For Providers
Inviting patients as full partners in care requires action by providers and patients. This will take time. But helping patients identify ways to advocate for themselves is a key element in creating partnerships with patients. Patients should find comfort and confidence through your interactions with them as whole people. In return, they will reinforce your commitment to quality care.
Case studies in advocacy
The following case studies pose important questions for health care providers. The answers to these questions can significantly affect the course of medical care, health outcomes and quality of life. Use these cases to grapple with issues that Center clients have raised, and feel free to use them as team teaching cases with your students or staff. We suggest approaching cases like these from a transdisciplinary perspective. In other words, recognize that there may be other professionals better suited to assist clients with a range of interdependent issues.
Strategies to Build Partnerships with Patients
Excerpts from: Michaud M, Davis S, Gaines M.
Ten Strategies to build partnerships with patients. Wisconsin Medical Journal. 2007;106(8):444-46.
Partnerships with patients evolve when providers:
- invite patients to participate fully in clinical decisions,
- support and encourage patients to build their own capacity for self-management,
- recognize the wholeness and context of patients' lives, and
- respect and honor patients' values.
Research on patient-provider communications increasingly demonstrates reasons why partnerships make sense (1,2):
- patients who are more active in their health care are more satisfied and have better outcomes (3)
- physicians can facilitate patient involvement in health care (4), and
- what seem like "simple" communication and skill-building strategies can change the capacity of patients to self-manage disease and advocate for quality care. (5,6)
Providers can profoundly influence the degree to which patients are manage their own health and take active roles in decision making. (7)
References:
- Siegel M. Who's in charge? It's your care. Take control of it, recommends on physician. Washington Post. July 11, 2006.
- Groopman J. How Doctors Think. Houghton-Mifflin: 2007.
- Coleman MT, Newton KS. Supporting self-management in patients with chronic illness. American Family Physician. 2005(72)8:1503-1510
- Stewart M, Brown JB, Donner A, McWhinney IR, Oates J, Weston JW, Jordan J. The Impact of Patient-Centered Care on Outcomes. J Fam Pract. 2000;49(9):805-7.
- Holman H, Lorig K. Patients as partners in managing chronic disease. BMJ. 2000;320:526-527.
- Stewart M. Effective physician-patient communication and health outcomes: a review. Can Med J. 1995:152:1423-33.
- Street RL, Kruupat E, Bell RA, Kravitz PH. Beliefs about control in the physician-patient relationship: Effect on communication in medical encounters. JGIM. 2003;18:609-616.
