Patient education and empowerment in blood transfusion. A resource for Hospital Transfusion Teams. NHSBT Better Blood Transfusion Team

Transcription

1 Patient education and empowerment in blood transfusion A resource for Hospital Transfusion Teams

2 What is patient education and empowerment? Patient empowerment is a term often used in chronic illness, and may be defined as an individual being an active member of his/her disease management team. Patient empowerment does not just encompass the ability of the patient to make decisions and be active in their care, it also encompasses their education on the topic (Santurri 2006)

3 1. The evidence. Why involve patients? Active patient involvement means better: health outcomes patient experience value See: which is a compendium of evidence for patient engagement.

4 2. The Darzi argument quality as: Patient safety Clinical effectiveness Patient s experience

5 3. Accountability it s our NHS 4. The new austerity we can t afford not to In summary patient involvement and empowerment is about safety and quality

6 What does safety and quality mean to patients? 1. Making sure the hospital is clean. 2. Being kept informed about what is going on. 3. Medical staff to explain procedures fully. 4. Being able to discuss personal details without other patients hearing. 5. Thoughtful and courteous staff. 6. Decent food. 7. Being in a single sex ward or bay 8. Privacy around the bed areas and private toilets and washrooms. (Source: Ipsos MORI, 2007)

7 9 big shouts National Voices Integration, integration, integration 2. Right care, right place, right time Patients and service users say we should be supported to: - understand our conditions and medications - manage our own care and treatment, and - take part in deciding our care plans and our treatment options 3. Information and communication that work for us, now Patients and services users want, as a high priority, the right types of information to support us in managing and participating in our care and treatment. 4. End paternalism Patients, service users and carers feel the model of care we receive is very often wrong, and we are impatient for change. We support the vision of putting patients first and of no decisions about me, without me. 5. No new lotteries - tackle inequalities 6. Patients among a range of expert commissioners 7. Proper governance and transparency 8. Real involvement, with genuine influence Patients and service users, and the public, want to be involved in making services better. 9. Tell us when things go wrong Patients and service users do not want health and social care services to hide or cover up their mistakes.

8 Blood transfusion and patient education/empowerment Points for consideration: How willing are patients to be involved? What can they be reasonably expected to do? How much might their involvement be affected/limited by illness, culture, age and familiarity with the transfusion process? There is little research in this area.

9 Active patient engagement in transfusion Although there is little research, the above may be assumed to depend on a number of factors: 1. Patients must be able to participate. 2. Patients must have knowledge on how to be involved. 3. Patients have to be willing to participate (and so do medical/nursing/care staff!).

10 But don t we have leaflets and posters? These are well intentioned BUT there is little information about: - whether they are read; - how effective they are; - whether there are any adverse effects of providing safety-related information. (The provision of general information is only the first step in patient engagement.)

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12 So if the posters and leaflets have only limited effect (and maybe the staff don t use them) what else can we do? Reach patients via other routes: - PALs / LiNKS/ HealthWatch - Local initiatives in the hospital, local community, local press etc. (including awareness weeks). - Establishing contact with local branches of patient s organisations, especially those condition-specific ones in which transfusion is a key element (see handout). - Raise staff awareness of patient involvement in transfusion - New media websites, social networking etc - Research ongoing to look at other methods.

13 References Davis R et al (2011) Blood Transfusion safety: The Potential Role of the Patient. Transfusion Medicine Reviews, Vol. 25, No 1, pp Department of Health (Darzi) (2008) High quality care for all: NHS Next Stage Review final report Crown Copyright, Gateway Reference National Patient Choice Survey, Wave 5 (2007) Ipsos/MORI on behalf of the Department of Health Santurri L. (2006) Patient Empowerment: improving the outcomes of chronic diseases through self-management education. MPHP 439 Online Text Book, Case Western Reserve University. 9 Big Shouts from Patients and Charities (2011)