Family Advisors Webinar 2: Identifying and Training Advisors Pam - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Pam Dardess, MPH Principal Researcher American Institutes for Research

Working with Patient and Family Advisors

Webinar 2: Identifying and Training Advisors

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Learning objectives

• Discuss characteristics of successful

and effective advisors

• Learn how to find and select advisors
• Learn what information needs to be

conveyed during training, orientation, and initial interactions

• Understand how to problem-solve

common situations and develop sustained and meaningful partnerships

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Characteristics of successful patient and family advisors

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Patient and family advisors

• Who: Patients and family members who

receive(d) care at your organization and who want to help improve care experiences for others

• What: Collaborative partners in

developing, revising, and making decisions about policies, procedures, and practices

• Why: Help you make quality and safety

improvements based on patient and family-identified needs

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Characteristics of successful advisors

• No special qualifications or expertise

necessary, but helpful to look for people who:

– Have recent experience at your

• rganization (within the past 3 to 5 years)

– Have time to devote to being an advisor (usually between 1 to 4 hours a month) – As a group, reflect a broad cross-section

• f your organization’s population

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Characteristics of successful advisors (cont.)

– Are coping well with their experiences – Are willing to talk about their experiences – Show a positive outlook and bring a sense of humor – Demonstrate a passion for improving health care for others

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Characteristics of successful advisors (cont.)

– Can effectively share insights and information – Can speak comfortably and openly in a group setting – Have the ability to listen well – Can respect the perspectives of others and work in partnership with many different kinds of people – Can keep information they may hear as an advisor private and confidential

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Identifying and selecting effective advisors

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Identifying advisors

• Ask clinicians and staff to provide you

with names

• Look for individuals who have provided

constructive feedback in the past

– Ask patient relations office, patient representatives, ombudsmen, social workers for recommendations – Review letters or emails from patients and family members to identify candidates

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Identifying advisors (cont.)

• Post advertisements in your facility,

distribute recruitment brochures

– Place in public locations, admission or welcome packets, discharge packets, care instructions, include with survey mailings

• Advertise at support groups or other patient

and family meetings

• Advertise opportunities on your website
• Work with local community groups or hold

a public event / information session

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Selecting advisors - application

• Ask advisors to complete an application

– Contact information – Demographic information – Dates of care experience, units on which they received care (if at hospital) – Interest areas – Open-ended questions:

• Why they want to become an advisor
• Previous volunteer or speaking experience
• Brief information about care experiences

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Selecting advisors - interviews

• Interviews can be conducted in-person or
• ver the phone
• Staff liaison should interview candidates,

bring in other interviewers as needed (staff,

• ther advisors)
• Ask about:

– What they would like to do as an advisor – Perceived strengths and skills – Ability to handle differences of opinion – Time commitment

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Selecting advisors – making decisions

• Don’t select advisors just to have them!
• Look at individuals and the pool of

advisors as a whole – select diverse and complementary skills, interests, backgrounds

• Inform candidates of decision in a timely

manner – can be via phone, email, or mail

• If an applicant is not selected, let them

know you will keep their information on file for future opportunities

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Selecting advisors for quality and safety committees

• Typically individuals who have already

served as advisors in your organization

• Ask hospital staff (staff liaison, committee

chairs) who have worked with advisors for recommendations

• Be clear on time commitment
• Clearly explain roles and responsibilities
• Describe projects on which they will be

working

• Interview with members of the committee

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Training, orientation, and initial interactions

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Orientation and training

• Coordinate with volunteer or training office

if you have one – may conduct general

• rientation
• Background about the organization and role

– Information about how advisors help improve quality and safety, where they sit in the

• rganization

– Explanation of responsibilities and expectations – for advisors and the organization – Organization strategic plans – Key contacts at the organization – leaders, personnel –

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A word on confidentiality

• Advisors may have access to protected

health information

• Ask advisors to sign confidentiality

agreement

– Explanation of PHI and HIPAA – PHI can only be used and disclosed as permitted by law – can’t be shared outside of health care facility, can’t be shared in written, verbal, email communications unless permitted

• Let people know that “what you see or hear

here must remain here”

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Tips for being an effective advisor

• Provide general guidelines and helpful

tips – but do so in a way that doesn’t inhibit input

• Provide examples of how to handle

common situations

– “We found that things worked well for our family when…” – “What I hear you saying is…” – “Can you walk me through this so I can picture it?” – “I see it a bit differently…” – “Help me understand why this change is not possible.”

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Tips for successful interactions

• Before meetings

– Send materials well ahead of time (agenda, materials to review, directions) – Reminder phone calls or emails

• Day of meeting

– Signage!! – Name tags or name tents – Ensure access for individuals with disabilities, impairments, functional limitations

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Tips for successful interactions

• First meeting

– Introductions - leave plenty of time (3-4 minutes per person) – Review purpose and goals – Discuss procedures and roles – Discuss potential projects, upcoming activities – Wrap up, action items, and next steps

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Tips for successful interactions

• Establish norms and ground rules

– Start and end on time, policies about absence, importance of sharing the floor

• Don’t try to tackle too much at once

– Be wary of information overload

• Communicate complex information clearly

– Plain language, explain clinical terms, explain QI processes, visual depiction of data

• Provide ongoing support of advisors

– Follow up after meetings to encourage participation, ask about experiences

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Problem solving and developing sustained and meaningful partnerships

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Problem solving

• Careful selection and training helps minimize, not

eliminate, later difficulties

• Debrief regularly, address any problems quickly
• Look for ways to make the situation work

– Provide additional training, coaching, or mentoring – Examine match between advisor skills and situation, personalities – Think about whether advisors have been set up for success

• If all else fails, ask the advisor to step down –

position this as wanting to bring in new advisors and new perspectives

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Sustaining relationships

• Advisors want to know that they are

making a difference!

– Track and communicate advisor activities – Circle back to let advisors know outcomes of projects

• Invite leadership to meet with advisors
• Look for opportunities to present at

conferences with advisors

• Provide ongoing, transparent feedback and

communication

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Questions and discussion

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Discussion and questions

• What ideas do you have for working with

advisors in your organization? (Follow up

• n learning activity from Webinar 1)
• Do you have any experiences or lessons

learned to share?

• What questions do you have?

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Resources

• AHRQ’s Guide to Patient and Family

Engagement: http://www.ahrq.gov/professionals/syste ms/hospital/engagingfamilies/guide.html

• Institute for Patient- and Family-

Centered Care: www.ipfcc.org

• Georgia Regents Medical Center:

http://www.grhealth.org/patient-family- centered-care/pfcc

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Contact information

Pam Dardess

pdardess@air.org 919-918-2311 @pdardess AIR’s Center for Patient and Consumer Engagement: http://aircpce.org