The Institute for Family-Centered Care held an intensive 3½-day seminar in Boston this week with workshops and speakers on the topic of patient and family-centered care. Speakers were from Massachusetts and beyond.
The overall thrust of the seminar is that patients and family members must be included at all levels of care, from their own care when it comes to something like activating a rapid response team to the broader level of helping to advise hospitals on quality and safety as members of a Patient and Family Advisory Council or as participants in hospital board meetings and committees.
It was heartening to hear about so many wonderful programs taking place across the country to include the voices of patients and families. With the Massachusetts mandate for hospitals to establish Patient and Family Advisory Councils and rapid response methods that allow for patient and family activation, there is much that we can learn from those institutions already doing this work and from their positive experiences.
Deborah W. Wachenheim
