Background
Patient-Centered Care Awareness Month is an international awareness-building campaign that occurs every October to commemorate the progress that has been made toward making patient-centered care a reality and to build momentum for further progress through education and collaboration. Hospitals and health care organizations around the world are encouraged to celebrate by empowering patients, strengthening their patient-centered practices, and publicly proclaiming to their patients and communities their commitment to patient-centered care.
Last year, health care organizations around the United States, Canada and the Netherlands celebrated the first annual Patient-Centered Care Awareness Month. In addition, twelve state governors commemorated the month signing proclamations officially recognizing the importance of patient-centered care to their states’ citizens.
What is “Patient-Centered Care”?
Although the phrase “patient-centered care” is defined and used in a variety of ways, the essential theme is the importance of delivering healthcare in a manner that works best for patients. In a patient-centered approach to health care, providers partner with patients and their family members to identify and satisfy the full range of patient needs and preferences.
Organizations practicing patient-centered care recognize that:
- A patient is an individual to be cared for, not a medical condition to be treated.
- Each patient is a unique person, with diverse needs.
- Patients are partners and have knowledge and expertise that is essential to their care.
- Patients’ family and friends are also partners.
- Access to understandable health information is essential to empower patients to participate in their care and patient-centered organizations take responsibility for providing access to that information.
- The opportunity to make decisions is essential to the well-being of patients and patient-centered organizations take responsibility for maximizing patients’ opportunities for choices and for respecting those choices.
- Each staff member is a caregiver, whose role is to meet the needs of each patient, and staff members can meet those needs more effectively if the organization supports staff members in achieving their highest professional aspirations, as well as their personal goals.
- Patient-centered care is the core of a high quality health care system and a necessary foundation for safe, effective, efficient, timely, and equitable care.
Suggested Ways for Health Care Providers to Celebrate
- Display and/or distribute the Proclamation for Patient-Centered Care. (To request a complementary copy of the Proclamation, please send an e-mail with your name, title, address and phone number to cbrady@planetree.org. Please specify in the e-mail the name of the organization as it should appear on the proclamation.)
- Distribute “I am an expert about me” stickers to patients to reinforce that patients are respected partners. Click here to order stickers.
- Hold a meeting of your patient and family advisory council or create a patient and family advisory council if you don’t already have one.
- Invite patients or family members to join hospital committees.
- Share information with staff and the community about patient perspectives on their experiences, as well as patient suggestions that have been implemented.
- Host an open house for patients and families.
- Host a meeting designed to empower patients and families with information.
- Write a letter to the editor of your local paper describing your organization’s commitment to patient-centered care and identifying the opportunities for patients and families to get involved.
Planetree affiliates will receive a Patient-Centered Care Awareness Month toolkit containing materials to assist in commemorating the month and also will have the opportunity to participate in the celebratory activities at the Planetree Annual Conference. Planetree will be compiling information about organizations celebrating the month and will incorporate that information into press releases and other promotional activities. Please contact Carrie Brady at (203) 732-1381 or cbrady@planetree.org to let us know how you are planning to celebrate.
For more information about Planetree, please click here to download chapter 1 of Planetree’s book “Putting Patients First”, recipient of the 2004 American College of Healthcare Executives (ACHE) Book of the Year Award. To request information about becoming a Planetree affiliate, please click here.
Suggested Ways for Patients and Families to Celebrate
- Review the “Questions to Ask Your Hospital about Patient-Centered Care” and ask your hospital about the patient-centered practices that are most important to you.
- Ask your health care provider what opportunities are available for patients and family members to get involved and consider getting involved, such as by joining a patient and family advisory council or committee.
- Provide feedback to your health care providers about your experiences and ideas by contacting them directly or by filling out a survey if you receive one.
- Wear the “I am an expert about me” sticker when you are interacting with your health care providers. (If you would like a free sticker mailed to you, please send an email with your name and address to cbrady@planetree.org.)
- Review the materials published by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) to help patients and families be more active participants in their care.
- Create or update a list of medications and key health care information that you keep in your wallet. Click here for a sample wallet medication card that you can print or save to your computer.
