PATIENT ENGAGEMENT

 

Patient engagement is a relative term which varies across the globe. This is a topic that I'm very passionate about because of personal experiences. The basic of patient engagement involves efforts taken by a health care provider to educate and enlighten the patient on the state of his/her health in such a way that the patient is able to feel and understand the urgency or lack of urgency therein. The term patient engagement is used here for simplicity, therefore aside from the patient,others like the family and the care givers are also included. This service should be provided to all patients irrespective of their level of literacy or illiteracy. This level of patient engagement, I believe is the least a health care provider is expected to give to patients .

Prior to further explanation, let me share my experience. I met this woman with signs of serious liver and kidney problems. On engaging her, she could not even tell me the summary of what ailed her. This is a woman that has had several appointments at a general hospital. As such, I was not able to effectively assist her as she knows next to nothing about the causes of her illness and no access to her medical record. This is how bad things are in most developing countries. In fact you could be labelled a difficult patient if you are on the inquisitive side.

FACTORS AFFECTING PATIENT ENGAGEMENT.

Patient's level of literacy is one of the factors affecting patient engagement. Patient literacy or illiteracy should not be a significant barrier to communication and interaction between a patient and the health care provider. The care provider should be able to communicate with the patient. This is why it's highly necessary to train healthcare providers on patient engagement.

Severely/mentally ill patients are often difficult to engage in ongoing treatment. Poor engagement could lead to frequent emergency visit to the hospital, exacerbation of symptoms as a result of patient's non compliance.

The attitude and knowledge possessed by the health care provider goes a long way in helping to improve patient engagement. This includes the level of knowledge of  the healthcare giver about patient engagement and its strategies. It also includes his/her knowledge and experience on the particular case at hand. The way health care professionals interact with patients also determine the level of patients' participation in on going treatment.

Work place influence affects health care providers and may lead to poor communication, increased stress, poor productivity; physical, emotional and psychological illnesses. All these add up to compromised patient care.

STRATEGIES IN PATIENT ENGAGEMENT

1. Creating a positive health care environment and hospital work environment has been linked to safety for both patients and workers in health care settings. Things to consider in hospital design includes advantages of single-rooms over multi-bed rooms, reduced noise, improved lighting, better ventilation, supportive work place and improved layout.
2. Training health care professionals in patient engagement and communication skills will help in issues such as improving quality of care for the patient, improving patient experience and meeting increasing demands from numerous directions. As patient engagement involves input from  both patient and the health care provider, the outcome becomes better outcomes, more time and money saved, and improved patient and provider experiences.
3. Effective patient education is needed for patient with low to moderate level of disease severity. These patients need to remain activated and engaged to prevent worsening of their conditions, since they are not under intensive care in a hospital. This calls for an electronic patient education tools which provide ongoing educational and motivational support for diabetes patients, hypertensive patients and other patients in this category.