Talk, Tailor, Teach: The Three Keys To Patient Engagement.

We’ve discussed how to handle business and employee retention. Now it's time to talk about another integral component of healthcare: Patients. The very reason we work is to provide exceptional care and compassion to those who need our service. Patient care is the act of preventing, treating, and managing illness. Often we are held solely accountable for the outcome of our patients, but we must include them in their health journey. How exactly do we activate our patients and get them engaged in their care? Continue reading for three tips that can help you with patient engagement. Talk, Tailor, Teach.

We communicate daily to achieve our most basic needs. We express our appreciation for our staff and employees by saying “Thank you”. We solve problems by asking “What’s wrong?” and we meet people’sneeds by simply asking “How can I help?” . These questions are small yet impactful. Reaching out to your patients with simple “thank you”, “how can we improve our services?” or “what can we do for you?” is so easy. Asking these questions will not only give you great feedback, it will also show your patients that their voice matters. Talking with your patients is the first step to developing an open relationship. Every conversation between a patient and provider is vital, and builds trust while establishing a reliable relationship. This gives you the opportunity to tailor care to your individual patient. Your patient will now have the courage to address their health concerns openly and comfortably.

Tailors and dressmakers make and alter clothes to fit the individual. Exactly how a tailor customizes a suit that fits you to perfection is what you want to do with your patient. Standardized “one size fits all '' care doesnt work for every single patient. The goal of tailored care is to improve health outcomes. By taking into consideration individuals and their preferences when developing a care plan can really activate a patient to be engaged in their care. For example a patient may be religious or have cultural values that can impact their patient experience and influence their decision when it comes to treatments. Just alike you may have a patient that is extremely particular and you want to show them that their habits are respected. Your job as a provider is to provide a crafted and organized plan for your patient to follow. Some ways that you can do this is by: Create a game plan: This can be making schedules, asking about activities patient’s enjoy, for example: You may have a patient that enjoys attending church on Sundays, so they would like to see a provider later in the afternoon on Sundays. Figuring out what medicine works for them and what their diet will consist of. Working together: Open a forum for your patient to speak candidly about what is working and what is not working for them. Strengthen the team: Does the patient have family or friends that would like to be included in their health outcome? They may even have pets that can encourage them to stay healthy.

Teach, Teach and Teach again. We are so busy managing patient care that we sometimes forget to give patients the power to engage in their health journey. Maybe you’re familar with the quote: “Give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. TEACH a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime”. It is so important to show and explain to your patient how they can help themselves. The outcome of limited patient engagement is that patients who arent engaged in their care are more likely to have unmet needs. Many patients are detached from their own care due to lack of being taught how to take care of themselves, and have no true understanding of their medical conditions. We can change this by giving them access to tools and resources that can improve their health literacy. Patients who are engaged with their health journey are able to self manage illness, get involved in their diagnosis and work as a team with providers and caregivers. Teaching patients how to take the lead in their health care can improve their health outcomes. Making healthcare readable and simple; We have to speak to patients like we are speaking to people and not problems. This means simplifying medical vocabulary and making it easy for the patient to understand what they are taking or what exactly is happening to them. Give a demo: This is a perfect time for show and tell! As providers we may get lost in the telling and not so much showing the patient what they need to do. Repeat: Practice makes perfect. Reassurance is also an important part of any relationship. A patient may need to be encouraged a few times before they have the confidence to take their health into their own hands and that's where you come in to repeatedly encourage them that they are capable. Care is only one step in the path to helping a patient achieve their healthcare goals, patients must be encouraged to participate in their own care. Patient engagement is a plan to increase the patient's understanding, capacity and will to participate in care and a key component of treatment. Arming a patient with key health information, education and resources will only help you provide them with the best care.