Today more than ever before including the family perspective within the healthcare setting is critical to patient safety and quality improvement. Families can serve as advisors on committees and focus groups. They can share their experiences with doctors and nurses in training, give presentations from the family perspective, review educational materials or policies and more. The benefits of including families as partners in decision making is enormous.
To learn about a program that recruits, trains and places parents for these and other advisory positions at Children's Hospital of WI click here. To fill out an application, click here. To talk with someone about Families as Partners or how to develop a similar program, contact Anne Juhlmann at 414-266-3196.
Pediatric Health Care Toolkit
Since the late 1980s, there has been a growing recognition that family involvement is a necessary part of pediatric health care. This is known as family centered care, which is not only a philosophy but also a practice, built on a partnership amongst patients, their families and health care providers. Family Centered Care recognizes that families are in fact consumers and their perspective is invaluable in the development and quality improvement of policies, programs and systems of care. The more that families are involved in pediatric health care the greater the likelihood is that services and care appropriate to the child and family’s needs is delivered.
Despite the obvious benefits of consumer participation, families are not asked to participate in advisory roles as frequently as they could and should be. Many pediatric hospitals and clinics have recognized this and have taken steps to formally increase their requests for family advice. We can be proud of these examples of progress, but must work to change the fact that collaboration is still the exception rather than the rule in many pediatric systems of care.
In an effort to address this situation, Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in collaboration with Families and the Southeast Regional Center for Children and Youth with Special Health Care Needs have developed a toolkit entitled Families as Partners in Pediatric Health Care. This toolkit is for any individual or organization interested in promoting the practice of utilizing families as advisors. The guide attempts to describe step-by-step practical approaches and processes for involving families as partners. This toolkit is as a model, which may be adapted to best meet the culture and needs of any organization or group seeking to increase and improve the quality of family involvement.
Please review the toolkit - Families as Partners in Pediatric Health Care*(last updated 4/6/2008) - and let us know if and how it has been used within your organization as well as any suggestions that you may have.
Thank you for your dedication to practicing and promoting family centered care.
*requires Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer.
