JDRF’s mission is to fund critical research and accelerate the most promising opportunities for curing, better treating and preventing type 1 diabetes (T1D). Volunteers play an integral role in this mission. As a volunteer with JDRF, your efforts will be felt by the people in your community who are affected by T1D.

JDRF Canada has recently launched a Mental Health Strategy, which will aim to begin to close some of the many gaps that exist in mental health care for people living with diabetes. This includes routine diabetes care not addressing mental health, the limited number of mental health providers with diabetes expertise in Canada, lack of funds for psychosocial research in diabetes and more. As we develop new funding opportunities and programs, it will be vital to engage with the T1D community to ensure that our new mental programs are aligned with the community’s diverse needs. Therefore, JDRF Canada is looking to establish a volunteer Advisory Council of diverse people with lived experience of T1D to be involved with this critical area of care that is often overlooked T1D – mental health.

Position Summary:

As part of the JDRF Mental Health Strategy’s Advisory Council, you will have lived experience of T1D. This may mean living with the condition or being an immediate family member or caregiver, or being a health care provider with deep professional experience working with people living with diabetes. Volunteers must be willing to share their experience or expertise in an individual and/or group setting. This role will support the engagement component of the Mental Health Strategy, by providing ideas and feedback on proposed programs, and may involve sharing your story or needs in relation to mental health and T1D.

What to Expect:

Engagement with the Advisory Council will primarily be through group communication or surveys, although we also intend to create and meet with specific sub-groups to help provide input to specific programs as they develop. For example, while we will aim to establish an Advisory Council who collectively represents the broad and varied lived experience of T1D, we may invite parents of children with T1D to a focus group on a new program for families, or teens to a focus group on a new program for their age group.

To help us ensure that our Advisory Council is sufficiently diverse and represents the broad and varied experience of living with T1D, and to help us identify which members may be helpful in a certain focus group session, we will invite you to complete a survey about you and your experience with T1D when you join the Council. Answering socio-demographic survey questions will be optional.

Accountable to:

JDRF staff lead, National Manager of Mental Health

Responsibilities:

• Share ideas for and feedback on Mental Health Strategy programs
• Attend virtual meetings, one on ones, and focus groups, when you may be called upon to share your story in relation to mental health and T1D
• Fill out short surveys, which we will use to gather the group’s feedback on new ideas or programs
• Be responsive, active and engaged and complete advisory related tasks in a timely manner
• Assist with occasional community engagement events
• Share a video and/or written content about your story and lived experience

Minimum Commitment:

• 0-2 hours per week, recognizing that the workload will be different each week
• Minimum 1 year commitment with option for renewal

What you bring to this role:

• Personal lived experience – living with or family member of someone with T1D, or health care provider with deep experience working with people living with diabetes
• Willingness to share your thoughts and experiences in an individual and/or group setting
• Ability to speak to mental health challenges and successes of T1D
• Strong communication skills both verbal and written (English or French)
• Excellent attention to detail, well organized, responsive to timely needs and opportunities

What we offer:

• A community of support, dedicated staff partners who recognize your worth, team of peers and role-specific training
• An opportunity to grow your professional skills and expand your network
• An opportunity to make a difference in the lives and mental health of those affected by T1D in your community and in Canada
• Letters of reference and volunteer hour tracking