Patient Design Thinking

Patient Design Thinking

Sep 28, 2022 0
onthepods,paediatrics,patient centred care

In this podcast Chris Elliot speaks with Paediatric Rheumatologist, Rebecca James, about the development of the concept ‘Patient Design Thinking’ and why it has such profound impacts on the delivery of care no matter which specialty.

 

Summary Writer:  Eloise Sobels

Script Writer:  Eloise Sobels

Interviewee:  Rebecca James

Interviewer:  Chris Elliot

 

About Dr Rebecca James

Dr Rebecca James is a Paediatric Rheumatologist and Healthcare Improvement Fellow at Queensland Children’s Hospital. She completed her paediatric training at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, before moving to the UK for extended fellowships in several London hospitals and later to work as a consultant at St Thomas‘. She returned to Australia in 2018 and completed a Healthcare Improvement Fellowship through Clinical Excellence QLD in 2021. She is interested in healthcare quality and safety, particularly how health services engage with patients in service design and provision, as well as issues around access to care and medications, both domestically and globally.

 

About Dr Chris Elliot

Chris is a Consultant Paediatrician who works in a teaching hospital in Sydney and in private rooms. As well as clinical medicine he is enthusiastic about health communication and teaching. Chris is a Conjoint Lecturer for the University of New South Wales and writes the occasional article on child health for mainstream media. He also teaches Advanced Paediatric Life Support and sits on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health. Chris completed his Internship at Bankstown Hospital and Paediatric training through the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network. On the days when he is not at work he enjoys playing with his children, and also when they play by themselves.

Patient Design Thinking

With Dr Rebecca James, Paediatric Rheumatologist and Care Improvement Fellow

 

Introduction

This podcast was proudly produced in collaboration with one of our sponsors Avant Mutual. It delves into this idea of patient design thinking which came about from the identification of the importance of patient engagement in healthcare. We explore, in brief, the development of this concept and why it has such profound impacts on the delivery of care no matter which specialty.

  • I liked people’s stories, the narratives of their lives
  • Chronic illness and following the longitudinality of people’s lives is a privilege
  • Father was diagnosed with terminal illness leading to the experience of dealing with the healthcare system from two different perspectives – it profoundly shaped the doctor I became.
  • The sense of responsibility was hugely different from being a medical student and any other job worked prior.
  • With greater responsibility came great privilege to be a part of someone’s life as well as greater job satisfaction. This was something that I learnt throughout the years as a doctor and trainee despite the exhaustion of rosters and steep vertical learning curbs.
  • Paeds training in Melbourne
  • Spent multiple years over in London (which originally was only meant to be 1 year!)
    • Opened my eyes to the world, clinical medicine and more specifically quality and safety
  • Came back to Queensland where this care improvement fellowship came up through clinical excellence Queensland.
  • One of the main things that came out of my year in that fellowship role was stakeholder engagement. You must engage with those who are on the frontline, most importantly patients and their experiences. This then led to patient design thinking and the project “first 100 days of juvenile arthritis.” This project is looking at how the first 100 days after being diagnosed with a chronic illness really shapes the patient narrative of healthcare. Avant has helped this project formidably with ongoing funding support.
  • Patient design thinking something that I’ve learnt through this project that is fairly new and innovative and co-design is something that is mandated in Australian Hospitals.
  • “people will forget what you did, will forget what you said but won’t forget the way you made them feel” – Michael Angelo.
  • The word “fail” is really dispiriting for a child and anyone. It shouldn’t be worded as you failed methotrexate for example. Methotrexate failed you. Changing language like that may seem small but is very powerful in shaping their healthcare experience.
  • These little things are what we are learning from this research area that ultimately have profound effects.
  • No matter what field of medicine, you will have a cohort of patients who present with symptoms that you don’t have an answer for or are more complicated than just the biological or physical and relate more the bio-psycho-social model of care.
  • You will need to respond to those patients in a way that is helpful and empathetic. For those particular patients you will need to have a higher awareness of their healthcare experience.
  • As a junior doctor, the appropriate times to be thinking about this would be in clinical meetings with seniors, listening to the answers of questions like (or even asking them yourself!): What did the patient say? What did the family say? What were the preferences of the patient or family?
  • If you wanted to get more involved speak with your local patient safety and quality people and see what projects might be happening. If your hospital or local healthcare district does not have this set up yet there will undoubtedly be someone interested in this area in your hospital.
  • Take any opportunity you have to work overseas.
  • Recognise that all of us are replaceable at work but not at home. Give yourself permission to be a human being. Give yourself permission to be sick and take days off. Give yourself permission to say no to things people ask you to do. Give yourself permission to say no when you’re asked to do more overtime.
  • Think about what matters to you. Think about the lines that will not be crossed professionally and personally and stick to them.
  • Look after yourself.

Related Podcasts

Related Blogs

Tags: #Avant Mutual,#healthcare,#healthcare quality and safety,#overseas fellowships,#paediatrics,#patient centred care,#patient design thinking,#patient safety,#rheumatology

If you enjoyed listening to this week’s podcast feel free to let us know what you think by posting your comments or suggestions in the comments box below.

If you want to listen to this episode while not connected to WiFi or the internet, you can download it. To find out more go to Apple support (https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201859)

Leave a comment:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

onthewards is a registered trademark (1784140) which is approved by the ACNC as a registered charity | ABN 51 198 764 539
 
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic License