Increased focus on patient-centred care being brought to Coastal by Accreditation Canada surveyors
While everyone on our Coastal patient care teams strives to do their best when treating patients, sometimes we might find ourselves in a situation where we’re in a hurry and may be tempted to make a “good care decision” on behalf of a patient or client and their family, without taking the time to discuss and fully engage with that patient or family.
It’s important to know that, as we prepare for accreditation in Coastal this June, the Accreditation Canada surveyors will be looking for examples of patient- and family-centred approaches to our programs and services. What does this mean for us in Coastal? Well specifically, the surveyors will be looking for the following in everything from planning our services to delivering them:
Dignity and respect: Do we listen to and honour the perspectives and choices of our clients and their family members? Is their knowledge, values, beliefs and cultural backgrounds incorporated into the planning and delivery of their care?
Information sharing: Do we communicate and share complete and unbiased information with clients and families in ways that are affirming and useful? Do our clients and families receive timely, complete, and accurate information so they can participate effectively in decision-making around their care?
Partnership and participation: Do we encourage and support clients and families to participate in care and decision making to the extent they want to?
Collaboration: Do we collaborate with clients and families in a wide variety of issues including policy and program development, implementation and evaluation, facility design, professional education and delivery of care?
Accreditation Canada defines the term patient- and family-centred as “working collaboratively with clients and their families to provide care that is respectful, compassionate, culturally safe, and competent, while being responsive to their needs, values, cultural backgrounds and beliefs, and preferences.”
An example of how VCH is striving towards patient- and family-centred care is the growing number of Coastal staff and physicians who are learning more about the diverse cultural beliefs and preferences of First Nations patients and their families through numerous VCH Aboriginal Health strategies such as the Indigenous Cultural Competency Training and the Urban Aboriginal Health Strategy.
Another example involves Coastal staff working with VCH Community Engagement to bring patient voice through working with the Community Engagement Advisory Network and patients to address a wide variety of issues including policy and program development, implementation and evaluation, facility design, professional education and delivery of care.
Read the full ROP fact sheet
We’ve created fact sheets for all priority ROPs including Patient and Family Centred Care that include a checklist of what compliance around each of the elements above looks like as well as links to other resources and sample questions from surveyors.
Get the Patient and Family Centred Care Fact Sheet on VCH-Connect.
Spread the word
Share this story and the Patient and Family Centred Care info with your team by email and by posting it in your lunchroom.
More stories in this series:
- Preventing pressure ulcers the key to one Coastal ROP (LINK)
- Accreditation 2015: Are you prepared for questions about falls?
- Preventing VTE a key focus for Coastal Accreditation efforts
- Med Rec another key focus for Coastal accreditation
Have questions about Coastal Accreditation 2015?
Contact: Jody Sydor Jones
Coastal Director, Clinical Quality and Patient Safety
Email: Jody.SydorJones@vch.ca
Visit the Accreditation site on VCH-Connect