Engaging Patients As Safety Partners - 9781556483530

A how-to book for creating patient-caregiver relationships that improve patient safety. The book aids health care professionals in understanding how patients and families can partner with practitioners to reduce medical errors and how practitioners can mitigate the effects of mistakes when they do occur. This book helps health care professionals recognize and overcome barriers that inhibit consumer involvement in patient safety improvement. It also provides valuable advice on how to surmount legal concerns associated with patient/practitioner collaboration. It builds on and updates an earlier book edited by Patrice Spath—Partnering with Patients to Reduce Medical Errors. This new book provides proven solid ground for health care organizations following the Joint Commission's National Patient Safety Goals requiring organizations to encourage patients' active involvement in their own care as a patient safety strategy. The book builds upon research that indicates that there are fewer adverse events and harmful errors if caregivers create a supportive and transparent environment that encourages patient involvement.The authors included in this volume introduce research-based techniques and strategies for involving patients and families as safety partners that can create mutually empowering patient-caregiver relationships. To this aim, it details how health care professionals can create and sustain a supportive and patient-centered environment. Tools are provided that help health care professionals learn how to partner with patients and their families. The pages are filled with new collaboration techniques, practical advice, and proven templates that caregivers can use immediately. The book also covers patient education strategies and considers issues such as health literacy, willingness to participate, and cultural and social factors. Detailed educational approaches are included that can increase both the patient's sense of self-efficacy and the patient's understanding of the effectiveness of recommended actions. This book helps health care professionals learn the new skills and behaviors they must master to create a supportive environment in which patients and family members can comfortably question the actions of caregivers without repercussions.