Experience is the Best Teacher: Patient and Family Advisors at the Forefront of Provider Education Caroline Moore, MPH, Barbara Sarnoff Lee, LICSW, and Patient and Family Advisors Experience is the Best Teacher: Patient and Family Advisors at the Forefront of Provider Education Caroline Moore, MPH, Barbara Sarnoff Lee, LICSW, and Patient and Family Advisors Goal Lessons Learned Over the past five years, Patient and Family Advisors have contributed valuable, experience-based feedback to quality improvement initiatives at BIDMC through participation in Patient and Family Advisory Councils, hospital committees, and project- specific task forces. In these roles, they share the table with staff and providers, engaging as part of a team. Advisors also serve on focus groups, complete surveys, consult on environmental design projects, and review patient education materials, offering advice to those who seek their input. In these roles, they engage in the background; their collected opinions influence decisions. Placing Advisors at the front of the room as teachers has emerged as an enhanced role that has widespread application at an academic medical center. Progress to Date InterventionsThe Opportunity Next Steps Placing patients and family members at the forefront of educational opportunities, creates a bidirectional learning experience that enhances understanding on both sides of the relationship. It also breaks down resistance to adopting patient engagement as a means to achieving patient-and- family-centered care. Advisors have engaged as teachers in a variety of settings and modalities: Nurse Competency Trainings, "Going from Good to Great" Schwartz Rounds and Critical Care Rounds Teaching Staff about Patient Privacy Teaching staff and providers how to talk to patients about Ebola Conversation Ready While it is early to determine if utilizing advisors as teachers has had a quantifiable impact on provider education, it is our hope that continued engagement of patient and family advisors in the teaching setting will play a significant role in improving quality, safety, and the patient experience. Patient and Family advisors, through live, video, or audio presentations in the classroom, conference room, and auditorium, can turn the expert model of teaching on its head and drive improvement through the power of stories and personal perspectives. Through these opportunities, patient and family “teachers” express appreciation for the complexity on the side of the health care provider, while providers appreciate looking beyond the data, and learning from the powerful voices of patients and families. Utilizing Advisors as teachers will break down barriers to working with patients and family members to drive change in the healthcare setting. We will continue to explore and promote opportunities to have Patient and Family Advisors bring their voices into the educational setting. Staff and providers responsible for education should consider contacting the Patient and Family Engagement program to learn how to engage Patient and Family Advisors in trainings or conferences.

The Opportunity Over the past five years, Patient and Family Advisors have contributed valuable, experience-based feedback to quality improvement initiatives at BIDMC through participation in Patient and Family Advisory Councils, hospital committees, and project-specific task forces. In these roles, they share the table with staff and providers, engaging as part of a team. Advisors also serve on focus groups, complete surveys, consult on environmental design projects, and review patient education materials, offering advice to those who seek their input. In these roles, they engage in the background; their collected opinions influence decisions. Utilizing Advisors in a teaching role has emerged as an enhanced role that has widespread applications at an academic medical center.

The Goal Traditionally, health care providers and staff members are taught by other health care experts - providers, staff members, or hired trainers - about issues that impact patient experience, quality of care, and safety. Capturing and conveying the patient point of view in the teaching setting has mainly relied upon the utilization of aggregated satisfaction data. Such data lacks depth, and is not able to tell a story in the same way that a patient or family member can. Placing patients and family members at the forefront of educational opportunities creates a bidirectional learning experience that enhances understanding on both sides of the relationship. It also has the potential to break down staff resistance to adopting patient engagement as a means to achieving patient-and-family-centered care.

The Interventions Advisors have engaged as teachers in a variety of settings and modalities: Nurse Competency Trainings, "Going from Good to Great" Schwartz Rounds and Critical Care Rounds Teaching Staff about Patient Privacy Teaching staff and providers how to talk to patients about Ebola Conversation Ready Topic-specific advisor video library for future trainings

Progress to Date While it is early to determine if utilizing advisors as teachers has had a quantifiable impact on the efficacy of provider education, we are seeing positive preliminary feedback from staff and provider learners, as well as an increase in requests for advisors as educators. Preliminary evaluation data from Nurse Competency Training:

Lessons Learned The best experts in the field of patient experience are patients themselves. Utilizing the voices of actual patients and family members in the teaching setting can send a more impactful message than using satisfaction data, or having staff members teach about patient experience from their own lenses. Patient and Family advisors, through live, video, or audio presentations in the classroom, conference room, and auditorium, can turn the expert model of teaching on its head and drive improvement through the power of stories and personal perspectives. Through these opportunities, patient and family “teachers” express appreciation for the complexity on the side of the health care provider, while providers appreciate looking beyond the data, and learning from the powerful voices of patients and families. Utilizing Advisors as teachers will break down barriers to working with patients and family members to drive change in the healthcare setting.

Next Steps We will continue to explore and promote opportunities to have Patient and Family Advisors bring their voices into the educational setting. Staff and providers responsible for education should consider contacting the Patient and Family Engagement program to learn how to engage Patient and Family Advisors in trainings or conferences. For More Information Please Contact: Caroline Moore, MPH, Program Leader BIDMC Patient and Family Engagement