![]() ![]() ![]() The advisory group included a broad range of perspectives – clinicians, public health, organizational and system decision-makers, legal experts, bioethicist, academics, and patient, family and caregiver partners. We convened a rapid response expert advisory group to develop key next steps to support hospitals to welcome back family caregivers as essential partners in care during COVID-19. We also hosted a discussion with the National Healthcare Engagement Network that focused on maintaining families and caregivers as essential care partners during COVID-19. In April 2020, we held a Spotlight Series webinar to share these innovative approaches during this pandemic. How organizations have developed and implemented restrictions has varied, with some taking creative approaches that enable families and caregivers to remain partners in care through virtual means, including phone calls, texts and emails – even offering tools such as iPads. This patient-and family-centred care principle should be applied in times of a crisis, and beyond. With the exception of patients near the end-of-life, pediatrics and women giving birth, a vast majority of healthcare organizations instituted blanket visitor restrictions or zero visitor policies, which also included essential partners in care.Īs the pandemic continues to evolve, we are supporting healthcare organizations to shift from considering families and caregivers as visitors, to recognizing them as essential partners in care. In March 2020, as a result of the pandemic, and to minimize and control the risk of COVID-19 cases, many hospitals across the country reacted quickly and made significant changes to their family presence policies. In early 2020, a follow up study was conducted to assess family presence policies in Canadian hospitals and showed a marked increase from 32 percent of hospitals with accommodating visiting policies in 2015, to 73 percent in early 2020. An expert advisory group was convened to build on family presence policies, including through patient and family partnered policies in inter-professional bedside rounding, planning and decision-making, and transitions in care. To maintain momentum, in 2017, we hosted a pan-Canadian Policy Roundtable to spread best practices for family presence across regions, provinces and territories – shifting the notion of families and caregivers as visitors to essential partners in care.īy 2019 and through the Campaign and e-collaborative, more than 50 organizations and entire provinces from across Canada publicly pledged to review and improve their family presence policies. In 2016, we launched a quality improvement e-collaborative where 12 healthcare delivery organizations were supported by our faculty and coaches to develop, adopt and implement family presence policies. Through the campaign, healthcare delivery organizations were supported to adapt and improve family presence policies with a change package and tools and resources. In 2015, the Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement launched the Better Together Campaign, in partnership with the Institute for Patient and Family-Centered Care in the United States and supported by other leading healthcare organizations across Canada. The evidence is clear that family and caregiver presence and partnership in care reduces medication errors, falls and hospital re-admissions, and improves patient care experience, emotional well-being and staff satisfaction. Is an essential step to enable the engagement of patients, families, and caregivers as partners in care, and to improve care experiences and outcomes. This approach creates a welcoming environment that enables family and caregivers to fully participate in patient care, provide emotional support, and to enable continuity of care through communication with the care team and through transitions in care. Establishing family presence policies Family presence policies enables patients to designate family members and loved ones who can stay by their side 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Patients need the support of the people who know them best. Not only are patients unwell, they may feel their mental and emotional well-being could be compromised. Hospitalization can be a major life event for patients and their loved ones.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |