Event Title
The Patient Empowerment Program: Using Novel Mediums to Communicate the Patient Experience to Providers and Medical Students
Location
DeVos 109D
Start Date
7-1-2011 10:00 AM
End Date
7-1-2011 10:30 AM
Description
Purpose of Presentation: Understanding the patient experience is critical for patients themselves, healthcare providers and students training for various healthcare professions. Although strong communication is paramount for everything from patient safety to patient-centered care, patients and providers often struggle with communicating and understanding each other's perspectives, thereby potentially limiting care. This presentation explores our journey with the Patient Empowerment Program, which aims to use novel methods to aide communication between patients, providers, and students.
Background/Significance: Patients' emotional and spiritual perspectives are integral to the healing process, yet often not addressed within the healthcare system. Providing. patients with a voice that allows them to express their journey, concerns, hopes and fears to their healthcare providers is key in delivering patient-centered care. Some patients already use novel strategies like poetry to make sense of their illnesses and to communicate with other patients and providers. When Robert Hawke, an award winning actor and comedian, was diagnosed with cancer, he struggled to make sense of his illness and communicate with his healthcare providers. Turning to his natural coping mechanism - comedy - Robert co-created and starred in a play called "Norm Vs Cancer: A Terminally Funny One-Man Show". Initially, Rob performed this play outside the clinical environment. There is huge potential for new communication mediums within the clinical environment, as they could provide healthcare professionals with a unique lens into the patient experience. We have begun piloting the utility of this play for multiple communication and education strategies in healthcare by:
1. Inviting interprofessional groups (including patients) to watch the play within the healthcare environment and immediately following, participate in a facilitated discussion about patient-centered care.
2. Developing the play for medical school curriculum. In addition to learning about patient centered care from a renowned thought leader in nursing, these medical students also participated in an exercise to understand the personal impact of illness from the patient perspective.
Next Steps: Our goal is to formally evaluate:
1. The impact of this performance on providers' understanding and application of patient centered care principles.
2. The impact of this performance and developed curriculum on medical students' training.
The Patient Empowerment Program: Using Novel Mediums to Communicate the Patient Experience to Providers and Medical Students
DeVos 109D
Purpose of Presentation: Understanding the patient experience is critical for patients themselves, healthcare providers and students training for various healthcare professions. Although strong communication is paramount for everything from patient safety to patient-centered care, patients and providers often struggle with communicating and understanding each other's perspectives, thereby potentially limiting care. This presentation explores our journey with the Patient Empowerment Program, which aims to use novel methods to aide communication between patients, providers, and students.
Background/Significance: Patients' emotional and spiritual perspectives are integral to the healing process, yet often not addressed within the healthcare system. Providing. patients with a voice that allows them to express their journey, concerns, hopes and fears to their healthcare providers is key in delivering patient-centered care. Some patients already use novel strategies like poetry to make sense of their illnesses and to communicate with other patients and providers. When Robert Hawke, an award winning actor and comedian, was diagnosed with cancer, he struggled to make sense of his illness and communicate with his healthcare providers. Turning to his natural coping mechanism - comedy - Robert co-created and starred in a play called "Norm Vs Cancer: A Terminally Funny One-Man Show". Initially, Rob performed this play outside the clinical environment. There is huge potential for new communication mediums within the clinical environment, as they could provide healthcare professionals with a unique lens into the patient experience. We have begun piloting the utility of this play for multiple communication and education strategies in healthcare by:
1. Inviting interprofessional groups (including patients) to watch the play within the healthcare environment and immediately following, participate in a facilitated discussion about patient-centered care.
2. Developing the play for medical school curriculum. In addition to learning about patient centered care from a renowned thought leader in nursing, these medical students also participated in an exercise to understand the personal impact of illness from the patient perspective.
Next Steps: Our goal is to formally evaluate:
1. The impact of this performance on providers' understanding and application of patient centered care principles.
2. The impact of this performance and developed curriculum on medical students' training.