more.
    • Sharing your experiences with us to help shape the way we provide information to families.
    • You’ll receive a stipend for the time you spend reviewing our requests.