Alberta Health Services has recommitted to a policy that will see patients and their families play a larger role in their own health care.
The provincial health-care provider released a strategy paper last week calling for a system-wide shift to what Dr. Verna Yiu, AHS vice-president of quality and chief medical officer, describes as patient-centric care.
"Right now we have what we would call a very provider-centric system, and the intention is to shift back to a much more patient-centred system, where the patients and family are really seen as part of the health-care team," she said.
She emphasized this process is an ongoing journey rather than a destination, and noted the provider seeks to continue to implement strategies to be more responsive to patients' needs and respect their own personal goals.
Yiu cited the example of a young man with developmental delays who had worked with staff for 16 years and as he transitioned into adult care, they asked him how he felt about their efforts over the years.
"What was shocking to the team is he said to the team, 'All I really wanted to do was learn to dress myself,' " she said. "They never had actually gotten to that stage."
New strategies, based on several dozen different consultations with a wide variety of stakeholders in the health system, will begin to be implemented at all Alberta Health Services facilities over the next three years, but the specific wheres and whens have yet to be finalized.
"We're committed to having a three-year roadmap that we will be officially launched in October this year," she said.
Patients First in St. Albert
Yiu pointed to several examples in which a team-based approach to patient-centred care already exist in St. Albert.
"The Sturgeon has done a really good job at rolling out some patient- and family-centred care initiatives," she said.
For example, the hospital has established a client council that helps inform content and delivery of some programs, such as adult day programming. The council meets every six weeks to discuss what's working, what isn't, and what needs to change.
Another small but very significant change is the way maternity is dealt with at the Sturgeon. Rather than moving from one room to another throughout the process, as has been done in the past and continues to be done in some other facilities, a patient is on one room throughout.
"They're in the same room in labour, through delivery, when they've delivered, in recovery and post-partum," she said. "The mom and the baby stay in the same room for the whole visit."
Dena Pedersen, the executive director of the St. Albert and Sturgeon Primary Care Network, said the organization focuses mostly on physicians at the primary-care level, but elements of patient-centredness and a collaborative, team-based approach are already in place.
A good example of this, she said, is having an occupational health/mental health nurse available within primary care clinics. More significantly, is the way nurses engage patients once they meet.
"They will say, 'Your physician said you're here to see me about this. What do you think you need me for? What do you think your health needs are we should be working on?'" she said.
Further to addressing the issues the patient sees as most significant, treatment is often personalized to the patient in question.
If a patient feels relaxed when gardening, for example, the patient may be directed to make sure they get out to work the soil three or four times per week.
Pedersen echoed Yiu's feeling that working to be more patient-centred is an ongoing process, and she said she's eager to see what AHS comes up with on that front.
"We're doing that work, but we could probably learn from the experience of what AHS is going through and see what else we can do," she said.
