Oral Health Literacy
Oral health and oral health literacy are the focus of interest at the national level as demonstrated in the recommendations from two recent IOM reports and in the objectives of Healthy People 2020 (HHS, 2010a; IOM, 2011a,b). Although the field of oral health literacy is less well developed than health literacy, the roundtable was interested in exploring findings from research in this area and how such findings are being translated into oral health practice. In addition, the Roundtable was interested in the intersection between oral health literacy and health literacy.
Who's caring for whom? Differing perspectives between seriously ill patients and their family caregivers
Although clinicians and researchers often rely on family members 'reports of a wide range of dying patients' symptoms and care preferences, available data indicate divergences between the two. We used a national sample to analyze patient-caregiver pairs to explore areas of concordance and nonconcordance about physical symptoms, communication with physicians, caregiving needs, and future fears. We also assessed whether identifiable patient or caregiver characteristics were associated with nonconcordance.
What terminally ill patients care about: Toward a validated construct of patients' perspectives
BACKGROUND: Citizens have conveyed to professionals that care at the end of life is less than optimal. Efforts to improve matters have tended to work in piecemeal fashion, on tangible more than personal aspects of care, and without the benefit of documented perspectives of those who face dying. Policy initiatives and clinical interventions need guidance from a broad framework that is validated by patients' perspectives.
Assistance from family members, friends, paid care givers, and volunteers in the care of terminally ill patients
BACKGROUND: In addition to medical care, dying patients often need many types of assistance, including help with transportation, nursing care, homemaking services, and personal care. We interviewed terminally ill adults and their care givers in six randomly selected areas of the United States (five metropolitan areas and one rural county) to determine how their needs for assistance were met and the frequency with which they received such assistance from family members and paid and volunteer care givers.
Aligning practice redesign and interprofessional education to advance triple aim outcomes
Achieving the goals of health care reform – described by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement as the “Triple Aim” – will place new demands on the health care workforce. Interprofessional team-based care, quality and process improvement, and population health management are not skills that have been emphasized in traditional health professions education and training.
Guide to Patient and Family Engagement: Environmental Scan Report
This project promotes patient and family engagement in hospital settings by developing, implementing, and evaluating the Guide to Patient and Family Engagement: Enhancing the Quality and Safety of Hospital Care (hereafter referred to as the Guide). The Guide includes tools, materials, and/or training for patients, family members, health professionals (e.g., hospital clinicians, staff), hospital leaders, and those who will implement the materials in the Guide.
Who is attending? End-of-life decision making in the intensive care unit
PURPOSE: Traditional expectations of the single attending physician who manages a patient's care do not apply in today's intensive care units (ICUs). Although many physicians and other professionals have adapted to the complexity of multiple attendings, ICU patients and families often expect the traditional, single physician model, particularly at the time of end-of-life decision making (EOLDM). Our purpose was to examine the role of ICU attending physicians in different types of ICUs and the consequences of that role for clinicians, patients, and families in the context of EOLDM.
“The problem often is that we do not have a family spokesperson but a spokesgroup”: Family Member Informal Roles in End-of-Life Decision-Making in Adult ICUs
Background: To support the process of effective family decision-making, it is important to recognize and understand informal roles various family members may play in the end-of-life decision-making process.
Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe some informal roles consistently enacted by family members involved in the process of end-of-life decision-making in intensive care units (ICUs).
Intensive Care Unit Cultures and End-of-Life Decision Making
Purpose: Prior researchers studying end-of-life decision making (EOLDM) in intensive care units (ICUs) often have collected data retrospectively and aggregated data across units. There has been little research, however, about how cultures differ among ICUs. This research was designed to study limitation of treatment decision making in real time, to evaluate similarities and differences in the cultural contexts of four ICUs and the relationship of those contexts to EOLDM.
Compassion: Wherefore Art Thou?
Compassion is a health professional value that has received a lot of attention recently. In this paper we consider the nature of compassion, its definition and its expression in practice. We further link compassion to patient-centred care. There is debate about whether compassion can be learned, and therefore assessed. There are similar discussions in relation to ‘professionalism’ and the effects of the hidden curriculum.
