Patient & Family Partner Program

Watch the 2024 Lung & Heart-Lung Transplant PFAC Virtual Symposium here!

About Us
The Lung & Heart-Lung Transplant Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC) serves as the voice of patients and families, and works in partnership with the transplant medical staff to continually improve the patient experience in the Stanford Lung and Heart-Lung Transplant Program. The Lung & Heart-Lung Transplant PFAC seeks to ensure that the patient and family perspective is represented in all discussions with the healthcare team through a variety of initiatives.

Recent Accomplishments

Virtual Education Symposium
The PFAC held their fifth Virtual Education Symposium on December 11, 2024. The theme of this event was Medical Interventions for Immunocompromised Patients with Chronic or Acute Rejection, and the speakers included Dr. Gundeep Dhillon, Dr. Joanna Nelson, Feifei Yang, NP, and Ashley Batchelder, NP.  Online, 75 patients and families attended, and a subsequent posting of the recording of the event on the PFAC website received numerous views.  

Newsletter
The PFAC compiled an annual informational newsletter for their patient community.  The newsletter included articles on vaccines to protect against lung infections, pain management for patients, collaborating with transplant team for treatment of common cold viruses, comfort foods for the winter, and a patient perspective from one of the PFAC members. Newsletters were distributed electronically via MyHealth to approximately 300 patients and families.

Recruiting
The PFAC welcomed two new patient and family members as well as two new staff members in the fall of 2024.  

Looking Ahead

The PFAC plans to produce another newsletter for patients, families, and caregivers with the theme of goal-setting and exercise for a healthy summer season. The newsletter will feature photos from a Stanford men’s basketball game that was sponsored by the pediatric and adult lung and heart-lung transplant clinics and included PFAC member, Bob Duffy, as an honoree. 

Additional 2025 projects include:

• Hosting another Virtual Education Symposium in 2025
• Working with the Lung and Heart-Lung Transplant clinic social worker team to host an in-person outdoor community-building event for patients and families
• Brainstorming ways the PFAC can help boost morale for pre and post-transplant patients by sharing stories of our transplant journeys
• Utilizing the clinic bulletin board to share helpful and positive tips for living with a Lung or Heart-Lung transplant. 
• Share news of PFAC events and activities to encourage other patients and family members to join.